I have been very busy being festive: Buying presents, hanging a wreath, and also making my own paper chains with the children which for one wonderful moment made me feel like a woman who knits her own socks and bakes her own bread. I have also spent a good deal of time searching desperately for costumes for various nativity plays and end of term drama productions. My son was bad santa and insisted on a black santa costume. I was just about to slog off for the dye, when somebody mentioned Poundland and yes, unbelievably they sold black santa hats! My daughter was a dancing cat yesterday, but on Friday at the after school drama production, she will be a duck. I haven’t got any further than buying a big yellow squashy envelope and deciding that she can wear her brown sleeveless shaggy jacket from I Love Gorgeous, because it kind of looks like duck feathers. If I was someone who baked bread, I would know how to make the yellow envelope into a beak, but I don’t bake and have no idea what to do next. For one awful moment in the middle of the night, I wasn’t even sure that ducks do have yellow beaks.
I’ve been buying presents here, there and everywhere, starting in November at the Victoria and Albert shop and finishing last night, when a lovely girl called Clara delivered some beautiful hand made bath bombs, made from natural ingredients. ref="www.beauty-by-hand.com/">://www.beauty-by-hand.com/ and presented in a stylish brown box with a silver ribbon. I’ve spent so much money that I now have the definite feeling that I couldn’t possibly buy anything for myself. For a long long time I’ve wanted a new vacuum cleaner. Mine is old and smelly and cumbersome and I somehow dread it. My husband would definitely have said keep it, so I planned to get a new one secretly.
The new one arrived in a box and I was confused because it was so light. It’s a thing of great beauty, like a piece of sculpture, and it makes my old Henry seem quite archaic. It has a battery that you charge up and then it races around, bagless and beautiful. Even my disgruntled cleaner agreed that it was divine. I feel like I’m living in 2025. ://www.vax.co.uk/shop/product/upright-vacuum-cleaners/life/LiFE-Cordless-Upright-U91-LF-B"
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
One Minute to Save the World
Apparently since 2000, the recycling rate in the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham has shot up from %8 to %25. And if you are the kind of person who doesn’t particularly care about recycling you maybe interested to know that H and F council spends an incredible £4m each year sending waste to landfill and landfill rates have doubled in the last two years. If the council were able to recycle twice as much as they already do, it would save 2m a year in landfill charges and mean lower council tax charges for us. It makes me angry that people can’t be bothered to put a can or some newspapers or a glass or bottles in the orange bags. It’s so easy.
On Sunday I was one of four or five member of Wecan . who watched about 50 shortlisted, one minute long films that had been entered for our film competition, One Minutcome to Save the World. The 50 had already been whittled down from 200 entries that have been entered from filmmakers all over the world. There were films from amateurs, professionals, companies and under eighteens. One of my favourites shows a little boy playing with a paper boat, flying it in the air as the earth has dried up and is barren and parched. We then see him dragging it along by a string. It is really poignant. We chose 27 which will now go to our panel of judges including Franny Armstrong, director of Age of Stupid and Bruce Parry. Some of them are brilliant, some charming and some very sad, but they all make an important impact. You can view at http://www.1minutetosavetheworld.com/ The winning entries will be shown at the United Nations Climate Change conference in Copenhagen in December.
On Sunday I was one of four or five member of Wecan . who watched about 50 shortlisted, one minute long films that had been entered for our film competition, One Minutcome to Save the World. The 50 had already been whittled down from 200 entries that have been entered from filmmakers all over the world. There were films from amateurs, professionals, companies and under eighteens. One of my favourites shows a little boy playing with a paper boat, flying it in the air as the earth has dried up and is barren and parched. We then see him dragging it along by a string. It is really poignant. We chose 27 which will now go to our panel of judges including Franny Armstrong, director of Age of Stupid and Bruce Parry. Some of them are brilliant, some charming and some very sad, but they all make an important impact. You can view at http://www.1minutetosavetheworld.com/ The winning entries will be shown at the United Nations Climate Change conference in Copenhagen in December.
Thursday, 22 October 2009
A really great book for London families
For five years our weekends and most holidays were spent at a tiny coastguard cottage on the Solent. It was in the middle of a row of ten. We shared front gardens with our neighbours on the left and back gardens with our neighbours on the right. For some reason the weekenders used the front gardens, which faced the sea, and the full time residents used the back gardens, so we never really had to share at all. But there were long expanses in the mid winter when we simply didn’t use the cottage and felt guilty when we weren’t there, in fact felt guilty whenever we went anywhere else. When it was cold we couldn’t face the drive, the weather and the wind. We gave it up in January, as it didn’t make sense to be paying for two houses in the middle of a bleak recession. At first it was exciting to be in London with so much to see and do. I liked tramping the dirty pavements and going to cafes, and seeing random last minute films. There were friends to invite over and museums to visit, but having exhausted trips to the country to stay with out of town friends and with a five year old and an eight year old to keep amused things became tense. Our small garden, (well more of a patio) is not enough to contain them for more than a few minutes. When we had friends over for lunch the other day they spent quite a lot of time playing on the flat roof outside Belle’s room. The adults ate lunch and pretended not to notice or to care about the potentially life threatening situation.
