Titanic still causing an impression, post-Costa

ONE hundred years ago the Titanic set off for New York. As a band played, excited passengers waved from the decks. The self-styled ‘most luxurious liner in the world’ was never to return to Southampton.Read

My nightmare brought to life at Maori show

I ALWAYS marvel at people who volunteer to go up on stage. As a child, I shrivelled to a shadow when the audience was scanned for likely suspects, but luckily there were always plenty of takers.Read

Bm@il: Cruising through other cultures can leave you feeling queasy - it's good to be home

WE ARE now back on dry land, following the world cruise I mentioned last week. It’s great to be home, but difficult to adjust after more than three months away, particularly after being in the tropics.Read

Bm@il: Oranges were not the fruit at all for us Bournville girls

YOU know I’m a sucker for a tasty bit of research, and I’ve recently learned that an orange a day may protect us from heart disease and stroke.Read

Bm@il: 'Hello spring' - from one darling bud of April

MAY I be the first to welcome you to the first day of spring, my favourite season.They say you feel closest to the time of year you were born, and as an April baby I definitely fit the bill.Read

Bm@il: No need for an icy suicide - just keep an eye on your neighbours

ON FRIDAY, it will be 100 years since the Antarctic explorer Captain Lawrence Oates deliberately walked from his tent into a howling blizzard to die.Read

Only an anorak would become a leezure wear spotter

I’LL tell you one thing my generation finds hard to get right. We fail miserably when it comes to that strange ‘animal’ leisure wear, or ‘leezure wear’ as Mr F calls it, with an exaggerated American accent.Read

Take a leap, sisters, but make it a romantic one

SO SISTERS, today is Leap Day. Feel free to rush out and ask someone to marry you, as it’s the one day of the year when women can propose to men.Read

Bm@il: 'Kindle worm' - not a computer virus but perhaps the future of children's reading

GET off the couch, remove the games consoles from your children’s bedrooms and stock up their bookshelves… now.Read

Like bell bottoms and Ford Capris, the new cool is retro naff

I WAS pleased to spot a survey which revealed that the ‘naff’ cars from my past are now thought to be ‘cool’. Young drivers under the age of 40 are apparently snapping up previously unfashionable motors, particularly those from the 70s and 80s – along with vintage clothes of the era.Read

Bm@il: The perils of going hatless

IT WILL be 60 years on Monday since the Queen took over the top job from her dad King George VI, after he died because he forgot to wear a hat. Well, anyway, that’s the reason for his death I believed as a child.Read

Bm@il: Happy 70th birthday, Desert Island Discs

Years ago, I was asked to devise my own eight-strong disc list plus one book and a luxury item – probably for one of the hospital radio stations – but the broadcast never happened.Read

Bm@il: The 21st century nit nurse gets a head start on the problem

I’VE just been reading the startling news that nit nurses could be making a return to schools. Well, in Denbighshire anyway. Maybe Hillingdon and others will follow suit.Read

Bm@il: Yellow peril or just travel fever?

IT’S been a colourful sort of week. First, Mr F and I had the yellow fever injection for a trip we are taking this year. It involved much trembling from me and much amusement for him.Read

Bm@il: New Year - the time for quitters, losers and a few nice guys

ON SUNDAY it was New Year’s Eve, and a whole year since Mr F gave up smoking.Read

Bm@il: Happy keeping up with the Joneses? Not really

THIS time of cuts in services and rises in prices that we’re living through is very weird isn’t it?Read

Bm@il: Happy keeping up with the Joneses? Not really

THIS time of cuts in services and rises in prices that we’re living through is very weird isn’t it?Read

Bm@il:Raise a glass to Band Aid and a well carved nutroast

SO, ARE you ready for the big day?Read

Spread a little hate? And a royal love story with a bittersweet taste

PINK gin and anchovies are two of the things that can be described as ‘Marmite tastes’. Even catamarans have been called the Marmite of powerboating – you either love them or hate them.Read

Ayckbourn makes critics sniff, radio tries to airbrush Sir Cliff

MR F AND I have just watched something on iPlayer. What a wonderful invention. No more swearing and flinging the recorder across the room when we return home to find it’s taped something like Embarrassing Bodies instead of Downton Abbey.Read

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