Category Archives: Uncategorized

Last night we enjoyed a Rob Houchen concert. Rob’s a local boy who went to drama school and then played Marius in Les Misérables in the West End when he was just 22. He’s played in many productions since… but occasionally he returns to his friends and family in Lowestoft, and The Seagull Theatre whereContinue reading “Because you Loved Me (Again)”

A couple of months ago puddles appeared in the cupboard under our kitchen sink. Cloths were put around pipes and under pipes to soak up dirty smelly water. We phoned Julian who fitted the sink. He came and inspected. ‘Your sink’s leaking,’ he said. We knew that. ‘I’ll send someone to fix it.’ Dave theContinue reading “Sinks, Vaccines and Grandchildren”

On Thursday we saw ‘Fiddler on the Roof’. Set in a poor Jewish community in rural Russia in 1905, the central character, Tevye, explains: ‘…here, in our little village of Anatevka, you might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking hisContinue reading “Fiddlers, Ambassadors and Ugly Dogs”

Yesterday… …Chatting to a friend. I’ll call him Tom. Tom’s Mum’s in her nineties, blind, had a stroke, confused, in hospital. Together with other family members he goes to the hospital, talks to her, feeds her, tries to reassure her. Things have changed for the whole family – especially Tom’s Mum. …Chatting to another friend.Continue reading “Change and Decay…”

Yesterday, a conversation made me reflect on past hurts – what had caused them, how I’d dealt with them, how they affect me now. It was uncomfortable and painful. Personal scars were re-opened, and I was reminded of others who had been hurt and damaged… …This morning I’m reflecting on dealing with past hurts. I’mContinue reading “Dealing with Past Hurts”

Necessary Surgery: Dan Snow says: Today, August 12th, in 1865, Joseph Lister was the first surgeon to operate using an antiseptic. Influenced by Louis Pasteur, Lister believed that infection frequently caused post-operative death: ‘His surgeons had to wash their hands, their instruments and the operating surfaces in carbolic acid solution.’ Lister’s death rate dropped; otherContinue reading “When Good Things Hurt”

Men’s Shed on Saturday… I joined other old men drinking tea, eating bacon rolls and doughnuts… looking back, reflecting on their lives… Granddaughter-Hannah yesterday… spent the afternoon with us, Sunday lunch, sitting in the garden… A twenty-year-old looking back, looking forward, reflecting… Matthew Chapter 1 this morning… reading the beginning of Mattew’s gospel: ‘A recordContinue reading “Unique Lives”

It’s strange how childhood memories sometimes come from apparently nowhere… Recently I recalled my Mum singing ‘The Stranger of Galilee’. I guess Dad would have played it on the piano… Mr Google, on various sites, tell me that Lelia Naylor Morris wrote it. Born in Ohio in 1862, the fifth of seven children, Lelia learnedContinue reading “The Stranger of Galilee”

Earlier this week I was chatting with Des, who’s involved with running the Seagull Theatre. We were talking about the range of activities and clubs for children and pensioners, folks with physical and mental disabilities, and the efforts made to include all. There was a particular issue: Should a disabled girl in a wheel chairContinue reading “Inclusion, Exclusion and Boundaries”

We lose things… our car keys, credit card, the odd sock – that went in the washing machine but never came out. We lose our way… when walking round an unfamiliar town, driving in the countryside, taking the wrong turning. Losing people can be ambiguous… If I said, ‘I lost my daughter many years ago,’Continue reading “Losing It”