I heard from a friend about a brilliant little book: Adventure Walks for Families in and around London by Becky Jones and Clare Lewis. Last weekend we drove to the Chilterns in the rain because I was determined and desperate to get out of the city for a hearty walk recommended by the guide. We had decided to do the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Walk. At first the children were reluctant. My five year old sat at the bottom of a hill and refused to budge. We coaxed her up, (well my husband put her on his shoulders) and as we passed the windmill used as a location in the film, she cheered up, and climbed down, and I told her a few back to back stories, until she really got into the walk and sped down the hill towards some grazing black cows, that really did look like an art installation. I forgot to mention that by now the sun had come out and the landscape was stunning. The children ran and laughed and looked for items for a scavenger hunt: a feather, a shiny stone, a piece of animal poo etc. (again advice from the book) and then their moods changed and by the end of the walk they were smiling, happy and rosy cheeked. Luke and I had our usual discussion about moving to the country (which actually never goes anywhere). The walk was two and a half miles and completely restored us. The book also recommends pubs to visit and things to do in the car. Genius.
I heard from a friend about a brilliant little book: Adventure Walks for Families in and around London by Becky Jones and Clare Lewis. Last weekend we drove to the Chilterns in the rain because I was determined and desperate to get out of the city for a hearty walk recommended by the guide. We had decided to do the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Walk. At first the children were reluctant. My five year old sat at the bottom of a hill and refused to budge. We coaxed her up, (well my husband put her on his shoulders) and as we passed the windmill used as a location in the film, she cheered up, and climbed down, and I told her a few back to back stories, until she really got into the walk and sped down the hill towards some grazing black cows, that really did look like an art installation. I forgot to mention that by now the sun had come out and the landscape was stunning. The children ran and laughed and looked for items for a scavenger hunt: a feather, a shiny stone, a piece of animal poo etc. (again advice from the book) and then their moods changed and by the end of the walk they were smiling, happy and rosy cheeked. Luke and I had our usual discussion about moving to the country (which actually never goes anywhere). The walk was two and a half miles and completely restored us. The book also recommends pubs to visit and things to do in the car. Genius.
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
Nightmares
My husband often has bad dreams, but I rarely do. However the last two nights I've had terribly anxious making dreams, not quite nightmares but dreams that I have been really really relieved to wake up from. This morning I dreamt that I was a director of a film about to be shot, but I had no experience of being a director. I knew everyone was relying on me and I was in a state,because I was in charge of this huge production: actors, extras, producers, crew. I woke quite slowly realizing that actually no, I am not a director. HURRAY! Although I have to admit I was a little disappointed. But HURRAY that I did not have this huge responsibility and could breath again. I also felt admiration for my friend Martha who is a real director! The night before I dreamt I was on a boat, and there was someone kind of gliding above me and I was holding the string that kept him afloat, and I was suddenly scared that I would blow up into the sky, so I let go of the rope and he went crashing into the sea and I thought he was DEAD. He wasn't dead but shaken, and I couldn't admit it was me. Awful.
What is going on with me? I think I've been going through quite a difficult time, but perhaps that time is coming to an end. There is never enough time to do this blog properly, I sometimes find it hard to write all day for a living, and also write the blog. I still have to answer some questions that I was tagged with a while ago, which I will get round to. I want to read so many blogs, but now, I have to run to pick up the children, bring them home, than rush back for parents evening!
What is going on with me? I think I've been going through quite a difficult time, but perhaps that time is coming to an end. There is never enough time to do this blog properly, I sometimes find it hard to write all day for a living, and also write the blog. I still have to answer some questions that I was tagged with a while ago, which I will get round to. I want to read so many blogs, but now, I have to run to pick up the children, bring them home, than rush back for parents evening!
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Talking at the new Sheperds Bush Library
Last week, my friend Josa, me, and a friend of hers, did an event at Nottinghill Waterstones. I couldn't sleep the night before as I had never done anything like it and was SO nervous that I could feel my heart jumping out of my chest. I invited my mother, brother, sister and two friends from school to come along, incase no one else turned up. Josa did an introduction linking us together as apparently we all write about "modern heroines." When it came to my turn to talk, I tried to concentrate on the Waterstones subtext: Feminism meets Chicklit, and I'm still not sure if I was making sense. I was trying to say its still hard for a woman, because half of her wants to stay at home with the children, and half of her is frustrated that she can't get on with her career, (I know alot of women actually like staying at home and being with their children and actually I really approve of that) because in most cases its not going to be the Daddy who stays home and worries about sports day and the costume for assembly,and so if you don't stay home, you will have to hire someone else to do it.
I read out a paragraph from one of Potty Mummy's blogs posts on being a stay at home mother, in which she tells us how hard it is after being a career girl to then be at home, but how she has come to accept it, and be good at it. It is a really interesting read, as are the comments underneath. And of course being a mummy at home won't be for ever. Ellie the character in my book, The Seven Year Itch is shocked when she hears herself walk into Gap and say, "It's a shame you don't do those shirts with the teddy logo any more." It is at that moment that she thinks her life must change, as it can no longer be all about teddy bear logos. She is also motivated by the fact that her husband, the irrepressibly selfish Jack, has lost his job starring in TV soap. She reflects about her time at home that no one praised her for being a good mother and no one reprimanded her for being a bad one, which made her feel truly invisible.
On Thursday (tomorrow) Josa and I will be appearing at the new Sheperds Bush Library at Westfield in London. We are starting at 630 so if any of you can make it, please do. It will be so excruciating if only three people turn up!! Yikes. A weird single man came up to me at the end of the last one, and said you won't like me saying this but it's very Desperate Housewives. I was thrilled.
