Welcome to my site. Have a root around, I hope you like what you find.
I woke up last night with an intense awareness of my mortality. Have you ever felt that existential dread; hard and shiny as a car bonnet careering for your head? I used to feel it as a child, the sudden and suffocating knowledge that I was alive, in this time, in this fragile, terrifyingly mortal... Continue Reading →
The predictable answer would be diamonds, but, failing that, there are a few less expensive, but equally precious things that would make my Christmas extra special this year: Finland’s Government. Too much to ask for? OK, I’ll aim lower. A Brilliant Box Set. It’s a quiet one for us this year, so I’m hoping for... Continue Reading →
How Can my Girls be so Different? (First published in The Motherload Blogzine on 3/11/19) ‘It’s another girl,’ said the male sonographer at our twenty-two-week scan, ‘sorry.’ Ignoring the last comment (that’s a whole other article), I remember being delighted that our second, and definitely last, child was a girl. We already had a three-year-old... Continue Reading →
The Sounds of the Middle-Aged Body As I followed the physiotherapist’s instructions to bend my neck to the right, I heard the sound of bubble wrap popping inside my body. ‘Is that normal?’ I asked. ‘Our bodies make all kinds of protests as we get older,’ the man-child said, and asked me to bend the... Continue Reading →
You’ve heard of lady bumps, right? They appear in girls around the age of puberty and are generally welcomed, until you get used to them, when they become cumbersome and annoying. I’ve just returned from the Doctor’s where I discovered that, now I’m firmly into old lady puberty (the menopause) I’m getting old person bumps... Continue Reading →
I have a new sense of purpose and, since my preconception was that I should be settling down with my knitting as I approached 50, I wondered why. Ok, I still prefer my slippers to towering heels, and need a seat with a back, but I’m energised and ambitious at a time when the world... Continue Reading →
I want to want to take my clothes off There was a beach, I have a body, so I was beach body ready, right? I’m ashamed to admit that, on holiday, that’s not how I felt at all. I’m ashamed because I have two daughters who I should be setting a better example for. The... Continue Reading →
If men can have one, so can I I was a precocious child. This is evidenced by the fact I entered a Public Speaking Competition at the age of thirteen with a speech about ‘The Male Menopause’. I was robbed; I came second, despite my talk rousing the audience to guffaws and standing ovation (at... Continue Reading →
The Mysterious Effects of Ageing Why have my tastes changed as I’ve grown older? I’m confronted with my teenage daughter’s I don’t get it face so often that I’ve started to think about the choices I make as a middle-aged woman and how they differ from those I made when I was younger, and why.... Continue Reading →
Why Ageing Doesn't Mean Decline and Fall Ageing is like climbing a mountain but, despite what we’re led to believe, getting to your peak is not the best part. Once you’re over the hump, there’s a whole new world to explore; a world that society and advertisers either ignore or tell us is all downhill.... Continue Reading →
Should I Dress for my Age? I went to a comedy gig on Friday, and when I was ready, I asked my husband if what I was wearing was appropriate. He answered with ‘perfect’, but then I thought about my question. I hadn’t asked whether it was a good outfit, or attractive, I’d asked if... Continue Reading →
(First Published on The Motherload Blogzine, 31st August 2019) My name is Lisa. I was perfectly happy about that until I opened a Drama School in my early 30’s and every fourth mother enrolling their child was called Lisa too. It was then I realised that my name gave away my age. Lisa is the... Continue Reading →
