Category Archives: Family Life

Bad Hair Day: Bite Size Memoir

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

After sharing all those photos of pumpkins and happy memories from a life once lived in California, our Halloween this year turned out to be a very quiet one, with only a handful of trick or treaters. Still, daughter got … Continue reading →

Posted in Bite Size Memoir, Family Traditions, Memoir, Writing | Tagged 1970s, Bite Size Memoir, Bonfire Night, California, Childhood memories, Family Traditions, Hair, Hairstyles, Halloween, Memoir, writing | 95 Comments

Pumpkin Patch Americana and a Happy Halloween

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

The first time I set eyes on a pumpkin patch in California, I was utterly mesmerised. This was my idea of true ‘Americana’. For me, growing up in England, pumpkins belonged to fairy tales and I had certainly never carved … Continue reading →

Posted in Childhood Memories, Family Traditions, My California | Tagged Americana, Black Cat Photo, California, Childhood memories, England, Family Traditions, Halloween, Jack-O-Lantern, Pumpkin Farm, Pumpkins, Seasonal Traditions, Suffolk | 113 Comments

Girl In A Pale Blue Dress

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

Something extraordinary happened at the weekend: my uncle and auntie celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary. Fifty years of happy married life. I say extraordinary because I don’t know anyone else in my family who has achieved anything like this kind … Continue reading →

Posted in Childhood Memories, Family Life, Flash Fiction | Tagged Bridesmaids, Childhood memories, Family Celebrations, Family Life, Flash fiction, Golden Wedding Anniversary, Memoir, Memoir Writing, Memories, Weddings, writing | 76 Comments

Such Is Life

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

After my recent post in which I shared some of my writing fears and insecurities, I felt a huge weight lift and for the first time in some while, a sense of renewed purpose and yes, joy buoyed me up. … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Friendship, Weekly Photo Challenge, Writing | Tagged Blogging, Endurance, Friendship, Hospital, Illness, postaday, Stourhead Gardens, Weekly Photo Challenge, writing | 101 Comments

A Birthday, A Star Sign And Flash Fiction

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

It was my birthday last Wednesday but the celebrations started off the weekend before sitting on Brighton Beach watching the sun set whilst sipping a glass or two of Prosecco with my lovely people. On the day, I was treated … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Life, Flash Fiction | Tagged Birthday, cats, Family Life, Family Memoirs, Flash fiction, Photos of Cats, Pregnancy, Star Signs, Tea, Tea Rooms, Virgo, Zodiac | 82 Comments

The Sad Demise of Charles P. Snake

Posted on September 15, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

We thought we had a poltergeist in our home a few years ago. My aspie daughter (lover of all creatures bright and beautiful and the more unusual the better) had wanted to own a pet snake ever since she was … Continue reading →

Posted in Asperger's Syndrome, Family Life, Pets | Tagged African Land Snail, Asperger's Syndrome, Corn Snake, Exotic Pets, Family Life, Ghost Corn Snake, Loss of a Pet, Pet Ownership, Pet Rats, Pets, Supernatural | 73 Comments

Weekly Photo Challenge: Dialogue

Posted on September 3, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

What I love about the Weekly Photo Challenge is the ideas it gives me, often completely out of the blue. For instance, I thought I knew just which photos I was going to post for this week’s ‘Dialogue‘ theme until … Continue reading →

Posted in Birds of a Feather, Family Life, Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged Bay of Biscay, birds, Budleigh Salterton, Cruise Ships, Daily Prompt, Family Life, Glass, postaday, Seasickness, Seaside, Weekly Photo Challenge | 64 Comments

Jurassic Park, Graduation And Goodbye To A British Icon

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

Kindness. Thoughtfulness. Compassion. Words we all know and understand and hopefully act upon as often as possible. Yet while bombarded daily it seems with news reports of terrifying and sickening acts of violence, depravity, murder, and unimaginable human suffering from … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Life, My California | Tagged Boxing Day Tsunami, Brighton, California, Dinosaurs, England, Family Life, Graduation, Grief, Jurassic Park, Kindness, Movies, Richard Attenborough, University of Sussex | 79 Comments

The Dark Side Of Asperger’s Syndrome

Posted on August 15, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

Tomorrow my daughter, Aspie D, will celebrate her 22nd birthday and I will have all my chicks back home in the nest together again for the first time since Christmas. Hip hip hooray! The plan is to go out to … Continue reading →

Posted in Asperger's Syndrome, Family Life | Tagged Anxiety, Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, depression, Family Life, Females with Aspergers, Health, Mental Health, Mothers & Daughters, National Autistic Society, Women | 101 Comments

Are We Nearly There Yet?

Posted on July 26, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

“Are we nearly there yet?” How many times as kids did we ask this question of our parents during inexcusably long car journeys? When it came time for my own children to ask me the very same, my answer was … Continue reading →