My 8 year old son was really rude to me yesterday. He was tired and moaning, and walking at 0 miles an hour to school, so I lost it, and was really mean and said "I can't wait for you to be at school," and he retorted, "I can't wait for you to die!" which really shocked me, but later when I regaled the sad little story to my reading book girls, they all laughed, including me, and the wise Denize, mother of two teenagers said, "you have to learn that they will always come back at you with something more hurtful, than what you've said to them" and later when the conversation had moved on and we were talking about parents and children Rebecca said she had read somewhere that "All parents are destined to love their children more than they love them!" Makes you think!
I read out a paragraph from one of Potty Mummy's blogs posts on being a stay at home mother, in which she tells us how hard it is after being a career girl to then be at home, but how she has come to accept it, and be good at it. It is a really interesting read, as are the comments underneath. And of course being a mummy at home won't be for ever. Ellie the character in my book, The Seven Year Itch is shocked when she hears herself walk into Gap and say, "It's a shame you don't do those shirts with the teddy logo any more." It is at that moment that she thinks her life must change, as it can no longer be all about teddy bear logos. She is also motivated by the fact that her husband, the irrepressibly selfish Jack, has lost his job starring in TV soap. She reflects about her time at home that no one praised her for being a good mother and no one reprimanded her for being a bad one, which made her feel truly invisible.
On Thursday (tomorrow) Josa and I will be appearing at the new Sheperds Bush Library at Westfield in London. We are starting at 630 so if any of you can make it, please do. It will be so excruciating if only three people turn up!! Yikes. A weird single man came up to me at the end of the last one, and said you won't like me saying this but it's very Desperate Housewives. I was thrilled.
My 8 year old son was really rude to me yesterday. He was tired and moaning, and walking at 0 miles an hour to school, so I lost it, and was really mean and said "I can't wait for you to be at school," and he retorted, "I can't wait for you to die!" which really shocked me, but later when I regaled the sad little story to my reading book girls, they all laughed, including me, and the wise Denize, mother of two teenagers said, "you have to learn that they will always come back at you with something more hurtful, than what you've said to them" and later when the conversation had moved on and we were talking about parents and children Rebecca said she had read somewhere that "All parents are destined to love their children more than they love them!" Makes you think!
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
New Book
I have finished a draft of my new book, and have given it to a few people to read, and only one has got back to me so far! I look at the pages and scroll through them and can't seem to find the energy to do anything with it, so I write this instead, or clean up, or ring the vet. And then I check my emails, including the junk box, and then sign into facebook and then check my bank account.
And then every time I do look at the "book" (Its not sold yet) there is something that could be improved on. Always. I don't even know if it's any good any more, because I can no longer be objective about the plot or the characters. A brilliant girl called Deborah Susman from my writing group went through it for me and made some brilliant observations, but she didn't reference her comments with any page numbers so I am desperately looking at her remarks, like "Jen tells Jack to ask Ellie directly about the boyfriend but I thought he already had" And a) I can't remember writing that and b) I don't know where I wrote it. There are 80,000 words.
Its 1031am and I have done nothing but sit here and read other people's blogs and think about ringing up the cat insurance people to give them the vets fax number.
And I'm not sure about the title of the new book, it could be The Holiday, or The Summer Holiday. Some days I think its a brilliant title perfect for reading on a summer holiday and other days I think it's boring? Is it? The story, by the way, is about a group of people on holiday and how all their lives change over the week they are together.
I suppose I'd better get back to it now. If anyone feels like reading it and making comments good and bad, please let me know.
And then every time I do look at the "book" (Its not sold yet) there is something that could be improved on. Always. I don't even know if it's any good any more, because I can no longer be objective about the plot or the characters. A brilliant girl called Deborah Susman from my writing group went through it for me and made some brilliant observations, but she didn't reference her comments with any page numbers so I am desperately looking at her remarks, like "Jen tells Jack to ask Ellie directly about the boyfriend but I thought he already had" And a) I can't remember writing that and b) I don't know where I wrote it. There are 80,000 words.
Its 1031am and I have done nothing but sit here and read other people's blogs and think about ringing up the cat insurance people to give them the vets fax number.
And I'm not sure about the title of the new book, it could be The Holiday, or The Summer Holiday. Some days I think its a brilliant title perfect for reading on a summer holiday and other days I think it's boring? Is it? The story, by the way, is about a group of people on holiday and how all their lives change over the week they are together.
I suppose I'd better get back to it now. If anyone feels like reading it and making comments good and bad, please let me know.
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
My new healthy lifestyle
I am sitting here, drinking fresh pear and apple juice made from my new juicer. Its delicious. I gave my husband and children a glass each at breakfast because I am worried about the onslaught of winter, and swine flu and trying to keep them healthy. Yesterday we drank carrot, apple and nectarine, although the nectarines only provided about a miniscule drop, the size of a pea, and my daughter refuses to drink carrot. She is a girl who likes “cookies” and honey and sweets.
