Coast to Coast | Breaking free to the sea
Breaking free to the sea
With 12 hours to go until we could legally travel a little more than five miles, we rebelled.
The weather forecast last Friday was for high winds and heavy rain, but this was an early morning mission in the name of art, but mostly in the name of wellbeing. As since beginning this coast-to-coast project in December, there has only been one realtime visit to the sea.…
Seasons of Motherhood | Unquarantine Yourself
It is hard to believe that an entire year has passed since this photograph was made
and when I came into your room that morning, it was the first clue that I had of you having an idea, of how huge this time would be in your life.
The massive changes in your transition from tween to teen were inevitable in normal times. Transitioning when you're locked down in a pandemic, having limited…
Coast-to-Coast project | The Feeling of a Surfer
There's a saying that goes like this...
'Only a surfer knows the feeling'
I've got a trusty old surfboard, shaped by a New Zealand friend called Greg, who used to live in Cornwall. My first 'made to measure' possession, back in the day when our local Friday night pub was a three-hour drive deep into the wild southwest of Kernow. Just in time for last orders at the bar and in perfect time for…
Artifact of Motherhood | An Unexpected Snow Day
A snow day's tale
It's a hard fact in our household that there is nothing in this world more exciting than pulling back the curtains and seeing the world around you in a carpet of white.
It's also fair to say that we started this year in a bit of a funk. Without routine, then struggling to find routine and if I'm honest, a little tired of being grateful, trying not to look beyond each…
Coast to Coast Project | The Severn Estuary
ESTUARY (noun) / es.tʃu.ə.ri
The wide part of a river at the place where it joins the sea
Leaning over the railings of the Severn Bridge, just five miles from our house and looking longingly southwestwards, to where I know the ocean waits.
It's been an emotionally strange and longer than usual month, with January 2021 teaching me to dig deeper than ever I've known. To find the 'new'…
Coast to Coast | A birthday calling to the sea
With the sun setting down on Southerndown
I am reminded that we are a family who have been lucky enough to rock up and wake up to many beaches in the world over the years. This year has been very different for an obvious reason, so waking up on my birthday with landlocked feelings, I knew we had to go.
We met my parents there, the first outing with them in nearly a year, and they themselves…
Seasons of Motherhood | A December Tale
My birthday was at the weekend and it was a special one. Not in terms of years (though I won't linger too much here!) but in terms of simplicity, location and bucket loads of gratitude.
It's been months of further lock-downs, school year groups out having to self isolate, and us as parents feeling like she only ever came out of her bedroom for survival purposes. To eat, drink and use the…
Through My Childhood Window | A Personal Photo Project
When the world stood still back in March this year because of Covid-19, many of us went into survival mode. Keeping our families safe and managing multi-wellbeing became the analogy of stirring many pots on the stove all at once. The added dimension for me these past several months, is that it’s the first time I’ve seen the shift from me knowing my parents have always been here to care for…
Artifact of Motherhood | A Cornish Escape
A flock of birds bursting out of the rock has come to symbolise just how much that trip to Cornwall now means to me. We nearly didn't make it. The forecast that week was stormy, working commitments crazy and a decade-long house renovation was making this trip unimportant.
We were all feeling a bit disconnected in early February. The heart of winter didn't feel like it was shifting, and a…
Seasons of Motherhood | Seasons of Change
Seasons of Motherhood
Season of Change
As a new school term begins and she turns 14, I'm transported back to a time when I had her thigh-high at my side, a proper mini partner-in-crime. I can remember most of our conversations from back then. With a few I've just left right there, in those happy carefree moments when she couldn't tell the time and I didn't look at a watch. We had micro…