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 […]
Tag: Haibun
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 […]
Goodbye to Summer
After the heat of summer, I welcome the chill of autumn, the expressive rolling clouds, dramatic sunsets and flash storms. It’s almost as if the lion of summer is standing at the door of the season until autumn pushes him out – and this year it has been a long transition. In our garden, leaves […]
Ordinary Interrupted
I live with my husband and two cats in a cottage that’s over a hundred years old by a river in the countryside. The garden is lush with grass and damp underfoot, nurturing robust willows and rampant weeds. The house is damp too. In the summer it’s cool and in the winter we have to […]
The Story of the Bench
Many of the people who have sat on the bench and worn smooth its hand-crafted surface have been bone-weary and hungry. How often have walkers lifted their heads from loosening the laces in their boots or removing their shoes to inhale salt on the breeze and drink in the many shades of sky and sea […]
As the Seasons Change
My husband and I were at infant and junior school together. We have a photograph of us when we were in Miss Sanderson’s class, and we not only recognise our younger selves but we can also remember the names of all the children in the photograph. We were both energetic youngsters; David was mad about […]
writing in north norfolk 