by Juliet Batten | 28, Apr, 2022 | Seasons Newsletter
Every Sunday my Aunt Jessie would visit the graveyard. The graveyard lay on the other side of town, a little further out than our house, so it became a natural thing for me to join her at our gate and run alongside. This is how I came to explore the... 
by Juliet Batten | 20, Apr, 2021 | Seasons Newsletter
Outside the dark, noisy café, a woman sat on the pavement. ‘You’ve caught the sun,’ I said, as I stopped to talk. ‘Yes’, ‘it’s sweet autumn’, she replied. I agreed. ‘These fine days feel as if they could last forever.’ ‘But they... 
by Juliet Batten | 1, Oct, 2020 | Seasons Newsletter
Pregnant in Paris: that was me in 1970, with not a female relative in sight. How could I prepare myself to give birth to my baby? I took refuge in books on natural childbirth. And that’s when I discovered that ‘transition’ is a critical phase in the birthing... by Juliet Batten | 24, Apr, 2020 | Seasons Newsletter, Uncategorized
The wooden bin in the Department Store was full of rag dolls, each one the size of a small child. The dolls had smiling faces, woollen hair that could be plaited or teased apart, and limbs that could be easily arranged. I smiled too as I picked one up... by Juliet Batten | 24, Oct, 2019 | Seasons Newsletter, Uncategorized
I was surprised. She didn’t want to be Persephone in the school play. I thought all the girls would have lusted after the part of the maiden, dancing with her friends amidst the spring flowers, her head crowned with a ring of blossoms. But not 11 year old...