I am reading
I have read a very entertaining book recently A Rosie Life In Italy. I discovered the writer, Rosie Meleady, here on Substack. Her bath caught my eye, a very stylish contemporary freestanding bath and I think she was planning to broadcast a podcast from it, but realised it was a bit wobbly and chickened out. A real shame, because I thought this was a great idea!
She writes and broadcasts from her dazzling home in Italy, which she buys in this book, the first in a long series, by accident. I was quickly hooked because at the start she works in the wedding business, as my husband and I have in the past, her husband is a photographer, as is mine, has alcohol problems, say no more, plus, she tragically loses a close sibling. Oh dear this is feeling very raw. She nearly moves to Spain but doesn’t: we were seriously planning to live in France but didn’t, then, instead of moving to a very modest, quite ordinary house like we did, an hour away from where we used to live, Rosie and her family moved to Italy and bought a crumbling stately home, enabling Rosie to write a series of books detailing their adventures and to hold bi-annual writers retreats
I am a serious fan and have been recommending her books to everyone I meet – this is me making my admiration official.
Read Rosie now!!
I am watching
Well, of course I have watched Adolescence on Netflix.
I did not want to as it looked SO grim, I watch TV to relax and escape, not to dwell on the problems of a family that looks strikingly like my own and many of my friends. Anyway, I took a deep breath and got started and was utterly gripped by the brilliant scripting and acting. There was a moment of relief for me when I worked out that the boy had a lot of freedom and was wandering around at 9:30pm on a school night. My kids, particularly my son, also had a lot of freedom, we brought our children up in the countryside and my son and his friends all hung out on beaches and in forests, unsupervised from early teens and thrived. There were a few close shaves: a few fights and falls from bikes, fires started a bit irresponsibly, but they all survived and are fine, but they were not wandering around city streets at 9:30pm on a Monday evening, so I got a break and realised that my own family was not being depicted. I could breathe, but I felt a lot of sympathy for everyone involved, the naivety of the parents was so real and relatable. They were clearly a nice couple and good parents but living in a culture where kids grow up very fast and quickly overtake their parents understanding of technology and social media. Even the police seemed completely lost by the online shorthand that teenagers are completely fluent in.
I can hardly work my TV, it is so complicated, I certainly do not know the hidden double meanings of all the emojis on Instagram and I am sure if I did manage to learn them I would be about two years out of date.
The short, four part series did not explore the girl’s side of the story, the female victim and her family. It was hinted at but left to your imagination, which was a heavy weight to bear. I felt the teachers were portrayed as very strict, almost military-like. it seemed to be the only way of controlling the very, very cheeky children. Have teenagers got worse? I have worked as teacher in some very tough schools in Glasgow, nearly thirty years ago now. I was very young and inexperienced at the time and really struggled, but the children had a sense of humour (the schools were in Glasgow!) They just wanted a laugh, often at my expense I have to say, but I am certain if any of them had been taken out of the classroom by two police officers investigating a murder of one of their fellow pupils they would not have behaved like the children in this school, and I was shocked.
Would love to hear your thoughts?
I am listening
To Alyson Walsh and her brilliant podcast That’s Not My Age. A lovely discovery of a journalist and broadcaster who is exactly the same age as me but really beautifully plugged in to the online world with her excellent blog and great podcast where she interviews other women of her generation who are also thriving, I listened to her interview Lyn Slater, The Accidental Icon and was delighted to discover women whose confidence and satisfaction with life came across strongly. Really inspiring.
I am writing
My columns for the local magazines I write for, and trying to get ahead with my own blog posts and Instagram planning (groan!!).
I am enjoying
Resting a bit, work is busy and lots going on with family, my husband’s parents need a bit of support at the moment, so, when I am not working, I am trying to chill out!