Yesterday when I was supposed to be writing this I fell asleep in my Premier Inn bed in Dover with a cherry bakewell by my side. Thankfully the cherry bakewell didn’t get squashed and survived so when I woke up, I made myself a stiff cup of black coffee, ate it and...

My blog this week was going to be dedicated to the launch of my Channel Fundraising Campaign but due to a technical hitch I’m having to delay. I will be fundraising for two charities that are very close to my heart - one that supports families who haven’t got the...

I stood on the beach and cried.I cried because I’d done it. I have officially qualified to swim the Channel by completing six hours in water below 16 degrees. But I know my tears were for other reasons as well. Reasons that it’s too soon to write about but will...

When I made the decision not to blog last Sunday, it was a big one. I have been blogging on Sundays (initially weekly, latterly fortnightly) for the last year and a half so the absence felt acute. I did consider writing to say I’d not be writing but then I thought...

Forgive me. This blog could be mistaken for a shameful plug. Generally I don’t write about my other life but I’m about to. Actually these days I have three lives: my pursuit of motherhood life which includes this blog; my swimming life which includes the spectre of...

I’ve always been conscious of the danger of social media. Maybe that’s why for a long time I avoided it. Not being on Facebook during my thirties saved me from a multitude of pregnancy announcements that would have been difficult to withstand. And I feel truly blessed...

I know it’s Mother’s Day and I should probably write a blog about it but this week I’ve been thinking a lot about myths and legends so I thought I’d write about that instead. Strange really because I’m not the sort of person who is a fan of things like Lord of the...

I’ve been beyond busy this week. So much so I almost forgot I had to write this. I’ve been in the water for nine hours (not including showers); have spent the weekend at a marathon of theatre (seven shows in two days – just finished the last one now). And in every...

This week I thought I’d bring you some nice news. And before you think it – no I’m not pregnant. But three other people are… As some of you may know, last year I started an interview series called the Fertility Proust Questionnaire (based on the Vanity Fair...

Katie Hopkins wouldn’t like me: I’ve put on half a stone. But then she probably wouldn’t like many channel swimmers as it’s not a sport for someone who thinks we should all be thin. In case you didn’t know, you can’t wear a wetsuit and need to put on weight to keep...

The blog is back! My new bi-weekly instalment, as promised. And because bi-weekly is such a badly-behaved word that means two completely different things, I’ll just add for clarification that from now on I’ll be writing fortnightly and not twice weekly (I wouldn’t do...

I’ve been having an existential blog crisis. At around about this time last year I made a resolution. I set myself the challenge of writing a blog every Sunday night and, this week, Ms Wordpress emailed to say I’d done exactly that. But when do last year’s resolutions...

So here we go: the last instalment in my series of blog posts about ‘Coping with Christmas’. In Part I, I brought you four margaritas and in Part II, I offered the wise words of two other women. For Part III I’d like to venture that one way of coping with Christmas is...

Last week for the first in my series of blog posts about ‘Coping with Christmas’ I had four margaritas… Thank you to everyone who sent me ideas for the next instalment. The blogger Surfergirl suggested I try a different cocktail every weekend. And my good friend (and...

I fell asleep on the Piccadilly line last night and woke up at Turnpike Lane. I regained consciousness at the sound of the train driver announcing where we were and for a few seconds I was totally discombobulated: TURNPIKE LANE...TURNPIKE LANE...WHERE THE HELL IS...

It’s time for a new Fertility Proust Questionnaire. But first for a confession. When I started doing this interview series earlier in the year, my plan was to do one every month. But I missed October and I’d have missed November too if I didn’t get it out today. The...

Once birthdays were a time for celebration. Now for me and other women of my kind they are just a flashing beacon that time is running out. It’s sad really because there’s nothing prettier than a cake with lots of candles. All things being equal, I’d enjoy blowing...

I knew as soon as I saw it that I would have to write a blog about it. The headline read: ‘Sex will be just for fun by 2050 as we all switch to IVF’. It’s one of those statements that makes you gasp. The suggestion that anyone would choose IVF over the natural way of...

How often do you stop and think about the world wide web? It really is an incredible thing. I took a look at my search history before writing this and marvelled at its infinite variety. It included: * What do I do if I’ve been hacked? (twitter related – and sorry to...