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.

Tuesday 24 December 2019

waterlogged allotment, christmas veg saved from the depths, happy christmas!!!!



Really surprised how well the winter veg has done this year. The allotment has been waterlogged or flooded for a couple of months. The worst flooding has been over the last few days and it was quite a struggle to get this lot out, as I sank into the mud and my wellies sprang a leak! Still, all ready for Christmas lunch now!

Happy Christmas!!!!
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Tuesday 10 December 2019

barrington and sherborne park walks, wigeon, end of full term, christmas cheeses!



We spent the weekend's mornings walking on the Barrington and Sherborne Park estates near Burford and yesterday morning we rambled the gated road near Clanfield. Managed to dodge the rain.

Saw wigeon on the brook below Sherborne house.

Great to have a few days off after the end of full term.

Bought slices of cheese to taste-test for Christmas from the Cotswold Cheese Company.
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Tuesday 3 December 2019

frosty walk and views, whistling east wind






Had some time in hand before I was due at work yesterday morning but found that the canal towpath is being repaired between Wolvercote Green and Aristotle Lane, so I did the Godstow and Port Meadow route instead. Breathtaking frosty views!

Exceptionally chilly, though. Or perhaps the way the air felt was exaggerated because it's been a relatively mild winter up to now. Home certainly felt cold, as it does when the wind is in the east and whistles through, between back and front doors!
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