It has been eight years since my older brother and his wife sent me an email saying that they ‘disapproved of ninety nine percent of my decisions,’ did not like me as a person, were removing me from their ‘friends/family list’ and, most importantly, would ‘no longer associate with Locketts.’ …

I read somewhere the other day, but forget where and I’m going to blame that on ‘covid brain’ because the article did mention that it can affect your memory and ability to recall words, recent memories and prevent distracting yourself from….where was I? Ah yes, anxiety. The article mentioned that…

This past weekend, we took the Friday off to try and see a different set of four walls and to walk a different set of streets. We are currently in our third iteration of the Covid-19 lockdown in France and working from home with the supermarket 400 metres up the…

My mother made it clear in so many ways that she loved her children, but she could also be rather blunt. “All three of you were funny looking babies,” she said, one Christmas, when we’d all eaten our fill and encouraging Dad to get the ‘best of’ family slides out. …

I am agnostic, which in truth means that I’m not crazy about organized religion or the belief that if you pray, god will answer your prayers. I found this out when, at age six, I came home from Sunday School and thought I would give it a try. Being reasonably…

Whaddaya Reckon? I’ve been ten years out of Australia now and realise that the word ‘reckon’ is the one that confuses most other non-antipodean English speakers. It just means ‘think’ or ‘consider’ in a more casual sense but instead of saying, “I think we should have chicken for dinner tonight,”…

It’s taken me a few weeks to recover and, my husband Dean dryly tells me, for the gathered crowds out in the street below to wane, so it seems far enough away in modern history to share with you. Of course Covid-19 plays a key role in this situation. We…

Living in Geneva and the areas immediately surrounding it is breathtakingly expensive. The expats obviously help drive up the rents and the irony is that most UN workers would struggle to pay those rents if their salaries weren’t propped up by an added ‘because it’s Geneva’ allowances that takes the…

My rather inaccurate iphone step tracker says that 14,500 steps have already been done with my beloved dog Felix throughout the day. Now that it’s evening, my All Day Dog Woman clothes are discarded and I’ve taken a shower, only to replace that sweaty apparel with pajamas. Why bother with…