Enough Food If…

IF campaign launch Somerset House

There is nothing more powerful than feeling like you are part of a movement

Last night – standing outside Somerset House, with several brilliant bloggers tweeting away beside me, and Bill Nighy on stage in front of me talking passionately about land grabs and tax dodging and poverty as a form of slavery – I started to get that tiny tingle in my toes. It wasn’t just the cold. It was the feeling of excitement, anticipation and empowerment that comes when you start to believe that change is possible.

What IF we were the generation that could put an end to world hunger?

More than 100 charities believe that it is possible, and they’ve joined forces to launch the Enough Food for Everyone IF campaign.

Continue reading →

New Shoes

Clarks Boys Stomposaurus

Every so often, something unexpected will really take my breath away as it reminds me how much DorkySon is growing up.

It’s not usually something big or significant that startles me into that realisation. We have dispensed with naps and nappies, with a minimum of fuss. Sippy cups and sleep suits are a thing of the past, and I haven’t shed a tear over either. But this weekend I had one of those moments where I stopped and looked at my boy, shaking my head in disbelief. Wow.

DorkySon needed new shoes. Continue reading →

Live in the Now January

Edinburgh in the snow

Back in December I did a Live in the Now post, for the first time in months, where I took some time to just look around at our life and reflect on where we all are. I’m going to try and keep that going throughout 2013, as a way of remembering the little things that don’t really warrant a post to themselves. Continue reading →

Things We Love

Every so often I like to do a quick roundup of things that I’m enjoying in life just now – mainly things I’ve encountered by chance, occasionally things I’ve been sent for review. I meant to do one before Christmas but ran out of time, so I thought I’d do one now instead.

Radio Paradise logo

Radio Paradise: Radio Paradise is a digital radio station, and it’s the only thing we ever listen to in this house. We’ve completely abandoned our own music collections since we found it. Based in Paradise, California, and run by husband and wife Bill and Rebecca Goldsmith, it is commercial-free, listener-supported, and they play nothing but brilliant music. There is no chat at all, just an eclectic mix of old and new music in almost every style. It’s a bit like Spotify, but with more chance of you finding previously unknown music that you love. Continue reading →

The Shovel List

Marian Keyes book

One of my favourite books of last year was The Mystery of Mercy Close by Marian Keyes. If you haven’t read it, you really should.

One of the things from the book that has stuck with me is the concept of a ‘shovel list’. A lot of bloggers have been writing their ‘bucket lists’ recently, but a shovel list is not quite the same. As Helen Walsh (one of the book’s characters) describes it; ‘it’s a conceptual thing. It’s a list of all the people and things I hate so much I want to hit them in a face with a shovel.’

I decided I’d have a go at writing my own. I’ve had to limit this list to my top ten, otherwise it would be my longest post ever. But here goes… Continue reading →