The BrocanteHome Advent Calendar

I am signing off for the holiday Sweeties. My presents are wrapped, the cookies are baked, Finn is just the right side of delirious with excitement, and all that is left to do is to say thank you to every single one of you. To all those of you who sent me Christmas cards and…

The Lady of Shallot. "Ok, so the words are old and sometimes their meaning lost to our modern understanding of language … but this is my idea of poetry heaven.  Don’t ask me why.  Maybe because it’s like stepping into the rich and dramatically romantic imagery … or maybe it’s the way the words wander…

I have a new house phone. When it rings it plays a jazz tune I love but can’t identify. I like it so much I’ve been ringing myself from handset to handset.  And when other people ring me  I go into minor rhapsody… In the whole scheme of things phones that sing happy tunes don’t…

Now maybe it’s the really rather warped way that  I see things, but it seems to me that in the U.K  all that  is old , antique or , tsk, that nonsensical word- vintage,  is a very serious  matter  indeed, populated by people  in tweedy coats, frowns, those funny little eyeglasses and the occasional silly…

  "The first time I lied to my baby, I told him that it was his face on the baby food jar. The second time I lied to my baby, I told him that he was the best baby in the world, that I hoped he’d never leave me. Of course I want him to…