An interesting piece in one of Canada’s dailies today, highlighting how societal perceptions of mental illness are preventing people from seeking treatment. We really can’t move forward with mental health issues until we break down the walls of shame and secrecy surrounding them. Continue reading
The mental Mental Health Carnival! Pause for thought… Continue reading
In support of Yummy Mummy Week, 10th – 18th March 2012, in the UK, I’m sharing this picture of cake with you. The instructions said “a cake…” but, hell, who stops at one? Continue reading
My heart thuds and there’s a rushing noise in my ears, like a subway train. A single thought fills my head, ” I HAVE to get away.” My feet pound the asphalt and I risk a lightening glance over my shoulder at my pursuer. “Oh my God, he’s gaining on me!” Panic squeezes me in it’s icy, iron grip and my belief in my ability to outrun him vanishes. Continue reading
Today I said goodbye to a friend. He’s a fellow expat, who arrived here from the UK shortly after us. He’s accepted a post in Vancouver, BC. Yeah, he’ll still be in the same country, but at a little under three thousand miles away, it’s not much different to him being back in Britain… Continue reading
They have them here too!
I’ve only ever seen spelling bees in the movies so it’s another piece of Americana coming to life before my very eyes! It reminds me of our inappropriate joy at spotting fire hydrants – I am of course referring to the children here, I’d just like to make that clear… Continue reading
The end of February brings hope and excitement as the cold weather weakens and we start to sense the slow creep of Spring. Shrugging off the survival mind-set that got us through the winter, it feels great to be alive again! Continue reading
A few years ago, if you told me one day I would learn Urdu, I would have thought you were certifiable! My only experience of it was seeing the squiggly translations in the instructions to passengers on buses in the UK. It looked about as comprehensible to me as, say, Chinese characters. Funny where life takes us… Continue reading
Emily Suess is a writer, blogger, editor, proof-reader and one of my go-to’s for info about the writing business. She’s informative in an informal kind of way and makes learning the many and varied tools of this trade seem a little less intimidating. In short, she makes it all seem somehow achievable… Continue reading
In my early teens I began to experience overwhelming, unshakeable mood swings that, like a lens applied to my perspective, coloured my life. I would feel them starting, a slow-motion crushing sensation, like being caught in an industrial compacter, and I would be filled with dread. Continue reading
I remember the furore about Salman Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses”, and the apoplexy over the Danish newspaper cartoon depictions of the prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). When the Monty Python film “Life of Brian” was released it was shunned by the big broadcasting corporations and banned by borough councils around Britain. But is making it illegal to criticise religion the way to go? Continue reading
The Unexpected Traveller has magnanimously bestowed upon me the honour of The Versatile Blogger Award.
So, it’s down to me to pay it forward to a few worthy bloggers. Here’s what I could muster… Continue reading
I am both flattered and touched to have been nominated for a HUG Award© from the talented Julie Dawn Fox, the inspiration behind the “Personal A-Z” phenomenon and author of one of a number of excellent blogs coming out of Portugal right now.
You can find out more about The HUG Award© and it’s purpose here, but briefly, it’s aim is to keep hope alive in a world filled with difficulty and discord. It recognises and honours those who do what they can to help others regardless of belief, ability, race and gender Continue reading
Back in Britain, Canada Geese always had that exotic cachet of having flown in from some far-away land. A little part of Canada right there in our midst!
It was amusing to discover that your average Canuck doesn’t hold them in such high esteem. Continue reading
Moving to another country with children can be a stressful experience. The tearful confession, “I want to go home,” is the last thing any parent wants to hear. Adults will be going through their own period of adjustment and this, coupled with the logistical matters that lay claim to their time in the early days, can leave them ill-equipped to give their children the help they need to cope with the transition.
The good news is that, when properly prepared and supported, children often adjust more quickly than adults. Continue reading
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