In spring 1987 I went to visit my maternal grandmother in St Mary Abbots hospital in Kensington. It was the last time I saw her. She had spent the last seventeen years or so in various hospitals because she was suffering from what was known as presenile dementia, which was probably brought on, though no-one […]Read Post ›
The Fiat 126 was a very popular little car in Poland in the seventies. Aspirational for many people, it could be bought by paying instalments for several years in advance – you could only collect it after it was fully paid – and then you had to look after it. My husband’s mother joined the […]Read Post ›
Fifty one years ago I was stranded in Barcelona with no money, a few friends and a lot of time on my hands. I was on my year abroad, the universities were shut because someone had thrown eggs at the rector of Valladolid University the previous October, and I had decided to travel rather than […]Read Post ›
or lack thereof. For Al KE Easter Sunday. The Resurrection. New beginnings. Eggs. Family time. All very important in my life. We were expecting 11 adults and two babies for lunch.We only had nine on Easter Saturday and no one complained about the food then. There was enough. Only two more people on Sunday. I […]Read Post ›
Flowers from my garden.
Do you remember this Japanese shop? It was one of my favourite places in South Kensington in the eighties. It had beautiful window displays ranging from covetable silk kimonos to beautiful glazed chopsticks to porcelain teasets, (much imitated now by Tiger, I notice.) I used to love going there for various presents, even though it […]Read Post ›
Did I say I liked trains? Well one reader took me at my word! Monday evening I was confronted with a huge parcel of books! I’d been warned that I’d be getting a book – and I was very excited. But I wasn’t expecting six! Thank you, Angela. I have to make it public, because […]Read Post ›
I went to Amersham yesterday to go to the hairdresser. I last went to her about seven months ago and was going to go in October but she moved salons from Marlow to Amersham. Too far away I thought. How hard can it be to find a hairdresser near by? Turns out it’s very hard. […]Read Post ›
Cleanliness is next to godliness. I am usually clean, I think. Am I godly? I don’t know. But this morning I had difficulty being either. I woke up this morning almost unable to get up because of the pain in my knee. I had spent most of the night in agony, imagining the consequences of […]Read Post ›
My mother was married on November 29th, 1952. I was born just over 40 weeks later. A honeymoon baby. I think it was a difficult time for the whole family. My father was still a student – his education had been shatteringly disrupted by his forced exile to the Soviet Union and then by several […]Read Post ›
Life Through Basia's Eyes 