I received a flyer through my door the other day from one of the political parties obviously chasing my vote in the up and coming general election, I had to laugh, because they did an amazing job of explaining what a terrible place Ipswich is and all the things that are wrong with the town…

I was there watching when your alarm went off this morning. I saw you hit the snooze button and wondered if you might remember me as you scrolled through the appointments and activities you planned for the day. But I guess your mind was full of other things. I saw you hurriedly jump out of…

It is easy to get downhearted about the state of things. An election campaign makes us think and it can bring out the worst in us. On holiday on Dartmoor recently we visited the ancient Wistman’s wood; a mysterious  wooded area of great beauty. Around the margins new oak seedlings are flourishing. The destruction of…

Today’s thought for the day is brought to us by Rev Phyllis Thompson Adapted from a contribution by Rev Phyllis Thompson, the Education Director for the New Testament Church of God-Leadership Training Centre, at the time of writing. (www.christianaid.orguk) Something to read Now as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge,…

871 the then Prince of Wales’s recovery was widely thought to have resulted from nationwide prayers, not from advances in medicine. There have been subsequent national days of prayer, and some might say we could do with more today. But it did make me wonder, initially, how many similar or identical prayer requests are made…

Today’s thought for the day is brought to us by Liz Cope I have had to practice this in bucket loads recently. Patience with others and patience with myself. My husband has taken over the role of butler, gardener, cleaner, nursemaid and general handyman. (He might argue – nothing has changed!) Apparently, patience is one…

Responding to advice from the doctor we took a few days off recently and spent the best part of a week with our daughter in Norwich, she currently has two rabbit’s and a guinea pig.  I remember the day we first met Lola the rabbit three or four years ago, she was a tiny bundle…

 In the final episode Robson visited a floating village. At the time of filming the water level was quite low so the villagers had redirected part of the river to actually keep the houses floating. When they weren’t floating it caused problems with how the people travelled. The lady who acted as a guide was…

At weekends when my children were small, we would often open a tub of popcorn and hunker down to share a film together. I’d invite them to take a handful of the snack and put it in a bowl on their laps and nibble as they watched. However, there was one evening when the tub…

The walking guide that we followed assiduously said, ‘when you reach here you have crossed Foxtor Mire and are alive to tell the tale’. It was probably irresponsible for two people of broadly sound mind to cross a notoriously dangerous Dartmoor bog when there was no compulsion to do so. But what is compulsion when…