I’ve been reflecting on why I dislike Christmas.

I posted this old photo in a Tiptree history Facebook page, and within the hour, was in touch with one of my late mother’s cousins. Seems I come from a larger family than I had always thought!

Blaxhall has a rich folk music tradition. Last night we went to the village hall to hear John Spiers and Jackie Oakes perform. I felt that I was really living the book I’ve just written!

I met a young man today who moved to Leiston for all the right reasons. It’s rural, affordable and situated in a stunningly attractive area. Leiston is slowly changing.

Belinda has been at the Forum the past couple of days, leaving me home alone. I’ve not enjoyed the experience.

The time has come to start the journey that will lead to the publication of my next book Down to Earth.

I just love reading books by long dead Suffolk writers that have stood the test of time and speak to people today. I can only hope that my books will remain current when I am long gone.

A day spent at an East Suffolk Council event was quite unlike anything I’d attended before. It left me optimistic about the future, and pleased to be living back in Suffolk.

It’s been a long journey, but finally, we are living in the home where we will grow old together.

As both a writer and a Quaker, a visit to the former Meeting House at Needham Market, a town that was my home more than 60 years ago, helped me see my future.

I hope I never take for granted the fact that we now live a ten minute drive away from Snape Maltings, one of the world’s best classical concert halls.

I’ve just discovered another Suffolk author, H W Freeman, whose books have stood the test of time. Another h ard act I aspire to follow!

Three of the people working on our new home yesterday were members of Belinda’s extended family. I think this illustrates how Leiston’s population differs from others towns.

Last night we were at Snape, gaining a musical insight into the lives of Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears. This deserved to be a sell-out performance, but the concert hall was far from packed.

The simple pleasures that living in Suffolk brings, are somehow special.

Belinda’s great grandfather bought this Garrett steam tractor in 1926. Now in 2023 I find myself a trustee of the museum that tells the story of Garretts and how as they prospered, so too did Leiston.

For 25 years, Turnpike Farm was where we lived, worked and had so many experiences, some positive and some from which I learned tough lessons. Now it has been sold and I can at last focus on our new life here on the Suffolk coast.

A chance conversation on a train has led me to see pollarding as much more than a necessary pruning of our two giant lime trees. It’s set me off on a whole new creative journey!

I’ve discovered a new word, that describes how I’ve felt for most of my life. Cherophobia is the fear of happiness. Now I have named it, I have to banish it from my life.

It is understandable that people in Leiston are concerned about the danger of gentrification, but are we examples of that phenomenon?