Author Archives: maryjane678

Have you ever noticed how the weather takes perverse pleasure in thwarting the best laid plans of we puny humans? Monday 11th May was supposed to be a BIG day for us. The French lock-down was easing, and we had plans. We felt a bit like a pair of kids who had been let looseContinue reading “Coming out of lock-down”

Welcome to blog number eight in The Olivia Rose Diaries on May 8th 2020. I confess I sat down to write this week’s blog and, for the first time, found myself running short of ideas. In a bid for inspiration I decided to go out for a walk with the camera and see if IContinue reading “Last week of lock-down”

Hello and welcome to the 7th blog of The Olivia Rose Diaries on May 1st 2020. I was woken this morning by the rain dripping on to my pillow, missing my forehead by just a few centimetres. The leaks in our rear hatches have been getting progressively worse and there is a mammoth DIY jobContinue reading “Looking forward, looking back”

Welcome to the 6th blog in The Olivia Rose Diaries on April 23rd 2020 First of all, a big thank you to all of you who have bought my book and been so supportive and encouraging. If writing a book is a joy, then publishing it is truly a terror. I know I shall haveContinue reading “Small is the new big”

Welcome to the fifth blog of The Olivia Rose Diaries on April 17th 2020. A couple of days ago we found ourselves sitting in a slick of diesel. It was the smell we noticed first and then, looking down at the water, we could see it all around us, the tell-tale rainbow colours glinting inContinue reading “Saving George and Mildred from diesel infested waters and publishing my first book.”

Welcome to Blog number 4 on April 10th 2020 in The Olivia Rose Diaries. Life in France has been a bit of a mixed bag this week. There seemed to be a glimmer of hope over last weekend that we might be turning a corner as both the total number of cases and deaths roseContinue reading “The coronavirus noose tightens”

Welcome to the third blog of The Olivia Rose Diaries. It is the 3rd April 2020, we are now just over two weeks into lockdown and life has become weirdly frantic. The entire world may have closed down in a physical sense, but our on-line lives are not bound by any such restrictions. As oneContinue reading “Remembering life before Coronavirus”

Blog 2 March 29th 2020 The Olivia Rose Diaries Welcome to the second blog in The Olivia Rose Diaries for the week ending March 29th 2020. Making sense of the numbers. Statistics have only ever told a partial truth but I have decided to keep a set of the Coronavirus figures for the UK, FranceContinue reading “Living under lockdown”

Welcome to the inaugural blog of The Olivia Rose Diaries. Olivia Rose is the name of our boat, a 40 foot long Dutch motor cruiser, and the crew are myself, Mary-Jane Houlton, my husband Michael and our dog Maddie. I don’t spend much time on social media and never intended to write this blog, butContinue reading “Life turned upside down”