I'm going away for a while. Got some some stuff to sort out, important stuff. Unlike the unfortunate Lawrence Oates, I will return. In the meantime. Only use freshly drawn boiling water, warm the pot and always put the milk in first.      

If I'm not swimming or doing other painful stuff on bikes, treadmills or rowers, or reading, watching a film or playing with the kids; you're likely to find me cooking.  I love it. Always have. This isn't a daily chore, it's a joy. I've been cooking in some shape or form since I was a…

Gold

Thankfully the swimsuit still fits. Off for a week or so after the annual pilgrimage to Mum and Dad's in Cornwall. Will's been desperate to go for the last four weeks. Every morning he's been asking if it's time to go to the seaside yet. Now it is.

I'm nearing the end of this, which is making me rather sad, in the way that you want to find out the resolution, but you don't want the experience to end.  I think I liked it more than The Corrections, maybe because there was less weight of expectation around 'The Great American Novel" cliche (despite…

So Michael Phelps got his record. Well done him, but it was tinged with disappointment when Mr Invincible lost the 200m butterfly at the final touch. But it struck me how gracious and generous he was in defeat. That's what often gets missed with coverage of sports and the elite participants at the top. They…

So the Olympics are finally here. Naturally I'm watching a fair bit of swimming, which is bittersweet as it makes me want to drop everything and everyone and swim and swim until my chest bursts and my arms stop working. I can't begin to describe the pure joy in feeling your own strength and doing…

Quote by Linda Grant