I left Sheffield in July 1978 after I finally finished my final teaching practice, and felt that my life was over. Little did I know that it was only just beginning, but I was sad, bereft, and dreading the future. What I really wanted was another gap year, to find myself as they say, but […]Read Post ›
Have I said I always wanted to be a teacher? Many times, I hear you mutter. So boring, never wavering, always on about education.Et cetera, et cetera. Well, now is the time to admit, that isn’t entirely true. I’ll try and explain. In June 1976 I finally obtained my degree by the skin of my teeth from […]Read Post ›
Did you know I like reading? You probably are aware, as I seem to have been defined for most of my life as a bookworm, booklover, avid or voracious reader, etc etc. (Just quoting from memory from old school reports. They made their mark!) Anyway it is true, and over the years many people, family, […]Read Post ›
This is my first time in Dubrovnik, but not my first connection with it. Many years ago, when I had just finished university, I had a boyfriend who was a disaster in many ways. But it took me a long time to see it, but that’s another story. He was an amateur archaeologist and I […]Read Post ›
When I was eighteen I went to Poland for six weeks. It was a great turning point in my life, as up till then I had been very shy, very nervous, lacking in confidence and with very few independent skills. I was clever and well read, but that was about it. I left school after […]Read Post ›
For everyone who has asked why I’ve not written much this year. A year of such promise. I’ve just been looking back on all the stuff I wrote about so enthusiastically at the beginning of the year. I was so keen to keep a diary of all the exciting things I would be doing on […]Read Post ›
Babysitting was obviously not going to be a career, so I needed to think again. After the exams I was finally free. Living at home with my mother and stepfather in South Kensington but still needing cash. So I went to work. I joined an agency and was sent out to the Folio Society. Somewhere […]Read Post ›
For Annie – Lola Valerie Stein, and anyone who has done the real thing! https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/barbara-korzeniowska2 Dear Friends and Supporters, This is going to be a surprise to many of you, and possibly a big shock to my system, because I have decided to challenge myself to climb Mount Kilimanjaro – virtually of course – in […]Read Post ›
At home, trying to keep busy and not think about the reasons for being at home and trying to keep busy. A few days ago this piece of embroidery fell out of its ancient plastic bag in the cupboard where I had been hoarding it since we moved in in 1986, and demanded to be […]Read Post ›
Going backwards from today. This is to help me remember. The rain it raineth everyday. I don’t particularly need to remember that, but diarists always seem to mention the weather. I’m never particularly interested in the weather. I don’t like being too cold or too hot or too wet any more than the next person, […]Read Post ›
Life Through Basia's Eyes 