Once years ago, when I was trying to conceive, a very nice homeopath advised me to drink truckloads of beetroot, carrot and apple juice. I seem to remember I was meant to drink it twice a day. And so I bought a small juicer and diligently set about making and drinking the juice. And God it made a mess. And it took half an hour just to chop up all the fruit and process it and then clean it. I had to scrape out great big chunks of pulp and clean everything by hand, which took ages. After a couple of months my skin was glowing, but I gave up juicing. The process of cleaning and chopping just took too long. (I finally conceived through a Polish acupuncturist who dug in the needles and twisted and some harsh Chinese herbs, and visiting a kind of celebrity nutritionist who made both of us give up alcohol, caffeine and almost all forms of enjoyment except sex!)
Anyway for the last six months, I have been buying a large glass of freshly squeezed orange and apple juice from my lovely local café, Cupboard, in a quest to give up Diet Coke, but it has cost me a fortune. So I decided to invest in a professional juicer. And wow it is good. It is designed by Antony Worrall Thompson, for Breville and it has a big chute so you can put in the fruit whole and two speeds and a separate jug that collects all the pulp, and most of the parts can be put straight into the machine. Genius. £109 from Argos and other retailers.
Once years ago, when I was trying to conceive, a very nice homeopath advised me to drink truckloads of beetroot, carrot and apple juice. I seem to remember I was meant to drink it twice a day. And so I bought a small juicer and diligently set about making and drinking the juice. And God it made a mess. And it took half an hour just to chop up all the fruit and process it and then clean it. I had to scrape out great big chunks of pulp and clean everything by hand, which took ages. After a couple of months my skin was glowing, but I gave up juicing. The process of cleaning and chopping just took too long. (I finally conceived through a Polish acupuncturist who dug in the needles and twisted and some harsh Chinese herbs, and visiting a kind of celebrity nutritionist who made both of us give up alcohol, caffeine and almost all forms of enjoyment except sex!)
Anyway for the last six months, I have been buying a large glass of freshly squeezed orange and apple juice from my lovely local café, Cupboard, in a quest to give up Diet Coke, but it has cost me a fortune. So I decided to invest in a professional juicer. And wow it is good. It is designed by Antony Worrall Thompson, for Breville and it has a big chute so you can put in the fruit whole and two speeds and a separate jug that collects all the pulp, and most of the parts can be put straight into the machine. Genius. £109 from Argos and other retailers.
Thursday, 3 September 2009
The Trials and Pleasures of Camping
I am a woman who likes a hot bath, a comfortable bed, and a flushing loo. I am also someone who is prone to feeling cold in June and I am not the best sleeper, even in the comfort of my own six foot wide bed. Not the ideal candidate for camping then.
“You’ll hate it,” my husband repeated over and over again, as I suggested a camping trip a few times last year. Secretly I thought he was right, although I protested thinking that the children would have deprived childhoods if we didn’t let them sleep under the stars. But last November my friend Sophie announced that she was having a camping party for the August Bank Holiday Weekend, and because she always does things brilliantly, I said we would go. And then I promptly tried not to think about it or do anything about buying a tent, or a blow up mattress or a pump or a torch or all the other things I later discovered are needed for a camping holiday.
Then two parents from my sons class asked us to join them for a June camping weekend and because we were new parents at the school, and keen for Jude to bond with his friends, I rashly accepted. The time drew nearer and suddenly we realized we had nothing to camp with. We borrowed two small tents and a gas cooker and taking the advice of friends, we packed our car with duvets, pillows, blankets and sausages. I also telephoned my doctor and asked for sleeping pills. Packing for two nights took five hours!
Things I liked about my first camping trip: Eating a ton of bread and sausages and not caring.
Drinking quite a few glasses of wine.
Getting to know my camping friends: The lovely Jane and the gorgeous Emily.
Waking to the sound of bird song.
Children out all day from 7am
Grownups out all day from 8am
Swimming in the river
The cream tea café on the camp site.
The camping glow
Watching the Stars.
Things I don’t like:
Blow up mattresses
Taking sleeping pills
Queuing up for a shower
Washing up without gloves or a dishwasher.
Putting down and putting up the tent.
Not being able to find anything when it gets dark
Piling up the car with almost all the contents of a house.
Feeling exhausted for two days after getting home.
Having to walk across a field to pee at night.
But it can’t be that bad. We have since been camping to Glastonbury, Dorset and just back from Yorkshire for the bank holiday camping party which was the best four days ever.
My tip: Rose hip moisturizing oil is perfect for rough skin that’s been out in all weathers and the oil is extracted from rose that grows in the Andes Mountains. It’s in a roll on bottle so won’t spill if you are travelling. I used it on my cracked heels and on my dry legs, although you can use it on your hair and face. I wish Aubrey Organics would make it in a bigger bottle!
“You’ll hate it,” my husband repeated over and over again, as I suggested a camping trip a few times last year. Secretly I thought he was right, although I protested thinking that the children would have deprived childhoods if we didn’t let them sleep under the stars. But last November my friend Sophie announced that she was having a camping party for the August Bank Holiday Weekend, and because she always does things brilliantly, I said we would go. And then I promptly tried not to think about it or do anything about buying a tent, or a blow up mattress or a pump or a torch or all the other things I later discovered are needed for a camping holiday.
Then two parents from my sons class asked us to join them for a June camping weekend and because we were new parents at the school, and keen for Jude to bond with his friends, I rashly accepted. The time drew nearer and suddenly we realized we had nothing to camp with. We borrowed two small tents and a gas cooker and taking the advice of friends, we packed our car with duvets, pillows, blankets and sausages. I also telephoned my doctor and asked for sleeping pills. Packing for two nights took five hours!
