Heaven knows what this means but I don’t want to be number 100, so please can you vote for me and ensure that I get to at least number 99…. