Years ago, I visited a heavily pregnant expat friend living in Sao Paolo, Brazil. I was single at the time, and there was plenty about her pregnancy that I found amusing, surprising and occasionally shocking. Number one was the support stockings she wore, those great white whale numbers no less, to try and contain her [...]

Bless. I think. We’re staying with my mother for a few days, and being spoilt rotten with three-course meals and endless cups of tea. But she seems surprised that I know how to use a washing machine, and this morning tried to pour milk for me over my breakfast cereal. Extremely kind, but the cocooning [...]

If only I’d read the hand-chalked sign, “Quiet, well-behaved children always welcome” before sitting down. The restaurant was in Fowey, a pretty Cornish fishing village packed with places to eat. Some smart looking with linen tablecloths, others little more than ice cream parlours with a table or two on the street outside. We chose somewhere that [...]