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Once upon a time
Whilst carrying out research for my latest book, I have been reading about some of the world’s greatest inventions. Many are attributed to named individuals. It all makes fascinating reading. I even found a website which summarises all this information and gives me the names of the inventor, the date and place. All very helpful when writing a historical piece! http://corporate.britannica.com/press/inventions.html It struck me though, as I perused this list, that there is one invention, from which our modern day society has undoubtedly developed, that does not include the name of its inventor: The Wheel. The information given for ‘The Wheel’ is simply: “About 3500 Russia/Kazakhstan or Mesopotamia” It is…
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Smile please!
I was sorting out some old photograph albums recently and they brought home just how precious photographs used to be. The sepia ones, the black and white ones and the first to be taken in colour. A Kodak Box Brownie, was still the order of the day in the fifties and sixties. Do you recall the days when you’d buy a roll of film and wait for the right moment to use each frame? No use wasting any frames as the film was quite expensive to develop. I don’t know about others, but I would keep the last, unfinished roll of film from one holiday to the next. I’d often…
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Meet Doris
Hi, Flossie here, I have been usurped. They told me her presence in my home was a temporary situation. I am not so sure. She was back again today. Who is she? ‘She’ is Doris, an English Bulldog Puppy. Meet Doris: Doris arrived with the little human they coo and ah over all the time. At first, she came with her own crate but she soon gave that up and, horror of horrors, is now allowed to climb into bed with Ol’ Keano. This is something I have never managed to do, even when I was a tiny pup. Keano would send me packing should I so much as put…
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Wait! The writer in me is trying to get out…
The post that isn’t a post… Today I am determined to post something on my blog. I have been determined to post something, anything, every day for the past week. Determination is not all it is cracked up to be and can be easily diverted I have found. Hence, I sit at my keyboard and begin to type only to find myself writing something else entirely. I am very aware of the need to be writing stories and this need seems to be interfering with my ability to update this blog with anything noteworthy. What is the problem? No inspiration? No, I think it is lack of Focus. My head…
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I Meant to Say
There are some things I wish I had said but didn’t, some things I did say but wish I hadn’t. I don’t suppose any of us get it right all the time. Indeed, what would we do if given a second chance to say what we had wanted to say all along? Would we take it? Would it change things for the better? I dare not guess but, just to set the record straight, here are a few of the things I would like to say if I had my time again… As a school girl: To my Irish, English teacher, *Sister Marguerite, who came across to where I…
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The Dress
There are times when one thoughtful act can change the way the world sees you – or the way you think it sees you – even if you are only seven years old and your world is a little smaller than it will one day be. I was still seven years old when the year turned to 1964. I observed the world as the youngest of three sisters, the third of four children. My viewpoint was inevitably coloured by their experiences. My oldest sister, the elder by seven and a quarter years, was practically a grown-up in my eyes. She knew about the Beatles and dancing and had a record player in…
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Lost in the Woods
Tuesday 26th: Flossie here – by the skin of my teeth! I have had a traumatic day. The Boss seems to think she had the worst deal but what does she know? Was she the one bemused and lost in a sea of half familiar faces? Let me start at the beginning. The warm, sunny weather continues today and we jump in the car bright and early in readiness for our trip to the woods. The last few trips have been a pleasure. The Boss has taken to parking in a different place which is much closer to the burbling brooks and bluebells. She thinks it is aesthetically pleasing to…
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An Audience with Grace
The first time I had a short story published I was ecstatic. It didn’t pay a fortune but the real pleasure came from seeing my story appear in print with a glorious illustration to boot. I wrote several short stories in the mid to late nineties for ‘My Weekly,’ – a long-established, women’s magazine that is still going strong today. Each time I had a story published, I felt that frisson of excitement that any writer gets from seeing one’s words in print. I was delighted to find myself in the company of such celebrated writers as Catherine Cookson and always pleased to note that I was placed next to her…
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Are you being served?
Self service is not always what it is cracked up to be. Take yesterday morning for instance. On the way to visit my new grandson and his parents, Zoe and I stopped at ‘Marks and Spencer’ to pick up a few supplies for lunch. Being just off the motorway, M&S would be a quick and easy place to stop we reasoned. We gathered what we needed in record time. We loaded the goods into our basket and headed for the check-out. “We may as well go through self-serve,” Zoe observed. I was, it has to be said, dubious. My experience of these ‘self-serve’ checkouts has never been good. I normally pick…
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He is here!
Eleven days late but perfect in every way, our new little grandson has finally arrived.
