Thrifty word challenge 100 #64: Censorship — I was once subjected to censorship in court. Accused of benefit fraud after failing to declare a change in circumstances — I didn’t reveal my marriage to Department of Work and Pensions — I was subsequently convicted and had to repay back all the money I had claimed. What I…

Fifrty Word Challenge #95 : Uncomfortable — They're not a good fit these feelings that envelop me in a quagmire of fear Why do I choose to sit in a state which overwhelms? When I’d rather be unencumbered to say and do as I please? Than be as unsettled as a raging sea? Emotions, set me free …

Thrifty Word Roundup 100 #73: & 50 #94: Enough — Welcome to a world where last Friday — June 24th, 2022 — women in the USA were stripped of their rights to safe, legal abortions. But we’re not accepting the unacceptable. The fightback has begun. Like all freedoms, abortion rights and reproductive care has to be fought for over and…

Thrifty Word Challenge 100 #73: Enough — This week our local borough celebrated this year’s Windrush Day — created to remember the first Caribbean people to come to the UK to help rebuild the country after World War II — with the unveiling of two huge statues now standing outside the town hall. Sculpted by local Black…

Thrifty Word Challenge 100 #73: & 50 Word Challenge #94: Enough — I was forced to change the way I’d been handling an extremely difficult situation at home recently, for the sake of my sanity, and also, because it wasn’t working. If you’ve been following the saga of me trying to control the uncontrollable — ie a person who isn’t myself —then…

I wished so hard that she would — Trigger warning: Some readers may find the following story of youth homelessness disturbing. I met *Charlene in the autumn of 2002. She was sitting on the pavement outside a bank on the high road in north west London near where I live. I guess she caught my attention because she…

Because that’s what grownups do — It’s been some time since I wrote one of these entries. I’d love to say that life has been quiet on the homefront but sadly, au contraire. It was with huge sorrow that I had to allow YT (youngest teen) to be taken into care in March of this year…