SheenaLambert's Blog

Back before I had kids, I used to do a fairly regular stock-take of my wardrobe. Around this time of year, for example, I would pack away my winter boots and heavy jumpers and jackets, leaving them wrapped, cleaned and ready for the next autumn. Anything that hadn't been worn all season, I would donate to the fight against breast cancer. I had the time back then to check for items that needed...

The writer Calvin Trillin once said: “The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.” Now I would consider myself an above-average cook. When it comes to dinners, I can feed many, and feed them well. I have a few go-to dishes that I could perhaps be criticised for replaying once too often...

Having conducted a (not very) scientific study amongst my friends, it turns out that ALL of our husbands are insane. Actually insane. This is a worrying development. All of the men in question are in full-time employment; lawyers, doctors, administrators, even teachers who have regular contact with children. The study came about after we noticed some common behavioural attributes in the men, and...

So breastfeeding has made the news again. Any time I read a new headline on the subject, a little wave of anger washes over me. There are never any warm, fuzzy breastfeeding news stories; rather they tend to vacillate between militant and despotic. Of course it is important to acknowledge the benefits of any scientifically proven feeding regime, be it breastfeeding, or low-fat diets or whatever. I...

It’s a big week for me. My second novel, The Lake , is being published by HarperCollins as part of their new crime/thriller imprint, Killer Reads. It’s a little like having a new baby; there’s build up, the anticipation, and finally, not without a little pain involved, it’s here. Something I was told by another writer when I wrote my first novel was: “No one cares about your novel.” It...

In my last blog post, I mentioned my lovely book club. It’s a great gang. We comprise of mums from the two local schools, and as many of us have kids in both schools, there is a lot more than just books to discuss. I think the secret to our success has been the fact that we meet in the local, rather than in members’ houses. As a result, there’s no pressure on anyone from a catering point of...

While innocently - INNOCENTLY I tell you – booking a family cinema ticket the other day, I happened to scroll over the pre-booking option for 50 Shades of Grey the movie. I’ve never been so shocked. Not by the trailer, or the blurb, or the suggestive photographs of Jamie Dornan (I’m so proud he’s Irish…); no, I was shocked to see that the 8.30pm show on Saturday the 14 th February was...

There’s nothing like a little harmless flirt (that’s the verb, not the noun). If it’s reciprocated, it gives you a bit of a perk; puts a smile on your face; makes you think for a second that despite your unwashed hair and the vague smell of baby-sick that follows you around, you’ve still got what it takes to turn a man’s head. Nowadays, most of us have daily interaction with the opposite...

So it’s over. Did you make it through unscathed? It’s been a long time since Christmas fell in a way that resulted in a large portion of the working population having two full weeks’ holiday, just as it did in 2014 It seemed like a great scenario on the 19 th December - can you remember back that far? That was before you opened the first of many bottles of Glühwein; before you even started...

What’s your favourite Christmas childhood memory? Do you ever look at your little ones as they play with the decorations on the tree and wonder; will they remember this when they are grown? What will their special Christmas memories be? My most cherished Christmas memory is a tradition that belonged just to me and my Dad - the Christmas Eve Grocery Shop. The one time in the year when my mother...