IT’S all over town, Ada,” Mrs Francome declared, leaning forward with her basket. “Butter and bacon to be rationed once Christmas ends! “That’ll be just the start, mark my words.” “It’s already starte

“Breaking up is never easy, I know…” Good old Abba – always ready with an apposite lyric, though in this case I suppose it should be “Letting go is never easy” as I say farewell to the garden I have m

RONNIE and I had enlisted with the agency as house-sitters for people who wanted their properties to be occupied when they went away. We assumed any bookings would be in the summer months. “That’s cer

Although Carrie had often heard other women talk about ‘empty nest syndrome’ and the changes it brought to life, the stories she’d heard always implied it was an unsettling and distressing time and ul

Budget fiasco: That the whole of Wednesday’s Budget was erroneously published by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) an hour before chancellor Rachel Reeves (pictured) stood up to give her spee

MARIE-LOUISE left every house she cleaned in tip-top condition. It amazed and horrified her how dirty other people could be. Sometimes she would arrive in one of the holiday homes that she cleaned thr