Every Christmas since 1995 I have written a round-robin letter about my year to send to friends with their Christmas card. That means that I have documentary evidence of my last decade’s highs and lows, so it would be a shame to ignore it – hence this look back over my shoulder. And just like[…]

This year I’m spending Christmas at home on my own – and I’m quite happy about it. In fact, once I realised that this was my Christmas scenario, I actually started to look forward to it and get down to some planning. My menus for 3 days are finalised, the shopping list almost purchased, the[…]

“Will you help me boys and girls?” The journey to put on a panto where I live is strictly long haul. We start in July with a meeting of interested participants and, after around 40 rehearsals, we end with 2 performances for other residents, family and friends in mid-December. We chose Dick Whittington (with Beatles’ songs)[…]

I was born and raised in a market town so I know a thing or two about markets. I readily admit that my fondness for them these days, especially at Christmas, is based on nostalgia. A past time when busy, weekly markets were the heart of local trading and reflected the seasonal changes and festivals.[…]

I ticked off Amsterdam, as a European capital city I had visited, in 1988. I was curious about the city that had legalised marijuana and prostitution, because it had novelty value and a free-wheeling reputation. My companion and I frequented the Brown Bars for ‘coffee and cake’, and tried not to look in the eyes[…]

The clues are all there: floods, frost, fog and a flipping Christmas Fayre in November. (How many more times – it’s too early!) We’re in the grip of Autumn and it’s time to clean your winter boots and get your knits out! Last autumn I wrote about how, in 2016, our time-honoured response to achieving[…]

In the last few weeks I’ve suffered a number of minor accidents resulting in physical damage to myself, my clothes, surroundings and objects. I thought, ‘Oh no! Not a return to the accident-proneness that dogged me throughout my life until a few years ago.’ (I was regarded by people, who unluckily came a cropper, as[…]

This month I’m about to go on another short break abroad but this time with a friend. Just in case you missed them last time, here are my tips for a stress free trip, whether travelling alone or with a friend(s). Hopefully these will help to smooth out potential hiccups with packing, getting there and[…]

I’ve got one good thing to say about Hallowe’en: tomorrow the over-commercialised, scaremongering tat-fest will be dead and buried for another year – well about 10 months. Did you know that Americans spend an estimated $6 BILLION annually on Hallowe’en, making it the second largest commercial holiday of the year? (Guess what’s No 1?) Never[…]

As I write this I am actually on my first solo break of the year. I know, how did that happen? Shocking given that I champion the solo lifestyle and am on record for advocating the benefits of going solo on holiday. But this year, even when I travelled and arrived somewhere alone, I either[…]