radio is SUCH fun

Current work: Modern Heat
Listening to: Julian Lloyd Webber, Unexpected Songs
Reading: Sarah Mayberry, All Over You (excellent – can’t wait for the last in the trilogy)

Friday was great fun. I was on the ‘Ladies at Lunch’ spot on Graham and Karen’s morning show with two lovely women – Tessa Shepperson and Sara Lock. We had a great time talking about current issues (including MPs’ expenses – I’ve had a thought there. Wouldn’t it make life easier if there was a dedicated block of flats near the H of P where MPs could stay during Session? True, they need a home in their constituency, because unless they live there they won’t really have a proper handle on local concerns; if the state provided London accommodation – a bit like student halls of residence albeit grown up – surely it would save all the angst? Why do people go into politics, anyway: to change the world and make things right, or for the money? OK. Naïve. Off my soapbox). It was great fun; Tessa’s a lawyer and Sara’s been on Cash in the Attic, and they’re both lovely women. We could’ve talked all afternoon…

Tessa was kind enough to send me her pic to use here – left to right, we have presenter Graham Barnard, Sara Lock, Tessa Shepperson, me, and presenter Karan Buchanan. (Tessa’s account of our spot is here at her blog.)

It coincided rather nicely with my bit in the paper, and lovely Graham kept mentioning that. It was a good pic, too, so many thanks to Steve the genius photographer for minimising the chins :o) and to Angi Kennedy for writing such a nice piece.

Saturday, into town to buy son’s main birthday pressie: a mobile phone. He’s very happy with it. (And yes, we did let him have it early. He has to wait for everything else until Wednesday. And then I will let his dad measure him on the height chart and admit that he’s taller than I am. You know the ‘are you smarter than a 10-year-old’ thing? In this house, it’s ‘are you shorter than an 11-year-old’… no. Not admitting it until he’s 12. Give it five years and daughter will be taller than I am, too. Just all me Garfield.)

Sunday, back on the radio - and just as I walked into the Forum, I saw Rick Wakeman. So I was feeling a bit starstruck as I went into the Beeb. This time I was on Maggie’s Brew to talk about Norfolk Miscellany. Maggie was very kind about the book, describing it as brilliant because it’s one of these ones with lots of bitesize facts and you learn a lot in a short space of time. I loved working on it and I’m very proud of my home county, so I’m pleased that she enjoyed it so much. Angi Kennedy from the EDP said similar things in her piece in the paper, and I’ve had various emails and calls since from family and friends who spotted it and said it was a good piece.

So it’s been a lovely weekend.

Today, I was meant to be meeting my friend Kate (who writes children’s nonfic – her husband is a rather famous children’s writer but I will be good and not namedrop) and we were going to have a walk on the beach and then lunch out. I was so looking forward to it. However, son staggered out of bed this morning, complaining of a headache and feeling sick. Paracetamol hasn’t shifted it, so I’m home today being Mummy and ministering to his fevered brow (i.e. all console games are banned and I’ll keep him supplied with cool drinks/keep an eye on the clock for paracetamol doses). Beach and lunch to be rescheduled – I hate calling off at the last minute, but Kate also has children and is as aware as I am that nothing is written in stone when you have kids. If they’re ill, they come first.