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God bless silly people – no.2

God bless silly people In our village of St Just (France) there is a church dating back to the year 1432. It is an utter monstrosity, far too big for the village, but hey ho, that’s what they did in olden days. When we first arrived in the village, years ago now, I was interested […]

Posted 12 years ago

God bless silly people – no.1. Jokes.

Supposedly, these are sentences exactly as typed by medical secretaries in a major Hospital in Glasgow … 1. The patient has no previous history of suicide. 2. Patient has left her white blood cells at another hospital. 3. Patient’s medical history has been remarkably insignificant with only a 40 pound weight gain in the past […]

Posted 12 years ago

Litter-bugs. From the mouths of babes & sucklings. A bit rude.

I was telling a friend yesterday about the lamentable amount of litter (garbage) in Hopkins, Belize (though they do seem to now be making the effort to clear it up and to teach people about keeping the streets clean) when I remembered something my daughter, Pippa, said when she was about five:- First, I have […]

Posted 12 years ago

Gentle Jesus. A heartwarming story from WWII.

At the outbreak of World War Two, my father was a young doctor serving in the British army in North Africa. Along with wounded soldiers he looked after any of the local people who needed his attention. His post there came to a rapid end when he contracted TB and was shipped out to South […]

Posted 12 years ago

Ladies, ladies, ladies ! Instructions for a lady!

Today when I was helping clean up in the Chateau I came across a book that was published in 1962, entitled “Useful Hints for the Housewife and Mother”. Here, ladies, are the tips we have all been longing for! – …. A restless baby can often be soothed if you wrap a ticking clock in […]

Posted 12 years ago

Writing and editing, spelling and punctuating, wanting to be a writer …

I am quite frequently asked to look at other people’s work. A lot of the art work I see leaves me feeling humble, and a lot of it leaves me feeling glad … it is all a question of taste, I suppose, though some of the art work I am asked to glance at is […]

Posted 12 years ago

The NHS – National Health Service in the UK

I have travelled hugely and I just cannot understand why the British love to moan about the NHS. It is a fantastic system and we should be grateful for it. We have doctors and nurses that are among the most highly-qualified and experienced in the world. We have a care system to beat 90% of […]

Posted 12 years ago

Becoming an author, how to, a few do and don’ts. Writing and publishing.

  I have been asked to write an item for an on-line writers’ forum. I haven’t written it yet, and this is my rough copy as I work it out ! OK – well, all writers know that is it stunningly – excruciatingly – difficult to get published. People who haven’t tried it have no […]

Posted 13 years ago

Reviews, holiday reports, good or bad restaurants and so on

This morning a friend phoned me, very upset, because he had received a bad review for his little hotel-restaurant nearby. I read the review, as requested, and can only conclude that there are some unfortunate people on earth who simply have nothing better to do. The review was bitchy in the extreme, and I was […]

Posted 13 years ago

A Move to France; some of the difficulties.

I have been asked to write a short article about the difficulties we faced when we moved to France, so I thought it would do for today’s blog. Here it is. We faced inordinate difficulties when we moved to France, the worst being the bureaucracy. I set up my own little estate agency because my […]

Posted 13 years ago

Books now available on Amazon:

A Call From France
French Sand
Kefani: An African Childhood
The Man With Green Fingers
Saying Nothing