I find this ABC Tales website a warm and welcoming community where writers of all abilities can share their work in the knowledge that it will be appreciated and encouraged. But what makes the site particularly special for me is that a close friend from long ago was a popular member here, regularly posting poetry and prose years before I joined. Julia Macpherson (ABC username Overthetop1 ) left this world far too soon, and at a point where too few had recognised the high standard of her writing talent. Following her death in 2016, her mother Coral (ABC’s seashore ) and her sister Sarah worked with Cerasus Poetry, and with the support of ABC members and the MIND mental health charity, to publish a compilation of her work. I lost touch with Julia in the mid-1980s, but found her again through ABC Tales and the pages of her book, Waiting For Another Velvet Morning .
Thinking of you
Posted on Fri, 06 Mar 2026
Hello again Jenny.
Thank you for your reply. Having read it, together with what you wrote to Di, I’m really saddened by the situation you are in. The bronchoscopy ordeal sounds like an absolute nightmare so I can understand why you were so...
Read full commentPosted in My Time In A & E ( PT 2 )
Frankie Says Fwaw!
Posted on Sat, 04 Apr 2026
Well said Drew, and thank you. Imagine if war broke out and nobody turned up.
Personally I think Springsteen should just stick to doing covers of old Marcel Marceau numbers.
Read full commentPosted in Is Kerry Katona a Cat Owner?
Peskiness
Posted on Sat, 04 Apr 2026
"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
Apparently that's a quote from the Einstein files.
Read full commentPosted in Artemis Too?
Where next?
Posted on Fri, 03 Apr 2026
I'm waiting for another option to become available before I fizzle out. I don't want to spend all eternity with Jimmy Savile but neither could I stand the constant harp playing and Cliff Richard. Also there are some people who are currently still...
Read full commentPosted in Things that he took to the Afterlife
Hello Jenny.
Posted on Fri, 06 Mar 2026
Hello Jenny.
I'm thinking of you too. Hoping you're recovering well and that you'll be around again soon. x
Read full commentPosted in My Time In A & E ( PT 2 )
Collectors
Posted on Mon, 30 Mar 2026
I collect proverbs and sores. Some are in embarrassing places but they're still to be treasured.
Read full commentPosted in A Hungry Bear Doesn’t Dance
Avarice a-go-go
Posted on Mon, 30 Mar 2026
Aye Kat. It’s comforting to know that we’ll never suffer such circumstances ourselves but it’s a concern that people who are suffering in this way are not far away from us. And it’s utterly heartbreaking to think that a significant proportion of...
Read full commentPosted in A Hungry Bear Doesn’t Dance
JP?
Posted on Sat, 28 Mar 2026
My brain hurts... who is the real Jay Padgett?
Have I missed something? Is he the gadgey that runs the meat raffle in the Red Lion?
Read full commentPosted in Penny’s Pass the Story Part 6
Wonderful People
Posted on Fri, 27 Mar 2026
Thanks very much Di. I’m glad you liked it. And I see what you mean about the IP thing but I’m already started on a new one for this week.
I think it’s poorly guarded secret that Bulgaria’s been getting oil from Russia, via Romania, for...
Read full commentPosted in Here's to You, Lady Liberty
Treks
Posted on Fri, 27 Mar 2026
Chippenham was quite a nice place when we moved there in 1996 but, as is typical of small towns in England, it had gone downhill significantly by the time I left. I still catch bits of news about it on the BBC News website and the level of crime...
Read full commentPosted in Here's to You, Lady Liberty
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