So, Mothering Sunday is 15th March this year – the day after Pi (π) Day. This is an annual celebration of the mathematical constant π (Pi) and is observed on March 14th since 3,1 and 4 are the first significant figures of π  and it was first celebrated in the USA who tend to note the dates…

If you are following the Methodist Lent liturgy or even the lectionary readings for this Sunday, John 4 – the woman at the well – will be a prominent part of your worship. This story is amazing – that Jesus, a Jewish male rabbi should even speak to this outcasted woman went against every cultural…

‘Playing fast and loose’ apparently is an allusion to an old cheating game once practised at fairs. A belt or strap was doubled and rolled up with the loop in the centre and placed on the edge of a table. The player then had to catch the loop with a skewer while the belt was…

Traditionally Shrove Tuesday (Mardi gras) is the day that Christians eat up all the rich foods (including pancakes) before the forty day season of Lent starts on Ash Wednesday.  This year is special as the celebrations of Lent, Ramadan and the Lunar New Year all coincide – a rare occurrence that won’t happen again until…

When I was a teenager, I sent a card to a young man I really liked but who didn’t care for me. It was a risky thing to do – to wear your heart on your sleeve. Although it wasn’t signed, the fact that I blushed every time I saw him since then probably broke…

Do you have any crocus flowers in your garden? I can remember when I was in the infant school, the crocus was the subject of much artwork – being reasonably simple to draw and one of the first flowers to appear after the winter. It isn’t native to our country, but originated in the Mediterranean…

Remember last week I wrote about attending a match at Portman Road?  Well, that week was a bit of a football based week.  As I said, I hadn’t even been to the ground, let alone watched a math there, for 64 years. But I found myself there again in the Premier lounge for a meeting…

Last Saturday, we went to the cup match at Portman Road – Ipswich v Blackpool. It was the first time I had been in the stadium for 64 years. And it did trigger some memories. I remember being carried on my Dad’s shoulders – during the game and on the way home. Many things have…

Next Monday (19th January) will allegedly be the most depressing day of the year: Blue Monday. Developed by Cardiff psychologist Cliff Arnail in 2005, it’s a psychosocial framework to identify and explain a confluence of factors contributing to low mood and psychological distress typically observed in mid to late January. It even has its own formula:…

Where we live at midnight we watch the fireworks from our bedroom window. We have a view up the river and, on a clear night, can experience displays on the waterfront and beyond in one direction and possibly through Sproughton and along the estuary in the other. The family from next door who moved in…