Her hands were rough and weathered from years of hard work. Her knuckles protruded too much either side of her long fingers and many blue veins bulged from the back of her hands, spreading down into the sinewy delta of crooked fingers and oval nails. Her skin was now translucent with age, brown and blotchy and creased and cracked. Each crack was stained black with dirt … Continue reading Hands of Time
I have found myself exhibiting a new emotion; surprise. I love surprises but my usually repetitive domestic life doesn’t leave much room for spontaneity so I have not had them often; until now. I was surprised recently when I realised that I had reached 37. How could that be? I didn’t look any different and I certainly didn’t feel any different. I was surprised again when … Continue reading The Element of Surprise
I am enjoying a peaceful evening alone. I mean alone. Doing my own thing; writing to you. All children are fast asleep and Mr MF is away again for work. I had dinner with a friend and her children. The kids had plenty of playtime and a bath at her house. Then all I had to do was put them to bed when we got … Continue reading Thank you Mr Supernanny
I am a natural loner. Yet I have a small group of close friends whose company, guidance and interaction I cannot live without. Mr MF is one of them, but today I want to leave him out of it because he is a force of nature that warrants his own post sometime. I want to talk about the closeness of the relationship I have with … Continue reading Circle of Friends
I make a habit of locking eyes with perfect strangers. It’s something I’m compelled to do. I want to know if there’s a soul trapped behind their gaze; trapped in a mundane existence of the choices they’ve made or the circumstances life’s dealt them. Often there is simply an empty, non-committal stare in return; strangers make most people nervous. Sometimes though, I see a sparkling … Continue reading The Perfect Stranger
For months I have been trying to convince myself that my husband’s pending vasectomy was going to be a good thing. After the birth of our second son I thought I was done with children. The shock and stress caused by my little difficult bundle of crying, unsettled joy by far out-weighed the love I was supposed to feel for him. However, I got through it and he got better … Continue reading The Vasectomy Song
I thought I could never do it. I thought I could never cut my children’s hair; it would be way too embarrassing for me to have anyone realise what I had done. Would they look closely enough to see the stray long bits where my sons had wriggled and screamed to get away? Would it be too obvious to see that I was in fact … Continue reading The Home Haircut
Our diet is pretty basic right now; it could be called slightly Paleo but not because we’re trying to be. I call it Frugaleo because what we are trying to do is stretch our money further as well as being healthy. As small business owners we wait anxiously each month for bills to be paid. At the moment we are on that threshold. Therefore, I regularly … Continue reading The Frugaleo Diet
Mr MF and I had never been on a date since getting married and having kids. But with some much-needed ‘together time’ in order we agreed that every Wednesday we would so something together in the evening. That could be a swim, a hit of squash or tennis, a picnic or going out for dinner. These days our lives are more about organising around the … Continue reading Why dates keep you regular
If I hadn’t already booked and paid for the trip I’m sure I would’ve backed out of it. At the time of booking I really needed to go right then; my tolerance was stretched to breaking point and just needed some time out. By the time my departure date rolled around I was indifferent about the whole thing and was riddled with guilt about leaving my big … Continue reading The Great Escape!
Becky says things about things and other things
the online journal of Karen Charlton-Mills
Indulge- Travel, Adventure, & New Experiences
Give Our Kids the Freedom We Had
Mama Monsoon 