It was my daughter’s 45th birthday on Saturday. Where have all those years gone? No longer a child, she is now the mother of two wonderful boys, and she’s doing a great job. I remember when she was little, I worried so much each time she was ill, fell over, or got upset about something, […]
Tag: Haibun Monday
The Ghost Train
One of the best plays I’ve seen at the Theatre Royal in Norwich was Arnold Ridley’s ‘The Ghost Train’, a stage comedy-thriller, written in 1923, set in a remote rural station, where railway passengers have been stranded overnight. The station master tries to persuade them to leave so he can lock up for the night, […]
Nutted
Last Wednesday, David and I visited one of our favourite places, a little out-of-the-way Norfolk village called Heydon. It’s a quaint old village, with only one way in and out, and it has a village green (very Enid Blyton), a few artisan shops, a pub, a tea room, a church and a country manor. Heydon […]
Those who went before
Last week, my husband took me to a medieval church in the neighbouring village of Crostwight. He led me down a grassy track, at the end of which was a black wooden gate to a churchyard with ancient graves and a stone church dating back to the early fourteenth century. Decorating the eaves were six […]
Reflections on Silver
I remember, at the age of seven or eight, copying sentences and sayings, chosen by our teacher, from a chalkboard in neat italic, writing in blue ink with an italic pen. I can remember quite a few of them, but the one that stands out in my mind is: “Speech is silver, silence is golden.” […]
Summer
I remember the summers of my childhood, when we didn’t feel the heat and ran about outside without a care. The only thing we worried about was being called in for tea. Nowadays, I am not a lover of hot weather, and find myself longing for autumn in the middle of a hot spell. I […]
Memento Mori
When I lived in Cologne in Germany, my best friends were Ellen, after whom my daughter is named, and Ulli, her partner. Ulli was a real character, Germanic looking, with very long blond hair and piercing blue eyes, and he had a wicked sense of humour. Ulli loved motor bikes, of which he had three, […]
Our Cherry Tree
Twenty-five years ago, the cherry tree in our garden was young and still quite small. We could see sky through lithe branches. Now our cherry tree is so tall she reaches out to touch the roof and taps on the gutter in stormy weather. Honeysuckle has crept up her trunk and covered her, so that […]
From Vienna to Bratislava
My husband and I have been to Vienna numerous times. It’s a home from home. We know our way around, where we like to eat and drink, and the places we love to visit. We had been on a boat trip around the city but not on the main stretch of the Danube – which […]
March Panic
Seven years ago today, I was in a panic. We were snowed in, for the first time in years, and I needed to get to the station to catch a train southwards. My daughter was due to give birth to her first child and I’d promised to be there. Thankfully, in our village, the snow […]
writing in north norfolk 