Write-Place

"  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Luke 2:10  -  King James Version (KJV Looking forward to Christmas Day with it's promises of gifts and spending time with the family, shopping for presents, writing cards, opening the doors of an Advent calendar each day,  awaiting the arrival of "Santa", decorating our homes - inside and out - are  all ways in which most of us spend the first twenty four days in December. I have done all of these things and more over the years, but have to admit that as each year goes by, increasingly I tend to leave the things which constitute this build up to the day,to my children and grandchildren. I do decorate the living room in my house though this is increasingly by adding more candles than are already there and putting lights around the "trees" and plants which already occupy the indoor space.  A small pine tree, which is an off shoot

 I have recently had eye surgery for a detached retina.  The retina is a thin layer of nerve cells and blood vessels which line the inside of the eye. It is sensitive to light like the film in a camera and is essential to be able to see. Apparently a retinal detachment can occur at any time with no particular, cause though  some people are at a greater risk of developing retinal detachments - people who are short sighted, those who've had cataract surgery and who have had a severe blow directly to the eye.  I can claim to have had the first two of these so it was almost inevitable that I would have a retinal detachment, too. It happens when a hole or several have developed in the retina and fluid has passed through the holes causing the retina to peel away from the inside of the eye similar to a blister. The result of this is loss of whole or part of the vision. Without treatment this usually leads to permanent loss of vision in the affected eye.9 I now know that the symptoms can b

                                                                   *Preface*                    "But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man                                             and the life he leads? "                                                   Albert Camus     So what happened next? This is the question I have had from many people who have read “Crossing Borders” (my account of my meeting with my Palestinian husband) and of those who have l earned of the background of my husband and step family. It was not my intention, when telling of the events which led us to be here in Britain, to continue the account of the rest of our lives or even to tell anything further about our relationship. But it seems that some follow up  is wanted by readers and perhaps, to be honest, it is needed for myself too. I have sometimes struggled with how to describe the events following our arrival in this country, but decided that the only way is to "tell it a

                                              1.   Exodus It seemed that I  had yet to travel anywhere by plane and arrive at a reasonable hour. By r easonable, I mean to land at the destination airport at a time where it is possible to  see your surroundings outside of the terminal in daylight and to get to your resting place  without enduring a nausea making journey as it is well past your usual bedtime.  Package holidays taken when my  children were young to Spain, Majorca and later Cyprus,  Greece and and  the Canary Islands, often started with the plane landing at say, four in the afternoon. But by the time coaches were loaded with happy holiday makers and names ticked off lists by couriers, it was usually a few hours later before the journey to the hotel or apartment began. Added to that the “short journey from the airport to the resort” as advertised in the brochures, turned out to be at least another hour or more, and I always ended up getting there at some unearthly hour of th

When embarking on writing your own autobiography, no doubt one of the most important questions you will ask yourself is "What shall I call it ?" There are a multitude of ways of deciding on a title, for an autobiography, from picking a catchphrase from your working life to a phrase relating to a particular talent - or lack of it - which relates to you. It was suggested to me by tutors while at University that the title should be left till last, but I have found that in practice, having something in mind keeps you focused and gives the reader an idea of whether they want to read the writing or not.  The list of 'famous' authors of biographies is endless.  A quick 'Google' gives us Prime Ministers (current and past) Ghandi, Mandela, most politicians present and past as well as writers as diverse as Agatha Christie, Anne Frank and Alan Bennett and so called 'celebrities' of the day,  some of whom I have heard of and many more that I haven't. The first

  I have never met the Duke of Edinburgh or even glimpsed him in person, though, as many are saying since his recent death, he has been there for all of my life and his name cropped up in conversation many times. My father met him, one day in 1963, working as a draughtsman in Sunderland at J L Thompsons and the Prince visited  Doxfords , the largest shipyard in the area.  The Duke of Edinburgh (as my family always gave him his full title) had walked down the line of office workers who were waiting to meet him and stopped beside my father, put out his hand to shake his and asked him his name and if he was going on holiday this year and where.  My Dad, being a shy, reticent person, immediately had a memory block and couldn't remember where he was going. This was strange as my parents and we three children almost always went  to Keswick in the Lake District for one week's holiday, during the annual "Shipyard Fortnight".  However, my Dad recovered himself enough to be abl

  Secondary school pupils in England must keep wearing face masks in class after the Easter holidays, says Education Secretary Gavin Williamson. They will remain a "precautionary measure," until the situation is " reviewed".   The wearing of masks, has been required since schools reopened fully last month though many Headteachers say that  masks disrupt learning and should not be used any longer than is "absolutely necessary" . (  BBC News  6th April 2021) Of course a face mask/muzzle disrupts learning; most secondary students I know mumble anyway and it is difficult enough to communicate with them as it is, without the addition of a piece of cloth or impregnated tissue wrapped around the mouth and nose.  The latest DfE guidance states: "It is expected that face coverings will no longer be required to be worn in classrooms, or by students in other communal areas, at step three of the roadmap, which will be no earlier than 17 May."  DfE  updated 6

Due to age, health or just too much information in my head, my memory gets poorer by the day.  Reading back through this blog written over the last 12/13 years, I am quite surprised myself that I barely remember writing some of posts. So I thought I might as well re-post some of them for my own benefit, and for anyone who hasn't come across them in the past and may find them of interest.  This seemed like a good one to start with - from February 10th 2014. Is your memory bad ?  Well, it's actually worse than you think, it seems.  A study by researchers at  Northwestern University, Chicago shows that o ur memory is a poor way of recording events. Maybe  a better way is to film and photograph every detail of every experience that we have over a lifetime so that we can check back that what we think happened, really did.  Some of us are well on the way to that scenario already. There's hardly a holiday, birthday, day out with friends or visit to the supermarket that is not phot