Another grand day
OK so I know I said in the last blog that it’s amazing how little you can get done on holiday, but after a week in Europe I’m amazed at what we have actually achieved. Yesterday we drove from Pezenas …...
View ArticleMoustache? What moustache?
When I was a little girl, we lived at a place called Home Farm, just outside Newbury in Berkshire. We rented part of a house on the farm. There was a lot to do in the English countryside; making houses...
View ArticleThe new Lampard?
Last week, in fact most weeks, was dominated by sport. First Leo became a class rep at school and proudly shared with us the suggestions he is going to make to improve the life of his classmates. First...
View ArticleA Tiger in my gym
A week ago today I spotted a rare and beautiful creature in my gym. Many women have sighted him before me, but it still felt very special. It was none other than the ‘casually sweaty Tiger Woods’...
View ArticleThe best soap opera in the world
No, I am not going to drone on about Downton Abbey again. The best soap opera in the world is football. I am utterly addicted to the progress (or lack of it) of Chelsea Football Club. And not just the...
View ArticleWomen of a certain age
There is a famous saying that women of a certain age discover either God or gardening. I would like to add a third discovery, every bit as all-encompassing and obsessive: Tennis. I have loved tennis...
View ArticleI don’t know you, but I hate you
OK I promise I won’t go on about the AMAZING Champions League victory on Saturday, I realise most of my readers are not obsessive Chelsea fans. But today is George Best’s birthday, so it would be rude...
View ArticleSporting loyalties
Whenever people ask me where I come from, I say England. This is of course not strictly true, but the truth would take far too long, and when people ask you where you’re from, as is the case when they...
View ArticleI want a six-pack
Earlier this week I was chatting to one of the trainers at my gym about six-packs. “I hate this flab,” I told him, grabbing my mid-riff. “I want it gone. I want a six-pack like Fernando Torres.” “If...
View ArticleThe French role model (again)
Just after Christmas we went to a party at the home of a French family we are quite friendly with. Like us, they have three children aged between nine and 13. Unlike us, these children look and behave...
View ArticleRugby versus football, a game of two halves
At the end of a very stressful and long football season, I think I have stumbled upon a universal truth. Everything that is wrong with football could be corrected by adopting the ethics, morality and...
View ArticleWhy we will always love Jonny
As we prepare for the rugby world cup without the world’s greatest living Englishman, I thought I would bring back some fond memories of the 2007 tournament. I covered it for the Sunday Times from deep...
View ArticleLife Lessons: Henry Blofeld
The legendary cricket commentator Henry Blofeld is president of the Emirates Palace Gentlemen’s Cricket Club. He was here last week to cover a match between local England and Australia sides competing...
View ArticleLewis Hamilton: the drive to succeed
Lewis Hamilton is a driven man, and knew when he was a young boy that he wanted to race for McLaren. The rest is history. Helena Frith Powell meets him When Lewis Hamilton first met Ron Dennis, then...
View ArticleThe Diving Force
At 15 years old, the British diver Tom Daley is already a world champion and is the face of the 2012 London Olympic Games. Helena Frith Powell met the young star when he visited Abu Dhabi for the...
View ArticleCome on England or Heja Svergie?
They say that when the gods want to punish you they answer your prayers. At the beginning of this World Cup I was thrilled (being half Swedish) to have two teams in it. If Sweden don’t make it past the...
View Article