Living between the North Norfolk coast and the Broads, and having moorings at the bottom of our garden, I am drawn to water. Not that I swim or even paddle, but I like to sit and watch the free light shows: sequins sparkling on water, underwater shadows, light refractions and sky reflections. Now that winter […]
Category: Haibun
Here Comes the Bride
Under blue skies on a sunny day at the end of May in Tuscany, I trod the stony, dusty track from the farm buildings to the wheat field where the wedding ceremony was taking place. After a busy morning placing five almonds in each of a couple of dozen mini Kilner jars and tying them […]
Surprise
My husband is excellent at planning surprises. Among many others, he planned and organised a birthday party on a boat on the Norfolk Broads with family and friends and a two-night stay in Cambridge, all without me having an inkling of what he was up to. But the most wonderful night I remember was on […]
Descent to Wroclaw
I don’t like getting to and from airports, the hanging around, the waiting in queues and the scrutiny of airport officials, but I do enjoy flying. I like switching off and ignoring other passengers, immersing myself in a book with nothing else to distract me – no telephone or door to answer, no appointments to […]
22nd November 1980
It had been a difficult transition, moving from one country to another; from a city’s familiar streets and longstanding friendships to the middle of nowhere in another country with a baby on the way. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. What I didn’t realise was that I’d be thirty odd miles from the […]
Home Comforts
I sit at my desk, reading, thinking and writing, listening to the radio or checking news and weather on-line. Outside in our wild garden, leaves swirl in gusts of wind. Squalls of icy rain make patterns on the window and by half past three it’s already getting dark. Inside, it’s bright and cosy, with our […]
Spanning Centuries
My name is Charles Bridge. I was conceived and born in 1357. I have survived floods and seen many changes, wars and revolution. I live in the centre of Prague. During the day, I am entertained by the musicians and pedlars that attract tourists and citizens whose footsteps wear and smooth my stone on their […]
Words and Blots
When I was at junior school in South London, we had to progress from writing with a pencil to a fountain pen. I was extremely excited because we had to go and buy one from the stationer. There were two brands to choose from: Platignum or Osmiroid. We had to have one with an italic […]
Lost in Middle-earth
I was introduced to J. R. R. Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings trilogy by a girl I befriended in my first year at grammar school. I was eleven years old, I’d passed the eleven-plus exam, one of a handful of girls from my South London junior school, and now I was regularly lost in […]
Late Night London
Although I love living in a small Norfolk village, where there are no shops or street lights, I miss the sounds, smells and sights of London and relish the opportunity of visiting my daughter, who still lives between Clapham Common and Battersea. I love the way buses pulse like blood through the veins of the […]
writing in north norfolk 