With grim news over the spread of the new Covid variant, I'd determined to make sure the bright, shiny event at the end of December doesn’t end up being a damp squib. I love Christmas when it’s here, but I’m not one of those people who puts their tree up in October....

It started the minute I left St Peter’s Church in Ruddington. It was dark, and as I stepped out and walked down the path to the road, I went straight into alert mode. The meeting of the Ruddington Gardeners’ Association had been the first face-to-face get-together...

Did you stay up and watch the Emma Raducanu tennis match too? The Brit really wowed us, didn’t she? Even the Queen stayed up to pen her congratulations. It all started in Nottingham, of course. With Raducanu’s A-levels out the way, her first Women’s Tennis Association...

What an uplifting, heartening, electrifying and engaging summer of sport it’s been – enough to backflip you out of the armchair and keep you buzzing all year around. The cynics can sit this one out: I’m here to cheer on those whose physical and mental efforts,...

There is no let-up from criminals determined to grab our money through scamming, even from elderly people like my mum. During lockdown, the conmen and women have taken full advantage of our move to online shopping. Fraud now accounts for a third of all crime in...

Today marks a milestone for music lovers who like songs coming directly from the heart. Like so much music produced during the magical year of 1971, singer songwriter Joni Mitchell’s album Blue stands the test of time. She bares her soul and reveals her vulnerability...

I glanced only casually at the sign just as we reached the beach, but the message was crystal clear: ‘No dogs’ in Helvetica and in capital letters. Under it, a symbol of a dog crossed out, just in case. I was excited about the beach, in the same way I was as a kid,...

Like everyone, I have my list of things I want to do and places I want to go once normal life resumes. It involves theatre trips with my pal Amanda, swapping overdue Christmas gifts with Cath and Fiona and gazing at gaily coloured embroidery threads in John Lewis’s...

I’ve been experiencing a tremendous feeling of release as we come out of lockdown. The trouble is, I’m unsure what to make of my new-found freedom as I emerge stumbling into the sunshine. Arranging to meet friends face to face again and finally exchange Christmas...