Tag: growing up in seventies Britain

Being A Girl . British Stuff . Dogs . Family

Auntie Edie & Auntie Fran

On February 22, 2026 by

Many people have a favourite aunt. Often, these women are considered to be The Zany One, the one who is always a bit off centre, the one you can count on to dish honestly about the rest of the family - and not judge you for asking.

(I like to think that I fit this description myself!)

But strangely, my own favourite Aunties - eccentric, quirky and hard core Mancunians - were not even real, legitimate Aunties.

Let me explain.

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Cooking . Food . Nostalgia

Toast

On April 25, 2026 by

 

 

Can we talk about toast - just for a minute?

I never realized till quite recently (when The General was sighing about my “toast rules”) how particular I really am about this ubiquitous breakfast item. Or, how many times it has featured in my life from childhood to present.

Firstly, the way toast is prepared in the UK and the way it is done elsewhere is vastly different. Perhaps because the toast was traditionally fetched from a far off, frigid area of the house and often shuffled into a toast rack, (something I have always yearned for) somehow, the British toast often seems to end up on the coolish side. And, if the bread is thin and therefore tending to be crispy, I actually prefer this temperature: the toast is now a more solid vehicle for - let’s just say it - more butter (and Marmite!) and much less prone to collapsing into itself like other more pillowy, gummy breads tend to do. (Apologies to any ‘Texas Toast’ fanciers - but I.just.can’t.)

Of course, this is where my toast contrariness begins.

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British Stuff . Covid Times . Music . My Father . Nostalgia

Radio, Radio

On January 17, 2026 by

 

In a never-ending attempt to escape the scourge that is known as The News, I convinced The General to join me in a random sampling of radio stations from around the world this week. We were looking for different. And, unapologetically cheering.

This led to reminiscing about my teen years spent on the Isle of Man (sandwiched handily between England and Ireland) and specifically, Christmas 1974 when I received my first transistor radio.

My father watched the unwrapping solemnly, telling me that this was a special radio with only a very few stations and since he had already set it to the best one, it was broadly understood that it was not to be changed. This Very Special Station was currently airing the Queen’s speech. Afterwards, I learned that I could rock out to the BBC World report and maybe even catch a few overviews of the Middle East later on. My dad seemed unusually pleased with himself.

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British Stuff . Covid Times . Hope . My Mother . Nostalgia . The General

A New November

On November 10, 2025 by

Each year I dread November. As well as unconsciously shuffling through tightly compressed memories of my mother’s death (43 years ago) and all the associated bleakness both outside and within, I can hardly bear the early darkness that creeps in after a five o’clock sky, flecked with pink. I am flooded with memories of living in Britain and that particular deep reaching dampness that can only really be remedied with a large Scotch in a steaming bath. (And at seventeen, as now, I don’t even drink Scotch …)

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British Stuff . Introspection . Retirement

Top 5 Bits of Retirement

On August 29, 2026 by

 

5. The cavity of my brain previously used for “work related things” is now unexpectedly freed up for other much slower, often more interesting concerns. This is a strange phenomenon I could not possibly have anticipated and cannot adequately explain. Many simple things now transfix me, such as a recent close encounter - verging on mystical - with a hummingbird, as he suddenly appeared hovering about 4 inches from me, literally showed me the whites of his eyes and then disappeared upwards like a Roman candle who knows where. Strangely, I felt privileged by this and to have seen his bib of silvery-grey at such close range. I have experienced such things before, usually when camping but never on a daily basis. I also saw a butterfly unfurl his proboscis like a party-blower last week shifting from skinny leg to leg on an unsteady zinnia and I watched quietly as he drank. I felt my senses melting and completely at peace. I don’t recall ever feeling this way as I was on the phone at work with someone else holding, googling the answer to a question, whispering advice to a co-worker in the background, looking up requests in a second window while I was put on hold myself and waving people into my office who were waiting in person for my assistance all at the same time …

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