Nothing to write home about
I have recently returned from a big holiday treat, crossing Canada by train. So wrapped up was I in what I would see and how it would feel to have traversed such a huge landmass, I did not really think about what it would be like to spend four days on a train, with just… Continue reading A little homemaking on the prairie
I have just finished re-reading Tolkien's The Hobbit, inspired to return to a childhood book by the forthcoming film. This reminded me that Bilbo's journey and subsequent memoir are a perfect depiction of what it means to return home after living abroad or, as in The Hobbit, after an extended trip away. Since this is… Continue reading There and back again: a hobbit returns home
Scrapbooking experienced a resurgence a few years ago, with an effervescent range of electronic and paper options becoming available to the new and experienced conserver of memories. This is a practice with a long history and in the modern era, women in particular have been responsible for preserving and arranging their family histories: trials and… Continue reading Scrapbooks
Coffee shop chains were a rare sight when I moved back to the UK in the late 1990s, at least outside of major cities. When I did see a branch, it brought familiarity from around the world, and from an important part of my life as a teenager, learning to like coffee with friends and… Continue reading Coffee shops
My globe is always the most difficult thing for me to pack. It was an eighteenth birthday present from my parents who chose muted antique tones and a sturdy dark wood base. Since then, it has been one of my favourite things and had pride of place wherever I have been able to take it… Continue reading The globe
nothing to write home about n. something small or inconsequential home phrases a place where one is as happy, relaxed, or comfortable as in one’s own home blog n. posts about the little things that make homes, especially as illustrated by repatriates and return migrants who show how many small objects and practices go into… Continue reading A new home
Madeleine Hatfield 