Three weeks of giving up News and it felt like part of me was floating in one of those silent, dark, sensory deprivation tanks. I tried living without radio for the first time in my life and playing music instead. It was lovely having more music but I missed the spoken word. I got through a lot…
Me and Patrick O’Brian
The first, ‘Master and Commander’ was a gift, the second ‘Post Captain’ I bought in a secondhand shop, the third ‘HMS Surprise’ I clicked-on in the middle of the night. The next day I went back to the secondhand bookshop and bought the next four books because by then I was totally hooked and I’d…
Why is this good writing? A little bit of analysis.
At a dangerous corner of the stairs, the cat got under my feet and I had to grab the bannister. Most of the books I was carrying, I dropped. Only one was within reach when I sank down on the stairs to recover my balance. It was Marina Lewycka’s ‘A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian’ and…
Pink Roses, Chinese Vase
I love this painting by Scottish Colourist, Samuel Peploe. It’s in the Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh where it also features on menus in the café. It’s a picture that’s easy to love but it’s the lemon that really makes it work. Without the lemon, it just wouldn’t do it for me.