My hands are freakishly small and fundamentally unattractive, not helped by my cuticle-picking habit. It also means no standard-sized bangles fit me, because they are made with standard-sized hands in mind and they slide straight off my wrists and over my hands. This is a terrible shame because I have always had dreams of wearing one or two slim gold… View Post
We are tremendously fortunate to have Holly Bell with us this morning on The Spike. You will know Holly from the Great British Bake-Off and you possibly follow her on Instagram. On a non-baking theme, she also got divorced and then decided to write a book about it, called I Don’t Know You, But… which is a very impressive and… View Post
Okay. You are going to think that I have lost my mind when you see what I’ve got for you today but I haven’t, I promise. Or maybe I have. (And if I have, it would explain a lot.) First is a silk sleep turban. Yes. You have probably seen these around and about the place, especially if you read… View Post
Let’s start with podcasts, because those are what I have got most of to recommend. This American Life episodes 582 When the Beasts Come Marching In and 743 Don’t You Be My Neighbour. TAL episodes are long and it’s occasionally unappealing to commit unless you know it’s going to be a humdinger. You’re Dead To Me on BBC Sounds. I… View Post
I am feeling some emotions after receiving all those comments yesterday. It has been a very long and strange journey trying to discover why the traffic to this website dropped like a stone a few months ago. I assumed that it was because everyone was sick of me. I got really quite down about it. It didn’t help that I… View Post
I have completely forgotten about periods. I have had a Mirena coil for years – but I know the coil isn’t for everyone for a variety of reasons. Like my friend Melissa, who simply cannot bear the thought of the procedure or, frankly, the idea that there is a twiggy bit of plastic poking around in there. She was raving… View Post
How are we all feeling about social media these days? I only ask because in the last month I have had a major shift in perception, particularly towards Instagram. God I used to love Instagram. I mean, I still do up to a point. It’s just endlessly fun and interesting. Reels, Instagram’s answer to TikTok, is hilarious and a damn… View Post
A comment on The Spike from Mills last week has been on my mind. She said that she had read Christine Armstrong’s brilliant book “The Mother of All Jobs” and she had been left a little troubled by the recommendation in the book to have a lot of mum friends and be very involved in the school right from the… View Post
Okay, once you’ve got your smart blazer(s) sorted, you’re most of the way there, as the thing about a blazer is that you can sling it over more or less anything and it transforms it into workwear. I take back what I said about the long flowery dresses. If I actually had to go to an office, ever, I’d be… View Post