I read a post this morning by Sally Jenkins. She writes about whether or not it is worth blogging and it’s an interesting topic. I remember when I first began to write a blog several years ago, one of my children said, ‘What have you got to blog about mum?’ and this can sometimes prove difficult. Especially if, like me, you also send out a Newsletter and you want to make them different. Looking through my blog posts this morning I see they are quite eclectic, there is no one theme running through but several; writing, travel, loss, living etc.,

This pretty much sums up my character. I think I live for change and diversity. The idea of only writing in one genre, having the same hobbies, living in one place for any length of time just doesn’t appeal to me. I have written an published a memoir Dear Tosh. I have completed a debut novel Loose Ends due to be published this spring, I write poetry, short stories and whilst clearing out a cupboard last week I found a pantomime script and a script for a musical written several years ago. 

As for hobbies, I have tried many including, chess, keep-fit, horse-riding, carriage driving, flower-pressing, piano and guitar playing. . . I could go on. I’m rather up for trying a bit of pottery, I love The Great British Pottery Throwdown and it begins again this week. I also love the Sewing Bee. Sewing was/is also one of my hobbies but I was never very good at knitting, and only tried crochet the once.

Travel is not exactly a hobby but it is something The Man and I enjoy very much. As you may have read in a couple of blogs this year we visited South East Asia, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany and France (don’t think I’ve missed any out). This last country, France, has captured our hearts and on impulse at the end of 2023 we decided to try the South of France on a more permanent basis. We’ll be close to Carcassonne and Limoux but plan to explore far and wide when we’re there. I’ll try and keep you posted. Right now we’re busy packing everything up and I’m busy panicking about whether or not it will all fit in the van and if it won’t what will we do with it?

Below are some photos from 2023…there were thousands to choose from so I basically just picked at random.

2024 will see big changes for me and for The Man. He’ll go back to more cycling, because he loves cycling in L’Aude and I’m hoping the French countryside (and weather) will inspire my writing and by the end of the year I will have another novel to publish. . . or maybe a memoir. . . or perhaps a poetry pamphlet. . . or. . . who actually knows?