A novel way to lose weight...

I came back from Guernsey this year having managed to lose weight, despite the consumption of cream teas and other local delicacies...

The secret? The Constitution Steps. One of the oldest stone flights on the island, these aptly-named steps are akin to climbing Mount Everest (by my standards, anyway) and are better than any regular workout at the gym.
Our lovely apartments, La Madeleine, stood at the top of a continental-style terrace overlooking the harbour. According to the brochure there are several different paths to reach the apartments. However, it adds, 'Constitution Steps are not recommended.' Who could refuse such a challenge?
Every morning my intrepid husband braved the 150-something steps down to the town to buy a newspaper, returning, slightly red-faced, several minutes later. Not to be beaten I then emerged to 'skip' downwards and climb my way (very slowly at first) back up again. Below is the view of the harbour from half-way up.

Most people stop at this point, ostensibly to admire the scenery, whilst actually attempting to regain their breath.
By the end of the ten-day holiday, I had the whole thing down to a fine art and felt
fitter and, dare I say, slimmer, than when I arrived. But then I do like telling stories - they're so much more fun than the truth...

The Secret of the Secret Garden

I have just read Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden, an intriguing book that follows the life of a young English girl abandoned on a ship bound for Australia at the turn of the century. It reminds me of my favourite children's story, The Secret Garden, written exactly a hundred years ago by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Although she wrote mainly for adults, the Victorian author captured the hearts of children the world over with this delightful tale.

The author's own secret was the tragic death of her 16-year-old son, a loss from which she never fully recovered. Written in his memory, the story provides the happy ending that she herself was denied. Born in Manchester, the family moved to the United States when she was a teenager and she spent much of her life travelling between the two countries. She was much criticised in the press for being away from her family and this affected her deeply when her son died of consumption.

The book fell out of favour until the 1960s when a new generation of children, and adults, took it to their hearts again.

I captured this shot in Guernsey, an island famous for its glorious gardens. What better place to read - and write?

Getting Away With It...

One of my favourite authors is Julie Cohen whose books reflect her personality - warm, wacky and with a deep underlying concern for the emotional issues we all have to face.

Her latest novel, Getting Away With It, is the story of identical twins, one good, one bad, whose lives collide when their mother devlops a life-changing illness.

Written through the eyes of Lisa, a former stuntwoman in LA, it is set in the fictional English village of Stoneguard,where privacy is a word no-one understands. As Lisa takes on her sister's life, including her devastatingly handsome boyfriend, things get very complicated.

Getting Away With it is out now in paperback. A fun, sexy and thought-provoking read.

Thanks to Radio Lancashire...

My daughter, Amy, and I were interviewed on Radio Lancashire last night about the day she almost died from E.coli.  Nine years ago when she was 25, Amy suffered a serious complication of the deadly bacterium, called HUS, (Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome) which causes toxins in the blood to attack the heart, lungs and kidneys.

I felt quite emotional listening to her talk to the interviewer yesterday. The  husky voice  has become her trademark after  weeks spent  with a tracheostomy helping her to breathe. Amy was one of the lucky ones.

When she left the Intensive Care Unit of the Royal Preston Hospital she donated a cd player inscribed with the words 'Thank you for my Life.'   I think that says it all...

 http://www.ecoli-uk.com/

My daughter beat the deadly E.coli...

One of the hardest features I've ever had to write concerned my then 25-year-old daughter, Amy, who almost died from food poisoning in 2002.  Reading about the latest E.coli outbreak in Germany brings it all back to me.

Amy had just started a new job as a teaching assistant in Lancaster, when she rang and asked if she could come home for the weekend.  Surprised, as she had recently found herself a flat, her Dad and I said yes and awaited her arrival.  She didn't make it.

After further frantic calls saying she was  violently sick and unable to walk, we collected her from Lancaster. Within 24 hours she was in Blackpool Victoria Hospital with acute kidney failure. She was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit of the Royal Preston Hospital where she remained for the next six months.

Amy had HUS (Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome), a deadly complication of E.coli that usually affects young children. It caused major organ failure from which she was not expected to recover. As a vegetarian she had not eaten contaminted beef which, at the time, was thought to be the major culprit.

Against all the odds, Amy eventually came out of the coma, unable to walk or speak, and unaware of what had happened to her.  The school in Lancaster kept her job open for her and, almost a year to the day, she returned to work, to an amazing welcome.

Today she is happy and healthy and  engaged to be married.  Her story is a wonderful testament to the doctors at Preston who told us that her case was so rare, they didn't know how to treat it.

My heart goes out to the families in Germany.

You can read a version of Amy's story on the HUSH website:www.ecoli-uk.com under testimonies.

Life's an empty beach...

Where in the world could you go in May and find yourself an empty beach with the sun shining above and the wind rippling on the water?  Try Guernsey - I just did and the peace and sheer beauty of this friendly island never fails to amaze me....

Then there are the flowers that grow by the roadside.....

And this time, the first ever Guernsey Literary Festival which was a huge success!  Not to mention, of course, the wonderful  yellow butter and  delicious Guernsey cream which bring back happy memories of my childhood. 'Cheery for now' as the local people say.  I'll be back.

These lovely Guernsey flowers arrived at my home as seeds last Spring and I managed to nurture them, as you can see, despite the cold climate here in the North of England!

They were sent to me by Christine Robert whose father, the late Frank Mellanby, was a close friend of my Dad, Harry Brown.  Frank was my God father and very well known in the island as a fine sportsman and a warm and genuine man.

I shall be visiting Christine and her mother, Hilda, later this month but, in the meantime, I can't remember the flowers' name.  Sorry, Christine, I'll make it up to you with a meal at The Auberge...

Whichever Way you Look at it...

Guernsey's got perspective...

                   

        Guernsey's the place to be....       
Can't wait till I'm there in May!

Men on motorbikes drinking tea!

The post-war magazine 'Guernseyman' has attracted a great deal of interest since several original copies arrived recently at my Lancashire home.

Started in 1947  by my late father Harry Brown, along with fellow Guernseyman Roy Falla, the magazine took a lighthearted look at island life with the aim of stirring the odd conscience, too.

Back then readers complained about too much traffic, not enough housing and the ever-spiralling cost of living.  But my favourite letter comes from the gentlemen who despaired of 'young men on motorbikes riding around in groups and drinking tea.' Now that's something we don't have to worry about these days...

I am indebted to Deputy Janine Le Sauvage who heard my appeal on BBC Radio Guernsey asking for anyone who might remember the magazine. She put me in touch with a friend on the island who very kindly donated the above copies.

Ps - if you'd been around at the time you could have sent for some Government Surplus RAF Flying Boots (as new), Real Box Calf Fronts- No coupons required - for only£4.00 a pair.  No wonder they complained about the cost of living....