Housekeeper’s Diary

And then there was one. After three lovely weeks of a festive Finley, and then a weekend spent clearing my mind with my Dad, the house was suddenly…

It’s been an odd few weeks. As if the reality of what life will now be like has finally hit home and I find myself not quite knowing…

Well now, I think you should now that what turned out to be the astonishing peace of the empty nest was abruptly disrupted when my little fledgling decided…

I am wandering around the house in bright red lipstick. A mad bow in my hair and my floaty kimono wafting around me as I skip down the…

It is March. And I am fifty. Two things that strike me as quite impossible for wasn’t it Christmas just yesterday. And surely I am just twenty-eight? Time,…

Good lord. Let us not speak of the fact that It is already the middle of February and I have been missing in domestic action since Christmas. One…

The oddest of nights. Ste so out of sorts, that only a trip to Marks and Spencer in search of their finest Macaroni Cheese and a chocolate pudding…

The house is grumpy in the quiet hours of the morning. creaking and groaning in to life, and for a while apparently determined to make her reluctance to…

The lane is shut while men in yellow jackets do things at the end of it. And oh what bliss it is to have it to ourselves without…

Arggghhh rats! Blooming rats. A plague of them. Well at least two. Apparently disgruntled by the harvest in the field behind the house, or perhaps the building work…

A long, hot night finally broken by rain that leaves the damp air smelling like diluted orange juice. We stumble out of bed at the same time and…

Hello friends. How nice to be here talking to you again. I woke up this morning with the urge to write to you tingling in my fingertips and…

A long, moody Sunday, remarkable only for the flow of the deeply splendid ordinary. Laundry hung on the line and a chicken roasting in the oven. Potatoes already…

Today. A rainbow of roses from my son’s beautiful girlfriend, a much anticipated email that has gone unanswered and a love letter that stabs needles in and out…

A gorgeous Sunday after a lovely weekend of pavement café drinks and chatty teenagers. And now, peace. The sun cracking the flags and the lane quiet except for…

We have a chirpy, delighted blackbird nestling in the camellia at the back of the conservatory. Each morning now that the sun is shining again, we sit on…

Today. A long call with my doctor and then a drive with Finn, to sit staring at the geese gathered like so many gossiping Mothers at the school…

Perhaps it is a sign of the times, this nostalgia for moments long gone I am experiencing. A reaction to the deep uncertainty I currently feel. Claustrophobia as a…

I do so hate trying to be fun. I’m utterly rubbish at it. The strain paints a grimace over what must be good cheer. But fun should be…

A glorious morning. We go for a walk hand in hand, kicking leaves and talking the troubles of the world over. There is a peace about us now.…