Typecast

No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid. Last night... or maybe I should say 'this morning', I was lying in bed, wide awake, at 3.38am, just begging my body to give in and let me get some decent sleep.  I had listened to a gentle podcast, a meditation app and some white noise/rain on YouTube but still couldn't get into that dreamless deep sleep that I crave so much.  My Dad died suddenly on the 4th December. Dealing with something like that is difficult at the best of times but during a pandemic... well, I still haven't wrapped my head around it and that's the reason I'm not sleeping.  In fact, the only time I've slept for more than four hours at a time since then is after I've drunk copious amounts of wine and even I know that's not the best way to deal with this.  I try lying still but I hear my husband snoring and my ears ache from wearing ear plugs. I move to the settee and lie und...

I'm always interested in having a virtual nosy around other people's houses. Once, Sian showed off her favourite corners of her old home and I adored the individuality of it. Our house needs a lot of work structurally (the hallway ceiling fell down a few weeks ago) but the interior means that we would never find another that suits our needs anywhere else! The house is decorated quite neutrally but we all have our own space; each of the children have their own bedrooms adorned with gadgets galore, I have my home office (also the spare room) and my husband has a room for all his boy toys (he’s an amateur radio operator) I have a whole corner of the lounge to myself right next to the radiator. Within reach is my Filofax, a notebook, my hard-drive, my kindle, my craft basket and my laptop. It is a perfect viewing spot for the television and is completely central to the whole of the house. At the top of the stairs hangs my favourite piece of art. I found it at the Hippy Ma...