Welcome to justthoughtsnstuff

I started posting to jtns on 20 February 2010 with just one word, 'Mosaic'. This seemed an appropriate introduction to a blog that would juxtapose fragments of memoir and life-writing. Since 1996, I'd been coming to terms with the consequences of emotional and economic abuse that had begun in childhood, and which, amongst other things, had sought to stifle self-expression. While I'd explored some aspects of my life through fiction and, to a lesser extent, journalism, it was only in 2010 that I felt confident enough to write openly about myself. I believed this was an important part of the healing process. Yet within weeks, the final scenes of my family's fifty-year nightmare started to play themselves out and the purpose of the blog became one of survival through writing. Although some posts are about my family's suffering - most explicitly, Life-Writing Talk, with Reference to Trust: A family story - the majority are about happier subjects (including, Bampton in rural west Oxfordshire, where I live, Oxford, where I work, the seasons and the countryside, walking and cycling) and I hope that these, together with their accompanying photos, are enjoyable and positive. Note: In February 2020, on jtns' tenth birthday, I stopped posting to this blog. It is now a contained work of life-writing about ten years of my life. Frank, 21 February 2020.

New blog: morethoughtsnstuff.com.

Wednesday, 10 December 2014

days off, sorting papers..., lovely walk, orinoco: festive swap shop



















Taking some days off this week - not to go on holiday but to sort out papers that have been building up over the years. Since we moved to Bampton, in fact. A curiously satisfying exercise, so far. You look at some of the stuff (well, most of it actually) and think/gasp, 'Why's that been sitting under the bed for the last fourteen years!'

A lovely walk to start the day, which took in the Thatcher's Fields (top photo) and Hayway Lane (the other two pics).

Meantime, a colleague emailed round this morning about a charity in Headington that she volunteers for called Orinoco that 'promotes re-use, art and creative play through education and direct action'. They're running a festive swap shop event this Saturday: 'This Saturday we’re having a bit of a festive Swap Shop from 11:00 til 13:00 and there will be Christmas food, a tombola, and possibly even a visit from Father Christmas!' Sounds great!
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