Fight the flab, beat the bulge and count the calories. We’ve all heard the mantras of the weight-loss brigade and I can bet nearly every one of us could quote our height, weight and body mass index without giving it much thought. For example, I’m … no, I’ll reveal that little secret later.
But in recent years our weight, and our right to choose whether or not to change it, has stopped being a private issue and has moved into the realm of public policy. With headlines screaming: ‘Obesity could bankrupt the NHS’[1], the government and health authorities are working overtime to change the nation’s waistline.
Image courtesy of didbygraham Continue reading ‘The Politics of Fat’
A Gardener’s Gospel – Week 12
This week I managed a bonus day in the garden. After weeks of on-off rain, sleet and snow, I woke on this mid-April Tuesday to glorious sunshine. Tuesdays are my day off – well, from the paying job anyway. I’m still a mother and housekeeper and Tuesdays are spent shopping and spending time with my three-year-old daughter. But on a day like this, shopping was for the birds.
So with Megan set up with a trowel, digging a hole for some kitchen-raised chives that I was releasing into the wild, I surveyed my little kingdom. With the ‘bairn’s’ attention span only likely to last an hour at the most, I decided that my top priority would have to be weeding.
Continue reading ‘A Weed By Any Other Name’
A Gardener’s Gospel – Week 11
There’s a programme on British television called Mr Maker. I hate Mr Maker. With a dashing smile and charming good looks, this young man woos our children, like the Pied Piper, into believing that with bits ‘n bobs and PVA glue, anything is possible. Projects that should take 24 hours, allowing for drying time, appear to be complete in less than 30 seconds. It is then that our children want us to replicate. Continue reading ‘Head Space’
A Gardener’s Gospel – Week 10
I was so looking forward to the Easter weekend. After weeks of wall-to-wall work and never-ending family commitments, Easter was going to be my designated gardening day. I had lobelia which had been waiting to be planted out since November (seriously) and some pansies which were a more recent purchase. I also needed to compost and fence off my flowerbeds so that the Hound from Hell would be discouraged from using them as her personal racetrack. So how disappointing when I saw that snow was forecast? Continue reading ‘Gardening in a blizzard’
Welcome to my site - I'm Fiona Veitch Smith, a freelance journalist, author, playwright and writing teacher. This site contains thoughts and articles I've written on a range of topics. I hope you find them useful.
