My Life as a writer - When I'm not scribbling

Music is one of those things in life it's always there whether we realise it or not.  From the sweet song of the birds in the trees to the musical score of the latest movie.  It draws on your emotions lifting you up or making you cry. I think everyone has a soundtrack to their life, songs that have an impact, that stay with them maybe just for a day or maybe for a lifetime but they each have a place in your story. So far this year, these are the songs that are forming the soundtrack of my 2017: 1. I love my Life - Robbie Williams This was the first song I heard this year (well after Auld Lang Syne).  I'm not a huge party person on New Years Eve, I tend to be a home body celebrating with family anyway I was watching Robbie Williams Rocks Big Ben and this was the first song that stuck with me moving in to the new year. It's a song that has meaning to me - I think we can go through life not being happy, not being satisfied and sometimes our own inner voice plays a p

On this day, the 24 March 1944 my Grandfather Joseph Robinson climbed in to the small and cramped tail gunner post of his Lancaster Bomber with his crew. The Wedding of Joseph Robinson to Irene Baum  Joining the RAF when war broke out and worked his way up for Flgt. Sgt.  He had been flying for a year by this point.  Married one day shy of six weeks he lift his wife at home in his native Sunderland and returned to his squadron at Elsham Wood. Joe was ideal as a tail gunner, a strong man, a confident man but he was short enough and small enough to fit in to the plexi-glass turrets of Lancaster Bomber.  The problem with being a Tail-end Charlie, wasn't just the cramped conditions where many couldn't wear the parachutes or even boots if they wanted to fit in, neither was it the loneliness of being so far removed from the rest of the crew, but the real kicker would be if you needed to escape. The tail turrets while the most important defensive position carrying the heav

I love comfort food, there are certain meals that are just so homely and warming that they just make you feel at home. Carbonara is one of my go to comfort foods, I love the richness of the cream sauce and the saltiness of the ham.  I also love to add vegetables to my dishes in any way I can.  Usually in carbonara I add mushrooms, garden pea, seasonal veg such as asparagus and so on. So the other week I was watching Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night with top chef Jamie Oliver.  One of his recipes was taking traditional carbonara and turning it in to a cake.  once cooked it looked delicious and I remember seeing something similar before done with spaghetti Bolognese. I had some time this week so I thought I'd give this recipe a shot, Jamies Recipe can be found on his website here: www.jamieoliver.com I adapted it slightly to suit my taste - you will need a loose bottom cake tin and set your oven to 180c (fan) Ingredients olive oil to line the tin 90g of mixed cheese

The world is a busy place so sometimes it's nice to slow things down and catch up with the important people in your life Every month or two I get together with my closest friends and have a girls night in.  Going out is great, I love going to restaurants, to the theatre, to the movies but sometimes being out socially doesn't give us a lot of time to catch up fully on what's going on in everyone's lives. So we will do things like; Have Afternoon Tea A 'formal' meal A buffet with board games This Saturday we had decided on a Games Night, so this is how I prepare; Generally cleaning my house  Setting the table  Preparing the food  - baking cakes, cooking pastry etc.   As we use the evening to catch up and relax I tend not to cook a formal meal, I create more of a buffet that we can snack on throughout the night as we talk.   I love cooking and baking so this gives me a chance to try out new recipes and relax in my kitchen I make sure I

It's shrove Tuesday this week, the start of the run up to Easter. Time to use up all the things that are traditionally not eaten as part of Lent. So pancakes are the traditional food of the day, in my family, we have pancakes as the evening meal on Shrove Tuesday. The recipe we use to make our pancakes is; 100g Flour 2 Eggs 300ml Milk  a pinch of salt Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together, let stand for thirty minutes.  When you are ready grease a frying pan and heat spoon in the batter and move round the pan until you have a circular shape  Cook for around 1 minute flip to the other side and cook for 1 minute until golden brown.  Keep them warm on a tray in the oven until you have all your pancakes cooked.  Part of the fun of pancake day is the assortment of toppings you can have.  These are my top five.  Top Five Pancake Toppings; 1. Traditional Lemon and Sugar A squeeze of fresh lemon and a dusting of sugar is a simple, delious and

I write books, I love writing books and the flip side to that is I love reading books.  So I thought I'd do a little post on the books I've read so far this year and what I thought of them; 1. The Stylist - Rosie Nixon  Follow Amber Green as she is catapulted from her designer retail store job in to the world of celebrity stylists.  Hired to assist Mona Armstrong the top celebrity stylist through a jam packed awards season.  The ultimate dream job becomes more of a roller coaster drama with designer wardrobe.   This book is at its heart a finding yourself story.  Not unhappy with her life but not truly satisfied Amber's luck is in when she makes a slight mistake which brings her to the attention of Hollywood's go to stylist, whose life on the outside is nothing short of amazing.  It's the ultimate look at a the greener grass and finding out all is not what it seems.   Amber grows as a person and becomes more confident in her ability and who she is.  She

In life we are bombarded with images and sales pitches on things we should want, aspire to have, save up for or buy immediately. Sometimes it's nice to take a step back from all this and just appreciate what we have and find ways to enjoy life that do not add to financial stress etc. Anyway, I was thinking about the things in life that mean the most, I enjoy the most or simply make me feel safe, comfortable, confident, and a lot of them are just simple things.   So I guess there's some truth in simple things can mean the most. Here are my top five simple things; 1. Going for a walk with my dog Hero Hero is my baby, he's an amazingly intuitive dog, he's loving, he's cuddly, he's soft and he's always by my side.  He's also infuriating when it comes to the ten minutes before his walk time - oh I swear he doesn't need a watch he can tell the time and he has an unhealthy interest in cushions - which somehow always end up in my garden. I oft