Wife In The North - Details

Listing ID: 1117

Title: Wife In The North

Description: A chronicle of Judith O’Reilly's battles with three children, two elderly parents and an absentee husband while living in a northern hamlet.

Category: Home & Garden : Relocating

Owner:

listed on: June 22, 2008 06:16:00 PM

Number Hits: 3 times

Recent Posts:

Mutley the Dog - Mon, 24 May 2010 10:03:00 +0000

I'm wearing my rubber basque to write this piece because I think Mutley would have liked it that way. It chafes but that's OK, and the howling monkey on my shoulder is giving me a headache but that's OK too. I don't blame it for howling. Like the rest of the blogosphere it missesMutley the Dog. It took me a while to process the information whenMerry Weatherleft her email telling the worldRobhad died, and that she was broken-hearted. I've got the message now though. On his Alloted Span blog, Rob described himself as "...a rather kind and open minded person". He said: "...it is important to record ordinary everyday life as well as those of the rich and famous, I realise that I am not very well known - but one day I might be. I am an acute observer of human life - but I do realise I take everything a little too seriously..." On the blog that brought him a cult following,Mutley the Dog's Day Out, he reflected on the town of "Bridport", its pies, the pints of Old Lesbian, and his new job as "Tourism Supremo attracting visitors to see the many sights, such as the gallows, the needle-park, the prison ship and the tyre fire as well as the mutants and radioactive super-beings" as well as his efforts to become an internet millionaire. I considered this talented man my friend. But on what basis? This is cyberspace - not reality after all. But the relationships you make in cyberspace feel pretty real to me right now. Mutley was my friend: *because his comments about embarrassing packages of goods he'd sent me made me laugh. *because his supportive comments - indeed any of his comments - made me feel better. *because hiswritingmade me envious. *and his blogging made me wish I'd breasts like torpedoes. Mutley was my friend: *because we emailed each other at a point when he was down, then I was. *because I tried to get him an agent and it didn't work out but should have. *because I always hoped we'd meet. *and because he helped me when trolls crawled out of cyberspace to monster me, and he barked at them and chased them away. He was that kind of guy. And I'm sorry too that Merry Weather is broken-hearted because she's my cousin and I love her. No further explanation necessary.

Fair Deals and the Fairer Sex - Tue, 11 May 2010 10:13:00 +0000

Haven't seen much point adding my tuppence-worth to the punditry explaining in excruciating detail that we have exactly no idea of what's going on, but for what it's worth, and speaking as a Labour voter, you have to be kidding guys if you think a Lib-Lab pact has moral authority. It doesn't. Suck it up. We lost. Let's elect another leader, regroup and win - for real - next time. (And if I was a Liberal Democrat, I would help a minority Conservative government gets its Queen's Speech through and leave it at that. Just say "No". "No" to seats in the Cabinet and "No" to a coalition. A coalition is not going to end well for the Liberal Democrats. They'd end up feeling dirty courtesy of the unavoidable spending cuts, and just hating themselves in the morning.) Oh, and regarding the next leader of the Labour party, I heard Harriet Harman's interview onNewsnightwhen she said she had no plans to stand - in effect, reserving her position. I'm backing Harriet. I think David Miliband is a star performer and I wouldn't underestimate the charm of Andy Burnham, but I am outraged - I don't say that lightly - I mean outraged at theinvisibilityof women during the election. Aroundone in fiveMPs are women. Well, hurrah bloody hurrah. Are we supposed to draw comfort from that? I always presumed that time moves on and women are considered equal and it will all work out well in the longterm. How gender-stereotypically passive of me. And it's not just the MPs, look at the media. The BBC's excellent LauraKuennsbergand Sky's KayBurleydo their bit. There's a handful of well-known women lurking in the columns of the newspapers like JackieAshley, MaryRiddelland PollyToynbee. But where is everybody else? And it's our own fault. The talented GabyHinsliffbailed out as a political editor because she wanted a life. At the point I could have gone for a political job, I put my family first and turned my back on the 60-hour-weeks. It is no better in the new media. Scan the recommended reads ofpundits, there's only ever a tiny smattering of women's names. Why is that? Do we make the presumption we are not worth listening to, so we might as well not say anything? Are we too busy tatting to blog our reaction to the changing world around us? Surprise! Women are outnumbered anywhere it counts. Today's Guardian has six pictures ofnice men- one of whom may be the next leader of the Labour party. Some of them are wearing suits. One has a briefcase. Two are in shirt sleeves. Harriet Harman is obliged to stand. Cometh the hour, cometh the woman, Harriet. Now I'll have to join the Labour party.

I have. Have you? - Thu, 06 May 2010 16:27:00 +0000

Vote Labour. Vote often. (It's the only chance we've got.)