The Library
Wonder, nature, folklore, culture, creativity.
I write about all sorts.
This is a selection of my writing.
More recent work is on Substack.
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The Beauty in Watching Life
We spent half term in Dubai. I’ve been a few times as my husband works out there for periods through the year. I will never get used to the speed of it, I have to brace myself for it. A city that feels like it is never enough. With a skyline of tall buildings that…
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When Following Leads to Belonging
I used to call my little ones my sheep. They’d follow me everywhere – round the shops, through the park, wherever we went. It was like having my own tiny flock trailing behind me. That is, until one day at Tesco when my littlest sheep decided she wasn’t going to follow anymore. One minute, we’re…
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Lost and Found
This year has been full ofchange for me. After 14 years of running Baba+Boo, I closed the doors to a community that meant so much to me. It would have been our 15th birthday next week and I still desperately miss the connection we shared. The laughter, the stories, the feeling of being part of…
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Sixteen
Milestones and birthdays were my weak link as a mum when my children were young. I remember crying when my son went up a size of babygrow. When he lost his first tooth, it nearly broke my tear ducts. I know now that came from a place of fear. A fear of missing the boy…
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Fourteen
I’m a sentimental mum. I would cry at the smallest passage of time as your brother grew. Losing of his baby teeth. Going up a vest size would leave me sobbing. Birthdays would leave me emotional. But not with you. Watching you grow has been joyous. You leap into each stage of new independence. Always…
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The passing of time
The air changes in September, the energy in the air starts to fizz with anticipation of the year ahead. The changes it will bring. Nothing quite marks this like the back to school photo session on the doorstep. It is more than a photo. It marks the passing of a summer gone. With the suntanned…
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The mountains come calling
I always tell my children that the best stuff happens outside of your comfort zone. Children learn by watching, so it feels like I perpetually live outside mine, as I want to practice what I preach. Skiing has never wanted to sit inside my comfort zone. But being the determined woman I am, I won’t…
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Privilege
It has been the greatest privilege of my life doing the school run with you. And in the blink of an eye, you are at the end of primary school. Watching you run into school and run out at 3.30 every day, straight into my arms, are memories I will treasure forever. Telling me everything…
By Eve Bell 