Telephone
I’m in Valencia at the moment, having been whisked here by husband to try and forget about my impending cataract removal and to celebrate our 45th … Telephone
London
Carmen
No not the opera, not many Spanish girls of that name, but the best birthday present ever when I was 17, in 1970. My parents had friends who I now realise were doing their utmost to treat me as a grown up rather than the sweet little girl that my parents made me out to […]Read Post ›
Nostalgia
I was in West Kensington the other day and suddenly I was five again and going to school for the first time. Actually, maybe not the first day, as the routine had been established. I was holding my grandmother’s hand. We would play word games on the way. I must have been able to read, […]Read Post ›
John Rowlands
Christmas 2012 John pulling a cracker with “Magick” I first met John in 1992 in the grand educational establishment that was known as Walford High School. Set in the westernmost part of London, not the east end as you might expect, it was in many ways a nightmare of a school, but as a source […]Read Post ›
Irena Delmar – 100 Lat.
Happy Birthday. 8 May I interviewed this beautiful woman a couple of years ago for an entry in the souvenir programme of the polish Jubilee Ball. As it is her birthday today I thought I would share the article with you. She was such a delight to talk to, as she gave me tea in […]Read Post ›
The Last Witness
This film made by Piotr Szkopiak was due to be released five years ago both in Poland and in the English speaking world, but somehow was never properly distributed, although it is available on streaming services and very occasionally in independent cinemas. As I knew it dealt with the Crime of Katyń, or the Katyń […]Read Post ›
Thomas Michael Maramaros OStJ 1948 -2023
My best friend’s brother, my husband’s second cousin. Our lives were intertwined in many different ways over the last six decades. and now he is gone. This is the eulogy I gave at his funeral mass at Ealing Abbey last Thursday. I could have written much more of course – he was so well-known and […]Read Post ›
Pani Seydlitzowa z domu Lamparska
I just found this rather interesting (to me, at least) photograph. Taken in Egerton Court about 1966, from the left are my Aunt Alice, my mother Grazyna, her mother in law, Pani Seydlitzowa, as I called her, and Dr Ewa Janaszewska, a kidney specialist from Poland. More about her another time. Pani Seydlitzowa, as you […]Read Post ›
The Woman in Black
Clearing out. Two words I hate. Clearing out is so hard to do. But it has to be done. One thing at a time. Now I’m not going to write about every object consigned to the recycling bin. Most actually produce no memories. They are easily discarded. But The Woman in Black is a play […]Read Post ›
The Long Walk
I went for a walk today. Not just any old walk but the beginning of a 100 mile walk. I have to complete it by the end of March. 31 days. Not too bad. I walk quite slowly. My legs aren’t very long. It should be quite manageable. Yesterday I walked 3.9 miles with no […]Read Post ›
Life Through Basia's Eyes 