Giving up caffeine
My husband recently gave up caffeine. He has always been a tea drinker, and started drinking coffee when my eldest was a baby. Since then, coffee has been a fundamental part of his life. Every day started with a trip to a coffee shop for him. There would usually be further trips later in the day. Costa, Nero, McDonald’s and Pret – he went to them all (he was never so keen on Starbucks). I was fine with this, it made him...
Learning to love the garden
I love having a garden. I love the ever-changing colours of the flowers and blossom. I love being able to sit outside in it in summer. I love being able to look at it through the window in winter. I love that my kids have a place they can play in with their little cousins, where they can kick a ball round (although it usually goes over the wall). I love that my guinea pigs have somewhere they can run around (or usually just sit, to be...
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is one of my favourite books ever, so I was very excited to see he had written another – Bridge of Clay. And I wasn’t disappointed. (Apparently he has actually written six books, but strangely I have only read The Book Thief. I need to rectify that!) Bridge of Clay is the story of the five Dunbar boys – brothers who fight, but care for each other deeply. Narrated by eldest brother,...
Evolution of an athlete
I remember the first time my athlete went to his athletics club. My son was there because he was pretty good at long jump and he wanted to get better. He was quite good at running too. My son was in year 8 and tall for his age. He stood out among the group of year 7s and 8s. He was wearing a parkrun 10 milestone T-shirt, football shorts and white trainers. He kept his head bowed because he didn’t know anyone and he was nervous....
