I am an immigrant. I was born in New Zealand. My Scottish father Gilbert was an immigrant. He went to New Zealand after serving in the...

I just got a call. Crackle, crackle, long pause, the click of connection, then a voice from far away. ‘Hello, this is Lisa from...

Yesterday I had to take a rush-hour tube at Kentish Town to catch a train at Euston. When it arrived, I found myself near the...

My 83-year-old mother finally had her cataract operation on Friday. She hadn’t lost her sense of humour despite enduring three...

My 83-year-old mother is about to have a cataract operation on one eye. A nurse advised Mum that her sight will change for that eye. She...

March 24, 2016 Things can get competitive in the countryside. My family used to live on a ten-acre chunk of land in the Waikato, an area...

My mother’s 83-year-old neighbour has always been a funny man. Reg once rode his horse into my parent’s bedroom and woke them with a...

March 11, 2016 The other day on the platform of Kentish Town tube station, I was distracted and without thinking, did the wave thing you...

March 4, 2016 A knock at the door. I open it to find a young man wearing a tarbard bearing the logo of a charity. ‘Hello, I’m collecting...

February 25, 2016 I was walking along Kentish Town high street this afternoon when a woman called out from a table outside Costa coffee...

My favourite key cutter in Kentish Town has a display of locks in his window and an ‘Everything Must Go!’ sign. He’s an old school Hong...

January 21, 2016 I called my pet insurance provider to cancel the policy. The man on the other end asked my address and name. All fine....

I met my friend Helen last night. The first thing she said to me was, ‘Your makeup looks good.’ I thanked her, surprised by the...

January 2, 2016 We have a man called Steven living on this estate. He’s got a very soft, sweet personality. If you meet him on a bus, he...

December 10, 2015 I’ve just been told by an optometrist that the interiors of my eyes are perfect. ‘Look at those veins,’ he said,...

I was just on the phone to my elderly aunt in Scotland and mentioned the attacks in Paris, explaining that they occurred in the area...

November 10, 2015 I had lunch with a friend today. She’s originally from Hong Kong and was talking about a woman she met there recently....

A man just called my landline. I could see a 0033 number so I answered with ‘Allo’. There was loud music playing. At first I thought it...

October 31, 2015 You can all relax again (unless you’re Australian). The All Blacks, with the help of my mother and her neighbour Dennis...

October 30, 2015 The All Blacks are playing Australia tomorrow and my 82-year-old mother is already getting worked up. She’ll be watching...