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i82838
May 12, 20171 min read
Friendship
March 22, 2017 My mother is a whirlwind this morning. Lisa, her cleaner, is coming today and Mum likes to have the place tidy for her....
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i82838
May 12, 20171 min read
Tricksters
March 21, 2017 My 84-year-old mother on café tricksters: ‘They always bring you your tea or coffee first. You drink it and then have to...
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i82838
May 12, 20171 min read
Fluid Restriction
March 19, 2017 I asked my 84-year-old mother what she would like me to make for dinner. Soup, perhaps? I have a great recipe for...
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i82838
May 12, 20171 min read
Needles in the Eye
March 14, 2017 Today I drove my mother to the hospital for her six-weekly injection in the eye (for macular degeneration). The procedure...
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i82838
May 12, 20171 min read
Corn Teeth
March 12, 2017 It’s late summer here in New Zealand. Sweet corn season. My 83-year-old mother likes to shave her corn with a knife. ‘I...
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i82838
May 12, 20172 min read
Three Stars
11 March, 2017 My hotel in Singapore looked fine online, a 3-star place in a busy shopping area. The actual hotel was a lot more rustic...
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i82838
Nov 9, 20161 min read
The Sparkling World
November 9, 2016 I am standing in a field. It is my first vivid glimpse of the world, an impression of light flickering through towering...
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i82838
Nov 2, 20161 min read
My Own Personal Chicken
November 2, 2016 My downstairs neighbours, a retired couple, keep asking me how many cats I have. They smile smugly when they ask and use...
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i82838
Oct 28, 20161 min read
Spiders
October 28, 2016 First it was a shiny, shiny black widow spider with a bulbous back and long delicate legs. It was large, the size of a...
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i82838
Oct 27, 20161 min read
Everyman’s Library
October 27, 2016 I was talking to an antiquarian bookseller last night about the value of books today (not good). We were at the...
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i82838
Oct 26, 20161 min read
Plucking a Chicken
October 26, 2016 I just spoke to my aunt’s friend. She told me that her father had been a signwriter and used to paint signs and banners...
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i82838
Oct 25, 20161 min read
Open Cardboard Boxes
October 25, 2016 I was carrying a large porcelain tureen in my hands. It was white with a delicate blue pattern, big enough to contain a...
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i82838
Oct 25, 20162 min read
Statement Eyebrows
October 21, 2016 I never understood school and was surprised when I managed to stumble through it. Take French, for example. Apparently,...
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i82838
Oct 17, 20161 min read
Out of Body Experience
October 16, 2016 In my twenties, I lived at Yulara (the town near Ayers Rock) for nine months. I was there when the matinee jacket was...
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i82838
Sep 21, 20161 min read
Fluffy Towels
September 21, 2016 Some people like fluffy towels. My mother likes them. My little brother likes them. When you walk through a department...
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i82838
Sep 13, 20162 min read
The Dunkirk Spirit
Coming back from Scotland last Friday, our Virgin East Coast train started losing time. We were 15 minutes late. Then we were 30 minutes...
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i82838
Sep 5, 20162 min read
The Survivor
About 20 years ago, I met a man on a train in Japan. He was going through the carriage with a trolley selling hot green tea. The trolley...
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i82838
Sep 5, 20161 min read
Call Home
The good news, the telecommunications engineer turned up only an hour late and was very nice. He agreed it must be awful to be without...
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i82838
Aug 21, 20161 min read
Something Fishy
I talked to my 83-year-old mother last night. It was Sunday morning in New Zealand and she was cooking bacon and eggs for my sister...
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i82838
Aug 6, 20162 min read
The Thief, the Passport and the Cat
I had been in Tokyo but now I was in a coastal town in Algeria when I noticed my bag was missing. The guy with us said, ‘The hairy man...
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