The Banks children give their grumpy father an advertisement for their ideal nanny in the film Mary Poppins. He then tears up the note and puts the pieces in the fireplace and they travel up the...

When it comes to karma, what’s not to believe? This Sanskrit word which literally means ‘action’ refers to the cause and effect between what people do and consequences. In Christianity this moral...

Recently I went to synagogue to observe the Jewish high holy day called Yom Kippur. This is the day when traditionally people fast and stop all activities to think about the past year and pray to...

As much as we're fascinated to know how the wealthiest live, we also ought to know how the poorest exist. Cue Dr Katriona O’Sullivan who has bravely shared her story in a novel that is being...

Last week I heard a witty woman on the radio suggest an alternative Olympics. She was wondering what would happen if each country had to pick their competitors via “random conscription,” instead of...

Treat others as you would want to be treated yourself - is a saying I've always kept in mind. Recently I was listening to a radio item when I learnt that variations of this wise motto have Olympic...

No more hour-long phone calls. Time's up on sharing our honest feelings and listening to each other. A cuppa together, but a memory. And I’ll likely never again have that welcome when I come to her...

The idea to have curtains in my bedroom first came to me back in January. I spent a couple of weeks debating with myself if curtains would allow me to roll up the blinds and have the two windows...

On an evening stroll around Belsize Village, I chanced upon such a beauty that I instantly fell in lust. A sleek two-seater Ferrari, translated in my imagination to a regal black panther, compelled...

Call me behind time but I only just watched the 2020 Oscar winning Nomadland. What I love about this beautifully scripted and superbly filmed movie is how it shows the power of a kind community to...

I’m a hyper local lass. It could be a habit left over from lockdowns, but truth is everything I need is in Belsize Park or Hampstead or on the Finchley Road. In the spring and summertime, I might...

Perhaps like me you were coughing through the last days of 2023 and as soon as Secret Santa had been played out, you found yourself several films and series later at New Year’s Eve with a...

At Christmastime I often think about people who would like to celebrate but can’t. Many of us experienced that when Christmas 2020 was cancelled, but this year as usual, families and friends will...

This Christmas, I might do something different and buy a book prescription as a gift for a friend or relative. Mostly I’m inspired because I recently met book curator and bibliotherapist Bijal Shah...

I’ve just recovered from an inflammation which forced me to spend a week in bed and only go out for food essentials, despite the early October t-shirt weather which I really wanted to be in. I was...

Oftentimes I deal with a situation which appears to be bad by entitling it as: A Blessing in Disguise. As I’ve always been a chaser of blessings, the moment trouble appears I’m checking out its...

On any morning of the week a house moth on my wall will spy me sitting at my laptop, working in pyjamas. My deceased uncle Easy would've approved because whenever as a child I visited him on certain...

In our winter 2021 edition of In The Square, I featured an interview with the charismatic musician Mo Foster who lived most of his life in Belsize Village. On 3 July this year Mo passed. I went to...

It’s almost two years since I first had the idea for a local print magazine for Belsize Park. I was on one of those going-nowhere lockdown walks when I chanced upon a TV celebrity comedian and after...

Recently I spent an entire day and evening in my pyjamas on my bed and couch, and I wasn’t unwell. I listened to the radio, watched two films, read some, ate, stared out the window - that’s all. It...

February was a tough one. We all expected low temperatures and high costs, but added to our personal challenges, war in Ukraine wears on, Turkey had a mammoth earthquake, essential services have...

Is there an implicit consensus for when we should stop saying Happy New Year to each other? As I make the next edition of In The Square, which should be ready as our cherry trees blossom, I’m still...

Domestic chores come around too fast. Sunday is my must-do day to put on a wash, hoover, wipe surfaces with the sprays stashed under the sink, and flit around my flat with a magnetic duster on a...

The usual dilemma is what to buy people for Christmas. My problem is how to match the lovely potential gifts I find at December arts and craft fairs to them that are in my life. Some might say that...

On the night that the clocks went back and I was thinking about how it would be dark before my teatime, I realised that I needed a new hobby. The jigsaw puzzles and bread making that had carried me...