“Monday, Monday, can’t trust that day”, so said The Mamas and the Papas! So it is, that generally no one likes Mondays, except retired people, of course! The end of the weekend, the start of the week at work.

Every year we look forward to the new year, and hope for everything to be better than before. That may mean setting goals in the form of resolutions, perhaps to exercise more, eat healthier or read more books, for instance.

Normally my Christmas preparations start in September, when I prepare the Christmas cake and pudding. However, this year I decided to have a change, for various reasons. Christmas cake and pudding are great on Christmas Day, but as there is only John and I, we end up with a lot left over for the ensuing days, plus I also made my two-tier Wedding Cake this year, for the July celebration, so we have had a lot of rich fruit cake this year.

The year is almost over, and the New Year’s resolutions made in January this year are due to be completed in a month. How many of them have you already achieved? All or most of them I hope!

They say that our children are our legacy, and in many ways it is true. There is surely a little of us in each of our children and grandchildren.

Halloween, like many other notable annual dates, originated from a pagan festival. However, I don’t remember much about Halloween from my childhood, it was the USA influence that brought children going from house-to-house trick or treating, and people dressing up in ghostly apparel. More latterly Halloween has been a good excuse for a party in the UK.

People often ask me about the way I write, and sometimes they are talking about whether I have a regular routine, sitting down at my desk for so many hours per day etc.

Ever village, town and city has a fiesta, or two or more.

Summer, the season of the year to enjoy the sun and the beach, but for those of us who live near the beach, it is also a good time to discover magical places inland and this year, we decided to return to a very special place, and also to discover new places. 

Once I had decided to buy a house in Spain it was time to fly over, meet the estate agent and view some properties. The full story is told in my book “A Tale of Two Villages”, but today I wish to tell you about a wonderful experience I had on that first trip.

July in Spain, what image does that usually conjure up? Sun, sand and sea? Yes, indeed it is a time for holidays. However, for people living in Spain it can be a time for air conditioning, cool drinks and dips in the pool.

I remember the day that I became a grandmother very distinctly. My daughter was about to have her first baby and the father suddenly got cold feet about being there with her, so very quickly I was gowned up and entered the delivery room. Sitting at the head of my daughter holding her hand, I witnessed the birth of my first beautiful grandchild, Eva.