notfromnewbury

[notfromnewbury]

Rookie error

Note to Self. Always remember to zip up your bee suit before opening a hive. The hot weather has turned our hives into hordes of raging six-legged, winged savages bent on violence. You can hear them before you see them, buzzing clouds flying in and out, while entry to the hive is guarded by an angry clump of defenders. As dusk falls, the ranks of sentries expands to form a humming, fluttering…

[notfromnewbury]

The ebb and flow of energy

There’s nothing worse than being all geared up for a day in the Paddington office, getting to the station and finding the train is late. The other day, arriving bang on time, two minutes delay turned into five minutes turned into 15 minutes and usual morning bonhomie withered at the prospect of my early start being for naught and the chances of me making it for my 9.30am meeting reducing to zero.…

[notfromnewbury]

The Binding, Bridget Collins

It’s been a while since I really got stuck into a book, until The Binding came along and I got swept away with it. The premise is unusual and clever; that you can bind people’s memories into a book so they don’t have to carry them. I liked the differentiation between a novel, which was seen as very much the poor relation, and the bound book. Interesting to explore how the human psyche would…

[notfromnewbury]

Soul food salad

I was so tired yesterday. A party on Saturday took time to recover from on Sunday. A busy Sunday took time to recover from on Monday. By Monday evening I was ready to crawl into bed by about 6pm – not an option. Particularly given I’m not sleeping well and my usual 5am wake-up would have doubtless turned into a 3am fend-off-cat-and-lie-in-bed-worrying-about-stuff-for-hours-wake-up. On the Sunday…

[notfromnewbury]

Butter, Asako Yuzuki

Indescribably dull. If I had to listen to one description of how to make macaroni I think I’d have screamed. Murderous serial killer descends into insecure, overweight misfit. No one cares. Lesson learned? We should all be happy as we are? Groundbreaking. Not.

[notfromnewbury]

Severance

I’m binge watching Severance, the Apple TV show where the characters have chosen to ‘sever’ their consciousness and split into work selves (innies) and home selves (outies), essentially creating two separate individuals, each with limited awareness of the other.On the severed floor, the innies’ workspace is spacious, open plan and minimalist. Their routines, tasks and targets are set by…

[notfromnewbury]

Combarro: a hidden gem

[notfromnewbury]

Days in Dingle

I’ve only ever been to Ireland once, and that was a short business trip to Dublin. To be honest, must of the countries I’ve visited have been on business, and you only really get to see the inside of some nondescript office that could be anywhere. At least in Dublin I remember getting to do a tour of the city and spending an evening at a pub. The latter slightly less clear in my memory than the…

[notfromnewbury]

Magical Madrid

Last week the residents of Donnington Square descended on an unsuspecting Madrid for Pablo and Mariale’s wedding. I’ve only been once with work, and you never see anything on those trips except the inside of a conference room, so I was really looking forward to all the celebrations but also some time away, and a chance to look around somewhere new. And the sunshine, because the forecast was…

[notfromnewbury]

The Western Wind, Samantha Harvey

Samantha Harvey has an immersive style of writing that transports you to the time and place of her books. Orbital in particular made me feel as though I too was floating in space with those astronauts, it was just the right length and pitch to work beautifully. In the case of The Western Wind though, I felt less immersed in the intricacies of a possible crime and all the many twists and turns…

[notfromnewbury]

Bandwidth

As in I don’t have any. That’s about it really. That’s why I haven’t written anything in ages. No time. Not sure what’s happened in 2025 but from Day One it’s been insanely busy at work and at home. First of alll, we got through new year and went skiing immediately afterwards, which was a great holiday, but going away the first week back at work and school definitely puts you on the back foot…

[notfromnewbury]

Blurred lines: The symbiosis of internal and external communication

I was at a HarknessKennett breakfast briefing the other week, they’re always brilliant opportunities to network, hear from peers and industry experts and ask questions. The topic this time was ‘Being your best in 2025‘, and if I know anything about us internal comms folks, it’s that continuous improvement is our shared mantra. The speakers each came with their personal perspectives on our…

[notfromnewbury]

Anaphylaxis

“Don’t go mad Mum, but I’ve been in hospital for the past three hours.” Will’s opening gambit, calling from Thailand. It was 4.30pm on Friday and I was about to log-off for the day. When Will’s name came up on my phone screen I was pleasantly surprised to hear from him thinking he’d be calling to tell me about his adventures in Koh Samui. As it turned out, my worst – my only – fear about his…

[notfromnewbury]

Reflections

William set off on his travels around Asia, Australia and New Zealand a little over a week ago. He’ll be away for six months. He’s gone on his own, which I believe is the right thing. That’s the way to meet new people, rather than sticking with those you know. It also gives you the freedom to move on if you want to – no ties. We dropped him off at the airport at an unGodly hour of the morning. I…

[notfromnewbury]

No more home-working humbug

I’ve always been a total humbug about going into work. “There has to be a purpose.” I’ve said, on more than one occasion: like an All Hands or a workshop or a meeting. Something ‘big.’I was wrong.Last week was high pressure. I went into Paddington ready to be super stressed out but I went home having made three new friends and connected with colleagues I don’t see often enough.A problem shared is…

[notfromnewbury]

Before the coffee gets cold, Toshikazu Kawaguchi

A cafe that, should you wish, can take you time travelling. But with binding, unbreakable rules. Is it worth it? What will you find out? And what will you do with the knowledge? This simple premise, supported by a small cast of carefully, cleanly drawn characters, each with their own reasons for time travel, captured my heart. I turned the last page with a lump in my throat. This book touched…

[notfromnewbury]

Post-festive, restorative skiing

After a pretty miserable 2024, we decided to have a quiet Christmas. In the end it turned out to be even quieter than we’d planned when James turned grey mid-afternoon on Christmas Day and spent the next 48 hours throwing up. I put it down to a rogue chipololata was decried as the world’s most unsympathetic parent (in contrast to the saintly Mr Houghton). Family dog walk. After Dolly had taken…