Things I liked about my first camping trip: Eating a ton of bread and sausages and not caring.
Drinking quite a few glasses of wine.
Getting to know my camping friends: The lovely Jane and the gorgeous Emily.
Waking to the sound of bird song.
Children out all day from 7am
Grownups out all day from 8am
Swimming in the river
The cream tea café on the camp site.
The camping glow
Watching the Stars.
Things I don’t like:
Blow up mattresses
Taking sleeping pills
Queuing up for a shower
Washing up without gloves or a dishwasher.
Putting down and putting up the tent.
Not being able to find anything when it gets dark
Piling up the car with almost all the contents of a house.
Feeling exhausted for two days after getting home.
Having to walk across a field to pee at night.
But it can’t be that bad. We have since been camping to Glastonbury, Dorset and just back from Yorkshire for the bank holiday camping party which was the best four days ever.
My tip: Rose hip moisturizing oil is perfect for rough skin that’s been out in all weathers and the oil is extracted from rose that grows in the Andes Mountains. It’s in a roll on bottle so won’t spill if you are travelling. I used it on my cracked heels and on my dry legs, although you can use it on your hair and face. I wish Aubrey Organics would make it in a bigger bottle!
Friday, 7 August 2009
The need to Diet and Rest after a Tuscan Holiday
I am just back from an Italian hamlet near Cortona where I spent 10 days in 40degrees heat. We stayed in a beautiful tumble down farmhouse, the garden was exquisite, but I have returned exhausted and with a desperate need to diet.
I couldn’t sleep; it was too hot. I also had constant headaches, and was on full alert as one of the other guests had told me my room was haunted.
The lunches were huge. We thought nothing of tucking into parma ham and melon, tomato and mozzarella, fine thin bread, bread in the shape of a disc, figs, cheese, and variations on that theme. Dinner could be pasta or pizza at the local tavern or grilled pork in Cortona. I started off with a keen need to swim 100 lengths a day, like Maggie Fergusson another guest, and author of the brilliant biography, The Life of George Mackay Brown. But by day 10 my girth had ballooned but my will power had slipped and I was only swimming about 4 lengths a day and at best 10.
Sure I read a few great books and saw some heart-stoppingly beautiful Piero della Francesca murals in the Basilica di San Francesco, Arezzo, and more stunning frescoes in the Brancacci chapel in Florence on the way home. I also managed two half a mile walks up a hill but other than that spent most of the time supine.
I have just finished a first draft of my new novel, The Summer Holiday, set in a house party in Italy, so no doubt some of the details, like the different kinds of bees that buzzed across the lavender and the church bells striking the hour of day, will find their way into the new book. Please if you haven’t already, buy my current novel, a great summer read, The Seven Year Itch.
Beauty Tip: I was sent a travel pack by Incognito, who specialise in deet free mosquito products, which also smell really good. Their moisturizer doubles as an anti mosquito cream is great because it cuts down on the exhausting effort of piling on moisturizer and then anti mosquito - http://www.lessmosquito.com One less thing to do in the heat.
I couldn’t sleep; it was too hot. I also had constant headaches, and was on full alert as one of the other guests had told me my room was haunted.
The lunches were huge. We thought nothing of tucking into parma ham and melon, tomato and mozzarella, fine thin bread, bread in the shape of a disc, figs, cheese, and variations on that theme. Dinner could be pasta or pizza at the local tavern or grilled pork in Cortona. I started off with a keen need to swim 100 lengths a day, like Maggie Fergusson another guest, and author of the brilliant biography, The Life of George Mackay Brown. But by day 10 my girth had ballooned but my will power had slipped and I was only swimming about 4 lengths a day and at best 10.
Sure I read a few great books and saw some heart-stoppingly beautiful Piero della Francesca murals in the Basilica di San Francesco, Arezzo, and more stunning frescoes in the Brancacci chapel in Florence on the way home. I also managed two half a mile walks up a hill but other than that spent most of the time supine.
I have just finished a first draft of my new novel, The Summer Holiday, set in a house party in Italy, so no doubt some of the details, like the different kinds of bees that buzzed across the lavender and the church bells striking the hour of day, will find their way into the new book. Please if you haven’t already, buy my current novel, a great summer read, The Seven Year Itch.
Beauty Tip: I was sent a travel pack by Incognito, who specialise in deet free mosquito products, which also smell really good. Their moisturizer doubles as an anti mosquito cream is great because it cuts down on the exhausting effort of piling on moisturizer and then anti mosquito - http://www.lessmosquito.com One less thing to do in the heat.
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Giving Birth
I wrote an article for the Daily Express about the horrors of giving birth to my two children and it came out yesterday: My birth stories
Actually they have cut some of what I wrote and it doesn't quite cover the absolute horror and fear of that time.
I know of a woman who just had time to take a painkiller before she gave birth and the baby popped out really easily.
What are you experiences like? I went to a yoga prenatal class where those who had given birth would come back with their newborn babies and regale us with the experience of giving birth. I don't remember anyone returning who had had a lovely easy time. There is always the woman with the painkiller, but she is the only one I know of.
If you happen to read Vogue, there is an article (August Issue) on climate activists. There is a huge photograph of our group Wecan and we are really pleased with the story.
Actually they have cut some of what I wrote and it doesn't quite cover the absolute horror and fear of that time.
I know of a woman who just had time to take a painkiller before she gave birth and the baby popped out really easily.
