January. Oh, the pressure! I make the same resolution every year: Eat less, move more… and, inevitably, by day three, I break it. But not this time. 2020 is all about being new and improved. Besides, on moving from London to the country, I’d determined to transform myself into a capable and serene woman who’sRead more
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Slowly I’m getting to know the area. And the area, very nearly, got to know me. And not in a good way. It happened like this: The Easter weekend dawns bright and sunny and I’ve looked up the local listings. There’s plenty to do. I could stroke a goat at a nearby farm, wear anRead more
I’ve been lying low. I’ve had to. Life in the country is a lot more complicated than I’d thought. Everyone knows each other here. And they talk. Currently there’s some talk about me. Apparently, going out with two men in the same small town at the same time is a no-no. Shame. I’d been enjoyingRead more
Rose, my glamorous septuagenarian neighbour is mixing us vodka martinis. “I’ve been invited to play Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit but I’m in two minds. What do you think?” “Well I’ve heard of the play” I offer hesitantly. Or at least I think I have. “But I’ve never seen it” “With a twist?” she asksRead more
I’d slept fitfully. All night I had been tormented by ghostly visions of being chased through an empty house. My mother was there in an evening dress and an unbecoming hat shouting at me from the top of a balcony about breaking a window. Who was going to clear up the mess? She wanted toRead more
I’m planning on being fashionably late for Niles’ party. But, I wonder, exactly how late is fashionable and not simply rude? Oh, why on earth am I worrying about this? I think crossly. After all, Niles is one of the rudest people I know. Highly amusing at times (usually at someone else’s expense), charming even,Read more
“Miranda’s got a new thing” Niles’ voice down the phone is resigned. And that’s never a good sign. As feature editor for one of the magazines I freelance for, he is the conduit through which the Powers on High, namely Miranda the Editor-in-chief, issues her commands. “She’s got it in to her head that peopleRead more
The place is a tip. No. That’s an exaggeration. There isn’t a stack of dirty dishes in the sink and empty wine glasses under the bed (actually there might be a pair of champagne glasses down there but that’s a whole other story) and so the house isn’t a complete mess, but it does needRead more
Date: Valentine’s Day. Time: 8.15pm. Event: A Singles Night Location: A pub somewhere on the outskirts of a market town. There’s no reason to feel nervous, I tell myself as I push open the door to a private room on the first floor of a newly spruced up gastro-pub. I’ll chat to a few people,Read more
Around the middle of January I feel a prickling flutter of disquiet. I shake it off. But a week later the prickling develops in to a full-blown itch. A mental one (not the other kind… just so we’re clear). For, in February, there’s no avoiding them. They’re everywhere. In the supermarket, in the newsagents, thereRead more
