Hello! Happy March

Time for daffodils, flinging off thermal vests (me) and St Patrick’s Day . . . Oh, where is my green fright wig? It looks horrible, actually – I much prefer my cheap Cleopatra black bob because you can slap on mucho eyeliner and experiment with the dark colour in your compact, the one you never use. The two-euro shop is a great source of St Paddy’s Day gear: all deeply frightening, mind you. Many small children were scared during the parade day when I wore the leprechaun hat-n-wig combo. I feel mothers should only frighten their own children when it’s bedtime and nobody is listening to you as you shriek ‘bed!!’ at the top of your voice for the eleventh time. Does this sound familiar. . . ? Mind you, nobody is ever scared – they are used to it.

What are you all up to, darlings?

I am deeply excited because Secrets of a Happy Marriage is now out in the UK (9th March) and I can’t wait for you all to read it! It’s the story of Cari, feisty career woman and possessor of an SAS Handbook (every woman should read it) who has had it with men since one dumped her at the altar; of Jojo, who has not recovered since her beloved mother died of cancer and who has been battling with infertility and grief since; and finally, of Bess, who married Jojo’s widower father two years after his wife died and who thought the Brannigan family would welcome her with open arms. Throw in a Machiavellian work colleague out to get Cari, a social climbing aunt who could shop for the Olympics, a mysterious stranger from San Francisco and a big family party, and things come to a head . . . I SO hope you like it!

What Am I Doing?

Crochet . . .Well, I am pinning pictures of crochet things on Pinterest. Does this count as crafting? I also paint my nails badly occasionally. Am I the only person who has had a go of the shellac thing and ended up ripping it off after about four days? I like nude colours but when I put them on, it looks like Tippex. Remember that? That’s white-out fluid for people who can’t remember life without a computer.

I am reading non-stop, as usual. Still on my David Baldacci fetish but I’ve also just read another incredible medical book, Fragile Lives. Remember Do No Harm, the exquisite and moving memoir by brain surgeon Henry Marsh? Well, this is similar in that it details case studies, although a very different sort of book, much less introspective, by heart surgeon Professor Stephen Westaby. If you are squeamish, this is not for you.

On watching . . . I have finished Designated Survivor and we are living on a diet of previously-watched Modern Family. I LOVE that show. We saw the brilliant A Monster Calls by the fabulous Patrick Ness in the cinema. Oh, how I cried. Sobbed through the whole thing. In future I am only watching films with Melissa McCarthy in them, OK?

Happy March,

Love

Cathy