Only last week I received a WhatsApp message from a friend in Australia, asking if it was true that I had retired. Although, marvelling how quickly news can travel over such long distances these days , I was also stung by the question. Why stung? What is it about the word, ‘retirement’ that makes me…

…here I am adding to my blog. Something I will attempt to do at least once per week, although mindful that the theme is ,’ grasping nettles’ that sting and need soothing with ointment, not smothering with aloe vera that soothes and sends you to sleep. I asked family and friends for feedback on the…

All talk so far has been about the present, and the future, but I now feel the urge to wrap up my first career in brightly coloured tissue paper, putting it neatly away on to top shelf, before opening new chapters. Working in the fashion textile business has been the most incredible experience. Filled with…

Like many who start blogging, I recognised the best way to communicate with family and friends that : I am well, safe and unbitten by poisonous snakes is to write notes and send photos via the w.w.w.dot.whateverhappentoletters. Firstly, I’m a pretty private person, but also, ‘do people really want to hear what I have to…

Those who know me know that this couldn’t possibly be a blog about gardening, which the name maybe conjures. Nevertheless, the story does start with a botanical theme. The origins of the phrase,’ grasp the nettle’ comes from the untested ( by me) theory that if you grasp the common stinging plant firmly it will…