My husband retired at the end of June this year. It was a difficult decision because he loved his job. He was finally working for a company that didn’t take advantage of his nature. They respected his ideas and were open to new ways of thinking. Since then we have both switched off, pretty much. … Continue reading A Necessary Wintering
When I was little I loved the really cold weather because it meant the snow wasn’t far off and snow was the best. Ice was pretty cool too. I loved finding frozen puddles and trying to skate on them or to see how much effort it took to crack the ice.
Have you seen the show 'Take five?' with Zan Rowe. Zan interviews famous musicians and actors and asks them to pick their five favourite songs and then proceeds to dive deep into intimate moments in their lives. It's a favourite of mine. I wanted to try and do that here this month...
It was a very special person’s birthday the other day. We met in 1976. he was the most amazing person I had ever met. I have written about our chance encounter in a previous blog: Encouragement I don't want to repeat myself but you may not have read that post and this story deserves to … Continue reading From Drummer to Artist: Glyn’s Inspiring Journey
The last time I slept well I think I was fifteen. From then on late nights, parties, finding my bed in the wee hours and questionable nutrition were the enemy of my circadian rhythm.
When I was a child I was told I was wilful and that ‘I couldn’t be told.’ Then, as a teen, I was the rebellious one, the black sheep. When I reached adult hood I was told I was bloody-minded. My husband had no idea what he was getting himself into. His mother was not … Continue reading Rebel with a cause
Many years later when I picked up my pen to write again, I found I still felt an invisible person reading over my shoulder. It took me a very long time to let go of worrying about who was going to read my writing. Four years of blogging has helped me be brave and write anyway.
This title has been floating around my mind for a few weeks. Like a lot of people I love Charles Dickens’ story, 'A Christmas Carol' and his delightful character, Mr Scrooge, a long time favourite of mine. I recently discovered a movie, ‘The man who invented Christmas,’ a fictional movie about how Charles wrote the … Continue reading Ghost of Christmas past
Sometimes Auntie Pat would paint our nails and do our hair, that was the best. I loved the ticklish feeling as she painted the stinky nail polish carefully on each of my well-bitten nails.
I don't remember writing being anything other than my happy place. The flow, the zone, the place I love to go to, evaporated. I'm pleased to say I have continued to write this blog. Not a complete failure then.
Rhiannon Dowding - Writer 