Fi Phillips

It's the last day of February. There is blossom in my garden. It feels like spring is here - although it doesn't officially start until 20th May - so I felt like a fresh beginning on my blog, something new. Starting today, each month will see a new writing exercise appear on this site. I won't be marking papers. These exercises are for you to do with as you please, for personal, private work or to share, if you wish. That's up to you. This month's exercise is about food. Or rather it begins with food. Take one of your favourite foods and write a short piece on where you first ate it. For me, the food is bagels, and the place was Venice in Italy. It was my second short visit there. I planned to go with a friend but at the last minute, she cancelled. I had paid for the whole trip, expecting her to pay me back, so I now had two plane tickets and two hotel bookings. None of my other friends wanted to go. I was single at the time and, in my very early twenties, ...

You would have been 86 years young today.

I've never blogged on here about Mother's Day. I've mentioned my own mum on her birthday each year because in my eyes she deserves to be celebrated for the wonderful, often infuriating, always loving individual she was. Mothers Day, by comparison, can seem a little generic and exclusive too. I know of so many woman who are not biological mothers and yet are incredibly supportive and caring to those they know. Who celebrates them? Today I will be spoilt by my husband and children but I'll also be thinking about the women who have touched my life who haven't been mothers themselves and yet have made a difference. Some are still with us. Others are not. Auntie Betty - cantankerous, naughty, got through three husbands. My godmother, Kath - 86 years old, still living in the house she was born in, never married. Despite her health not being good, she's always laughing and joking. Her hips don't work as well as they did but she still enjoys a dance. J...

Another year, another birthday. Today I have reached the grand age of forty six years. I am now officially nearer fifty than forty. Do I feel old? Mature? Wise and cultured? Er, no. I feel like, well, like me. That's the one thing that I've always carried with me - me. If I have to put a finger on the age I seem to relate to, then I suppose it's somewhere in my early thirties. Having said that, what exactly does it feel like to be in your early thirties? I didn't know then and I don't know now how I'm supposed to feel or behave at this age. A twenty-something Dorothy My mother's generation always seemed to know how to act at different stages in their lives. In her twenties, my mother was a dutiful daughter, the youngest child staying at home to help her parents. In my twenties, I was opinionated to the point of thinking I knew better than my parents and I dressed like Margaret Thatcher (they called it 'power dressing'). My mother's third ...

Another Mothering Sunday has come around. My husband and children are making it a lovely day for me - lie-in, breakfast in bed (made by the children), cards (also made by the children) and chocolates. I got all the housework and chores done yesterday so today I can relax. A disadvantage of having this downtime though is that it gives me time to think and the more I think, the more I remember that my Mum isn't here. Maybe good times are always tinged by sadness. Maybe that is what makes them so important. So today I'll not only enjoy the day for my own sake but I'll also remember the times I had with my mum too. Happy Mother's Day to all the mums, those still with us and those we have lost. You all have a place in our hearts.

This is my mum and me. It wasn't always the easiest of relationships but by the time I was an adult, we'd put our differences to rest and now as a mother myself, I understand her so much better. Wisdom has a voice  is a multimedia project which aims to gather, record and express daughters' memories of their mothers. Stories of these memories will be compiled into an anthology due for release in October 2011. "We are looking for personal narratives that demonstrate the art of storytelling and possess a story arc with dramatic appeal. We will select stories that weave the significance of the unique experience into the storyline. Each selection should adapt easily to the spoken word as an audio version. "We will look for the wisdom or lesson learned from mother to be expressed in an authentic voice with originality and resonance." If your story is included in the anthology you will receive: a complimentary copy of the anthology with the option to purch...

It's the first day of July and we have rain - not the nice, refreshing sprinkling that would have been welcome after the last few days of blazing sunshine, but the kind of rain that brings grey to the skies and frowns to our faces. It chased me around the garden this morning as I rushed to bring in the washing and then soaked me as I carried my shopping from the supermarket to the car. Wet t-shirt and dripping hair is not a good look on me. Now I'm back in the house and the shopping is put away, all I want to do is snuggle up with a coffee and a book. I'm not exactly short on reading material (my main shopping habit) but what book would suit my mood today, a day when I want to feel cosy and warm indoors? The first book that comes to mind is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I have an old battered hardback from the 1940s that belonged to my aunt. A tale of passion and tragedy, the setting of the Yorkshire moors is described in a way that reflects the hard lives and cruelty...