'The records of the Divorce Court, the annals of the asylums, the dates of the tombstones in the churchyard, all tell us of the severe strain put upon the system of the woman during the change of life.' 1874 JM Fothergill, the Maintenance of Health It's true! But it's not the whole truth and neither is it helpful to the woman of fifty-two whose husband has left her for another woman or a man now that the children are ready for independence and...

Two brilliant pieces this week. Congratulations to elsie katz for her wonderful transcription of her father's piece of life writing 'Shlamek', and to kilb50 for his beautiful poem 'The Wall' https://www.abctales.com/story/elsie-katz/shlamek https://www.abctales.com/story/kilb50/wall The Inspiration Point is here: https://www.abctales.com/inspiration-point-ip - I hope you enjoy it! Lastly, don't forget our Reading Night is coming up next week...

Big thanks to Hudsonmoon for his choices for April: April Picks This poem grabbed me, tossed me in a spin cycle and wouldn’t let go until that wonderful ending. Bravo, longrunninspatula. Spin Cycle by longrunningspatula https://www.abctales.com/story/longrunningspatula/spin-cycle The List touched me in very personal way. It made me sad, but it made me smile, as well. I remember well the tears and laughter in my own life and this piece mirrored...

Nine days to go until our brilliant Reading Night! We have a fabulous line-up of readers and I hope to see lots of you there. All necessary information below, and if you have any further queries do get in touch with mark@abctales.com https://www.abctales.com/blog/insertponceyfrenchnamehere/abctales-readin... Blighters rock will be holding an auction on the night to raise funds for a very good cause (us!) and he's sent me the following to whet...

Yesterday was the Old Git's 91st. So a trip to Maison Schaufeld in North London was a have-to. Not easy, I always have to bypass two relatives that I have known for a very long time. The Old Girl always says 'poor Avram he's so depressed he doesn't want any visitors' and then there is my younger Blister who always makes everything into a competition against me. Last year I had taken time off work to see him, and she had booked him on to a trip...

Hello all, It’s really good to be able to continue with poetry monthly and hopefully get all the wonderful, abc-ers creative juices flowing. This month’s idea is Into the Blue! As usual, interpret the focus in exactly the way you feel like – think blue, May skies (here’s hoping!). Think of things appearing and disappearing. Of blues’ songs. Of horizons opening out. Of mood indigos. Think sadness and freedom. Think all of these things and none of...

The Celtic players went to the away end of a largely empty fortress Ibrox and celebrated as if they’d won the league. Leigh Griffiths who scored the second of Celtic’s goals, with a typical thunderbolt strike into the top corner, and was very unlucky not to have scored a third with a wonderful strike against the bar after a robust Jozo Simunovitch tackle on veteran Kenny Miller and a typical breakaway from one box to another. Griffith’s claimed...

Posted by airyfairy on Sat, 29 Apr 2017 I hesitated over the Story of the Week - not because I wasn't sure exactly what I was going for, more that it could have been either a story or a poem. In the end I've called it a story, but johnshade's brilliant 'Citalopram - Prelude' really defies categorisation: https://www.abctales.com/story/johnshade/citalopram-prelude The week's IP provided the Poem of the Week - Ewan's 'Hooray For The Circus'...

I hesitated over the Story of the Week - not because I wasn't sure exactly what I was going for, more that it could have been either a story or a poem. In the end I've called it a story, but johnshade's brilliant 'Citalopram - Prelude' really defies categorisation: https://www.abctales.com/story/johnshade/citalopram-prelude The week's IP provided the Poem of the Week - Ewan's 'Hooray For The Circus' captures the mood of the times perfectly:...

This was one of those tricky fixtures. Rangers had nothing to lose. They were the underdogs that achieved a creditable draw at Parkhead in the last Old Firm fixture and around the same time last year they’d come to Hampden and won on penalties against a supposedly superior Celtic team. Fling in Celtic’s Hampden hoodoo. But if you want to talk sense and watched the game then you’ll know. Celtic were a better team that dominated the match from...