January is a time when many of us take stock and think about what we want to achieve in the coming year. Many people make New Year’s Resolutions at this time of year. Because let’s face it, most of us spend a couple of weeks eating a...
I usually find the run up to Christmas a bit rushed, busy and even slightly stressful. Don’t get me wrong, I love going out on to a Christmas shindig with friends or family, and I love wearing sparkles and drinking sparkles. But somehow the...
I am sitting in a cafe, writing my final of the 4 stories in 4 weeks. I have an incredibly large coffee and my equally large earphones on. I am listening to music, and there is a smile on my face, which matches the coffee and the earphones in size...
In Craigmillar (a residential area of Edinburgh where I used to live) there is a unique organisation called Craigmillar Books for Babies. They have, for over 20 years now, been active in the Craigmillar community by hosting a variety of different...
I received permission to write this story over a year ago now. For the purpose of protecting the privacy of the beautiful lady I’m writing about, I have changed her name, and chosen to call her Nadia. Nadia is not depicted in any of the photos in...
This summer, due to a combination of factors (including stress, working from home and therefore not moving enough, and carrying too much weight on my back) I had a back spasm. It was horrible. I was stuck on the floor, unable to move and high on...
Last month I had the pleasure of seeing some old friends. It was a brief catch-up, as they were in Edinburgh for one day only, and it happened to be the day that my kid had five of her friends over for a party. I managed to carve out some time to...
I love connecting with people. I have always taken for granted the ease with which I do this, and the enjoyment I get out of it. In the last 20 months it has been much more difficult to connect with people for me. The lockdowns made it physically...
I sit on the plane on my way to Athens, with my kids, listening to my favourite country songs, on my daughter’s birthday. I look up and see a little girl aged roughly 4 or 5 months old – smiling and looking around. It is an image that fills me...
I had rather an interesting experience last year. I woke up one morning with a lovely spring breeze blowing on my face. It was such a pleasant feeling, and somehow it transported me to a moment on Glyfada beach, sitting on a bench. I could hear, see...