What are you experiences like? I went to a yoga prenatal class where those who had given birth would come back with their newborn babies and regale us with the experience of giving birth. I don't remember anyone returning who had had a lovely easy time. There is always the woman with the painkiller, but she is the only one I know of.
If you happen to read Vogue, there is an article (August Issue) on climate activists. There is a huge photograph of our group Wecan and we are really pleased with the story.
Monday, 6 July 2009
Reasons to be Cheerful
Am ridiculously thrilled. The Seven Year Itch has been chosen under the romance category of recommended summer reading in Prima Magazine. I have never bought Prima Magazine, but Luke's aunt cut it out and saved it for me. Yeh!
My five year old daughter Belle was ridiculously thrilled to receive some pink Bratz accessories for her hand me down bicycle. I won them in competition run by fellow mummy blogger, Denyse (I have spent at least fifteen minutes trying to tag her blog, but it just keeps not working) I will come back to this. Anyway there was a seat, a hooter with a very annoying blast, a helmet and a bell. Brilliant. Christmas an birthday all over again.
I cried when I read the children's reports. They were so good. Luke spoilt it by saying he was sure everyone got really good reports. The formidable Miss Shaw, reception teacher, said the Belles behaviour was excellent both in the class room and around the school and she was a model for other children. Wish she was the same at home when we are trying to get her dressed in the morning.
On Saturday I was photographed by the Daily Mail along with the family for a piece about why women marry and then I stood dashed to the school fair in full make up to stand by the apple bobbing stall.
Then back home to prepare dinner as the vicar, Bob and his wife were coming along with some parents from belles class and Sam the piano player at church who also happens to be groovy and in a band called the Hoosiers. I'm not sure if Ive spelt that right. I had invited a date for him and then he turned up with his own, which was a bit odd. But anway!!
On Sunday Luke took the children to visit his aunt for the day and I slept, dozed, read, and watched Roddick and Federer. Roddick deserved to win. But then Federer makes it all look effortless.
My five year old daughter Belle was ridiculously thrilled to receive some pink Bratz accessories for her hand me down bicycle. I won them in competition run by fellow mummy blogger, Denyse (I have spent at least fifteen minutes trying to tag her blog, but it just keeps not working) I will come back to this. Anyway there was a seat, a hooter with a very annoying blast, a helmet and a bell. Brilliant. Christmas an birthday all over again.
I cried when I read the children's reports. They were so good. Luke spoilt it by saying he was sure everyone got really good reports. The formidable Miss Shaw, reception teacher, said the Belles behaviour was excellent both in the class room and around the school and she was a model for other children. Wish she was the same at home when we are trying to get her dressed in the morning.
On Saturday I was photographed by the Daily Mail along with the family for a piece about why women marry and then I stood dashed to the school fair in full make up to stand by the apple bobbing stall.
Then back home to prepare dinner as the vicar, Bob and his wife were coming along with some parents from belles class and Sam the piano player at church who also happens to be groovy and in a band called the Hoosiers. I'm not sure if Ive spelt that right. I had invited a date for him and then he turned up with his own, which was a bit odd. But anway!!
On Sunday Luke took the children to visit his aunt for the day and I slept, dozed, read, and watched Roddick and Federer. Roddick deserved to win. But then Federer makes it all look effortless.
Monday, 29 June 2009
Are you Expecting?
The three words you really don't want to be asked if you are not and I'm not. Admittedly I was thinking this morning my stomach looks a bit bloated and hardly surprising, I've been stuffing myself with sausage sandwiches and baked beans on toast around the camping fire. This always happens when I eat too much wheat and that is why I usually avoid it. We went to camp in the garden of my friends inlaws. They live on Glastonbury and we were there for the festival. But really!! The poor woman who serves at the chemist was more embarrassed than I was. She turned a very bright shade of red and then mumbled something about how she was looking.....but didn't really have the heart to finish. I mean what could she say? Where can you go from there? This has happened twice before, once at a party when Belle was four weeks old, and once around the same kind of time, when I was sitting slouched in a bank. And I made the mistake of once asking a friend, who'd recently had a baby, what was her due date. I wrote and apologized and she took it really well. My rule now is never to ask a woman, unless she offers the information, even is she is about to burst!
I walked home in the searing heat and told my neighbour about what had happened in the chemist. He is a man in his fifties who is a cox in a rowing team and weighs just 8 stone 8. About two stone less than me, though I am taller. He says he hardly eats for the rowing season as he has to be a certain weight to compete. He has mango for breakfast and melon for lunch. He told me where to go and buy the Pakistani mangoes in season for just four weeks. That is where I'm heading as soon as Ive picked up the children. Oh God!!!
I walked home in the searing heat and told my neighbour about what had happened in the chemist. He is a man in his fifties who is a cox in a rowing team and weighs just 8 stone 8. About two stone less than me, though I am taller. He says he hardly eats for the rowing season as he has to be a certain weight to compete. He has mango for breakfast and melon for lunch. He told me where to go and buy the Pakistani mangoes in season for just four weeks. That is where I'm heading as soon as Ive picked up the children. Oh God!!!
