Having just finished a knitting contract that had consumed most evenings for the best part of the last four months, I rewarded myself with a new jigsaw.  Forty two different teapots segmented into 1000 pieces, with little written captions – my favourite sort of challenge. The pieces were uniquely cut into odd and original shapes.…

Have you ever seen an obese ant?  Nor have I.  But why not? Attracted as they are to every sugary spill in my kitchen and impossible to deter with every lotion, potion and spray on the market. Where’s the justice in that, God? My blood level sores at the very mention of cake.  My waist…

As I write this, the Jubilee celebrations are still fresh in my memory but by the time you read these words, those days may seem long gone!! The idea of ‘jubilee’ originated way back in the times of Moses’ wanderings in the desert. Hebrew time was divided into seven year cycles. After the seventh of…

I was teaching ten reception age children a week before half term. On the last afternoon, they had a scavenger hunt to do outside. So we went out armed with clipboard and sheets with pictures of the ten plants/ animals they needed to spot and pencils. It was a warm afternoon. When we finished they…

I’m currently putting together a ‘Songs of Praise’ programme.  In the light of this, I asked a friend what would be their hymn choice. His response was ‘And did those feet….’. This got me thinking. Is ‘Jerusalem’ a hymn? It’s a very rousing song – some would say it’s England’s second national anthem. Depending on…

I’ve just read a report from Loctite, the glue manufacturers (others are available!), revealing that there are more than 100 million broken household items lying around. I’m not sure how they know.  Surely the prevalence of having young children in the household would make a difference? Anyway, they surmise from this that at least 38%…

Did you watch The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebration on Sunday evening?  There was debate in our house about whether or not to watch it and some confusion as to how ‘live’ the event was. I got to wondering how a person starts to organise such an unprecedented event. There’s no guidebook or manual on what…

My Mum always says I am the most stubborn of her four children. I can remember one dinnertime, when I was very little, my Dad saying that I couldn’t get down from the table until I had a clean plate. I don’t know what was on that plate, but it was something I refused to…

There is some confusion over the origin of the word Lent. Some say it has Germanic roots meaning ‘to lengthen’ referring to the lengthening of the days and the equinox balancing the timings of darkness and light. Lent also comes from ‘lencten’ an old Anglo Saxon word for Spring. Whichever it is (or maybe it’s…