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...