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
A kitten is saved
I had a heart warming email yesterday from a woman I met in Essaouira about a kitten my son Jude and I rescued from the main square over there. She was a tiny kitten with a broken back leg and can’t have been more than two or three weeks old when we found her. We couldn’t bear to leave her, but returned that evening to find she was still there, crouching outside a café, where someone had left her a saucer of milk. She has now been given to new owners and christened Canelle. What a relief. On the day we found her Jude asked if we could take the kitten home, but instead we tracked down an English woman called Suzy who loves cats and spends quite a large chunk of time finding strays in the streets of the walled city and rescuing them. You could rescue all the cats, as they all look malnourished and dehydrated but some manage to get by with scraps from the fish market and old guts and offal that the stall holders in the meat market throw out. I saw cats with infected eyes and sore looking tails, and half starved. Susie is in touch with a British charity that goes over to Essaouirra www.hsam.org.uk and neuters the strays and gives them medicines. It’s a never-ending job. – Suzy took ‘Canelle’ home that evening, after we showed her where the kitten was, and took her to the vets, and then found her the new home.
We stayed in a wonderful traditional house done up in a funky style and called Da Baida www.castlesinthesand.com .Graham who owns the house with his ex partner Emma says that the cat people should be concentrating on the helping the pregnant women from Essaouira who can’t afford to have emergency caesareans and die giving birth. He has a point, but each to their own and the women who run hsam are vets, so their interest is in animals. I say three cheers to anyone, who has the time, and makes the effort to help.
We stayed in a wonderful traditional house done up in a funky style and called Da Baida www.castlesinthesand.com .Graham who owns the house with his ex partner Emma says that the cat people should be concentrating on the helping the pregnant women from Essaouira who can’t afford to have emergency caesareans and die giving birth. He has a point, but each to their own and the women who run hsam are vets, so their interest is in animals. I say three cheers to anyone, who has the time, and makes the effort to help.
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Post Holiday Blues
Am just back from Essaouira in Morocco. I was desperately in need of a break after the launch of my novel, The Seven Year Itch. There was a party and several articles to write and photographers who came to photograph the children and me. I was so nervous during the party at Daunt Books, my heart was hammering in my chest and I felt spacey and strange. During the launch I beamed and signed books, picked at nuts and probably drank too much. I had bought a gold dress for the occasion and had my hair done and the dress was so tight, that it was quite an effort to sign 70 books. It was all very heart warming and fun. There is another launch at a local café, Cupboard Café in Oaklands Grove, W12, on June 4th. The café is a haven from the souk that is the Uxbridge Road, and the owner, Natalie, the woman who gets things done brilliantly, has started a series of parties for local authors. Please come.
Essaouira is the most beautiful walled town on the coast of Morocco, where the houses are mostly painted blue and white. It is two and a half hours drive from Marrakech. We have been on really safe holidays since the children were born, so it was great to go to a town that looks and smells medieval where the streets are cobbled and narrow and overrun with cats and where the smell is of mint and sardines and the occasional drain. There is a working port also overrun with manky cats, and fishing boats. I am still thinking of colourful souks, sweet mint tea and the beautiful light. The children started school again today, and I have that sinking feeling, too, as though I am back at boarding school, shivering by the cold radiator.
Essaouira is the most beautiful walled town on the coast of Morocco, where the houses are mostly painted blue and white. It is two and a half hours drive from Marrakech. We have been on really safe holidays since the children were born, so it was great to go to a town that looks and smells medieval where the streets are cobbled and narrow and overrun with cats and where the smell is of mint and sardines and the occasional drain. There is a working port also overrun with manky cats, and fishing boats. I am still thinking of colourful souks, sweet mint tea and the beautiful light. The children started school again today, and I have that sinking feeling, too, as though I am back at boarding school, shivering by the cold radiator.
Saturday, 9 May 2009
Easy Living Online Review
Sorry I do realize I am writing about my book this week, but I won't go on forever, promise. There is a great review from Easy Living Online "It's a laugh-out-loud read with some dark observations on the realities of married life."
I went into WH Smith in Westfield yesterday and moved my book from the shelf to another shelf where the top 5 books were displayed. Yes I know, its a bit desperate, but I need the sales to make sure Penguin buy my next book. I can't think what else I would do.
And I am doing a radio interview at about 1035 on Sunday on Radio London.
I went into WH Smith in Westfield yesterday and moved my book from the shelf to another shelf where the top 5 books were displayed. Yes I know, its a bit desperate, but I need the sales to make sure Penguin buy my next book. I can't think what else I would do.
And I am doing a radio interview at about 1035 on Sunday on Radio London.
Wednesday, 6 May 2009
5* Review in OK Magazine
Ok so I don't read Ok unless I'm at the hairdresser and someone else has Vogue, but hey I am THRILLED to get a five star review in OK. OK?
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Fantastic Review from Girly Gossip
The Seven Year Itch by Kate Morris is a tale that is by turn bleak and funny. Kate Morris draws a sympathetic portrait of a marriage that is truly past its honeymoon years and offers real insight and genuinely funny observations on what ‘real’ marriage is like!
A great mix of humour and domestic drama that could easily give Desperate Housewives a run for its money!
Released May 7th
Love this review, really cheered me up. Waiting with circles under my eyes and bad hair to find out when the Express photographer will come and photograph me and the children for a big article in the Express that I have written to coincide with publication date. Feel sick with nerves about EVERYTHING....
A great mix of humour and domestic drama that could easily give Desperate Housewives a run for its money!
Released May 7th
Love this review, really cheered me up. Waiting with circles under my eyes and bad hair to find out when the Express photographer will come and photograph me and the children for a big article in the Express that I have written to coincide with publication date. Feel sick with nerves about EVERYTHING....
