LIFE CHEZ DEE

Losing a child is different to any other loss. My child died, and on every possible imaginable level, that is wrong. The death of a child is not something anyone is prepared for or should ever happen. As a mother, the instinct to protect your child is always there. Not being able to protect your child; or save your child from dying goes against everything that motherhood stands for. This is not the natural order of things, and goes against the normal cycle of life. Watching

I wanted to talk about Edward's place; Edward’s grave. This might seem like a strange subject to talk about, but as this is going round in my mind, and I’m in the habit now of offloading all that stuff, then this is something I need to talk about and share. Edward is buried; I couldn’t bring myself to have Edward cremated. I watched him die. I visited him daily for the two weeks until we buried him. He was beautiful. For me, it felt like I needed to have that vision in my h

Recycling; being eco-friendly; everyone is so conscious of doing their bit for the environment. We use these words so frequently now, we hear them so often, that they are in our psyche, at the forefront of our minds, on the tip of our tongue … so familiar, they’ve become part of our everyday lives. Today, we shout about saving the planet, reducing emissions, global warming, carbon footprint, being green, saving energy … but this isn’t a new thing. Let’s go back say 40 or so y

You get what you pay for! Right? Of course you do … sometimes; and there again, no you don’t. It isn’t really that simple a question; and therefore there isn’t really a simple answer. The answer is yes, no, maybe, sometimes, depends. Advertisers are good at what they do … targeting their audience perfectly, getting their message buried deep within our subconscious; working overtime on the plethora of adverts they produce, brainwashing us with brand awareness, brand quality, a

What a beautiful place I live; I never tire of it. Every time I walk along the shore, the prom, the green I always have a moment’s pause to think, marvel, appreciate where I am, what I see; taking in that smell of the clean fresh air; the smell of the sea. Walking along the shore is interesting, so many interesting bits and bobs, natural or unnatural, lying abandoned having been brought in with the tide. Early risers walking the beach get first pickings at any treasure … the

Walking … we all know the benefits of getting out there in the great outdoors, blowing off the cobwebs and getting a healthy dose of fresh air in the lungs. The most convenient, cheapest, and safest exercise to do, good for our physical, and mental wellbeing, and anyone can do it. I’ve always enjoyed walking … just a stroll by myself or with friends; a long walk with the family; or something more purposeful on a day out somewhere. Flat walks, circular walks or steep walks … u

Lytham St Annes… when you speak to people out of the area about where you live, many have no idea where it is … never heard of it … can’t picture it. Some can’t even pronounce it, even saying Lytham Street Annes for goodness sake. If I had a pound for the number of times I’ve explained to people where it is, I’d be one rich lady. And so I have to think of somewhere nearby that they will have heard of … South of the Lake District … South of Morecambe, North of Manchester … but

I love Springtime, it’s my favourite season. I love all the Spring flowers which emerge after the bleakness of winter. The crocus, little tete a tetes, and daffodils which poke their heads through the turf and into the light. So many of them offering a wonderful welcome as we arrive in St Anne’s (past the airport), or in Lytham we’re treated to the gorgeous display on the “daffodil bend” (as I like to call it), near the YMCA playing fields. Daffs are such a cheery, friendly f

Today we lost a national treasure, the forces sweetheart, a symbol of hope, and a very much loved lady. We have been reminded so recently of all the wartime songs which she and so many others sang, whilst the nation celebrated the 75th anniversary of VE Day, and I’m glad that she lived to witness our country marking this day. The nation’s sweetheart lived a remarkable 103 years and her long life will be remembered for a long time; iconic, timeless, unforgettable. I write on s

It was my birthday yesterday. There’s lots I could start writing about now about my birthday, but this isn’t the direction I’ve planned for my writing to take, and in any event, I’ve actually written a piece journaling my thoughts on reaching a milestone birthday … which, if you fancy reading, can be found on my blog page Life Chez Dee, called “Officially Quinquagenarian”. I need to begin this writing though on the morning of my birthday, when mid-morning, at the time when I’

I sat down to write today, prompted by the bad press given all too often to teenagers. Now before there’s lots of shouting about how people have evidence of such, and start to spout about all the wrongdoings, I wanted to say one thing … your reports of late are about a handful of teenagers, not most, and not all. Generalisations actually make me quite angry. Stereotyping and lumping everyone in the same boat is incredibly irritating, and very often simply not true. To begin,

Lockdown; stay at home; protect the NHS; stay safe; phrases we hear day in day out at the moment; everywhere we look, everywhere we turn; on the news, on the radio, on posters, and banners, printed or homemade, all displayed for us to see as we walk around our neighbourhood. So we stay at home, work from home, educate our children, help our elderly and vulnerable, take our allowance of daily exercise, shop as needed, watch the news, and wait for the next instructions to follo

It’s a funny old year. Normally at this time of year we’d be making plans for weekends and bank holidays to spend time with the family on days out, walks and picnics, but this lockdown year has changed things, and as we have done with most of our weekends during lockdown, we’ve been catching up on the numerous jobs and projects which have either been neglected and have been on our to do list for a very long time, or they’ve been hopes and dreams of projects which we’ve planne

For many, home schooling our children began at the end of March this year. Suddenly, our workspaces, and working hours needed to be split between what we needed to do, and giving our children the education they needed and deserved. Initially, it was thought that the time at home would only be two weeks, with a return after the Easter holidays, but it soon became apparent that the need for children to stay at home would be much longer. I know some parents used those initial we

On Sunday 3rd May, it’s my birthday. It’s a milestone birthday; a big one; the day I turn 50; my half century; the big Five O. I used to think it sounded old … but now it’s my turn, and I’m not so sure. Fifty years ago I was born; 3rd May 1970, which also was a Sunday … a 70s child; and a child born on the Sabbath, which according to the rhyme, means I’m bonnie, blithe, good and gay. I have now lived 18,263 days and today sees me officially a quinquagenarian. God that sounds