Friday, 1 May 2009
6 Days to go until the Seven Year Itch is published.
I feel so exposed and weird. Its the strangest thing to be putting myself on the line like this and publishing a book next week. The cover looks great, the book is good - funny candid and gripping. I know I'm not being modest, but if I don't build myself up I will wilt and hide. I think it's perfect for a fun and thought provoking summer read. It still makes me laugh and even cry when I read it through. My agent told me yesterday that in the current climate publishers are looking for celebrity biographies and feel good nostalgia. Apparently they are all fighting to get the story of that woman who has caused such a stir on Britain's Got Talent. You know the one, the middle aged woman with the hair! As he said more of an article rather than a book. And very depressing for writers like me. Exactly not what my work in progress - The Holiday, (the one I'm working on i about) is about. The Holiday is set in a villa in Italy and about a group of people who change their lives over the course of a week. It's tense, at times funny and a bit claustrophobic. I suppose its not exactly uplifting but gripping. But tell me is that what you are looking for in a good read. I'd be fascinated to know.
Saturday, 25 April 2009
I've been tagged by Bushmummy and have to answer these questions and then tag 8 more people to do the same, not even sure how to tag, but will try and work it out. The instructions on what to do are at the end of this blog.
What are your current obsessions?
Facebook -sadly, writing lists of people for book launch, worrying about christening for children who are nearly 8 and 5
2. Which item from your wardrobe do you wear most often?
A black dress with white daisy's that I bought at a friends sale for about £1
3. What's for dinner
I have no idea yet. Perhaps fish pie if I can be bothered to make it.
4. Last thing you bought?
A pair of sunglasses, a blue school dress, suncream and boys swimming trunks.
5. What are you listening to?
Beth Orton
6. Do you have a pet and if not, why not?
We have a ten month old cat who my family call Cuba and who I call Kitty.
7. Favourite holiday spots?
Almost anywhere in Italy.
8. Reading right now?
Neverland by Joseph O Neill
9. 4 words to describe yourself.
Creative, Sensitive, Assertive, Short tempered.
10. Guilty pleasure?
The odd cigarette at a party even though I've given up.
11. Who or what makes you laugh until you’re weak?
My friend Geraldine
12. First spring thing?
Daffodils
13. Planning to travel to next?
Morroco
14. Best thing you ate or drank lately?
Chocolate cake from Clarks and another one from Cupboard cafe on my birthday
15. When did you last get tipsy?
New Year's Eve.
16. Favourite ever film?
Fanny and Alexander and Days of Heaven
17. Care to share some wisdom?
Don't do business with friends. Let go let love.
18. Favourite song?
I just can't think, but right now it would be something by Beth Orton.
Rules of the meme. Respond and rework. Answer questions on your own blog. Replace one question. Add one question. Tag 8 people.
What are your current obsessions?
Facebook -sadly, writing lists of people for book launch, worrying about christening for children who are nearly 8 and 5
2. Which item from your wardrobe do you wear most often?
A black dress with white daisy's that I bought at a friends sale for about £1
3. What's for dinner
I have no idea yet. Perhaps fish pie if I can be bothered to make it.
4. Last thing you bought?
A pair of sunglasses, a blue school dress, suncream and boys swimming trunks.
5. What are you listening to?
Beth Orton
6. Do you have a pet and if not, why not?
We have a ten month old cat who my family call Cuba and who I call Kitty.
7. Favourite holiday spots?
Almost anywhere in Italy.
8. Reading right now?
Neverland by Joseph O Neill
9. 4 words to describe yourself.
Creative, Sensitive, Assertive, Short tempered.
10. Guilty pleasure?
The odd cigarette at a party even though I've given up.
11. Who or what makes you laugh until you’re weak?
My friend Geraldine
12. First spring thing?
Daffodils
13. Planning to travel to next?
Morroco
14. Best thing you ate or drank lately?
Chocolate cake from Clarks and another one from Cupboard cafe on my birthday
15. When did you last get tipsy?
New Year's Eve.
16. Favourite ever film?
Fanny and Alexander and Days of Heaven
17. Care to share some wisdom?
Don't do business with friends. Let go let love.
18. Favourite song?
I just can't think, but right now it would be something by Beth Orton.
Rules of the meme. Respond and rework. Answer questions on your own blog. Replace one question. Add one question. Tag 8 people.
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
After months of having my old blog in Arabic, my husband has finally found out how to change it back to English. And I've started a whole new blog because my old one had a really complicated title and I never wrote on it. My son is always playing with my computer and I think he is the one who inadvertently changed it to Arabic and then I couldn't change it back because I couldn't read any of the instructions. And this went on and on and I was lazy about it as I write another blog for Easy Living Magazine, but the lovely people at Easy Living haven't posted our new blogs for a few weeks, as there are some changes afoot, so people are still having to read some boring old drivel I wrote in March about giving up things for lent or some other nonsense. I have just restarted an old habit of writing down five things I am grateful for every day. This is a great for someone like me who tends to get moany, groany and negative. However so far today I have only got Beautiful Day on my list. Lets think of some more: 4 More: Well my book, The Seven Year Itch, is coming out in about three weeks, so that's great, and the publishers have said that they will buy my next one if this sells well, so that's not so great. But it could be great if anyone goes out and buys a copy!!!
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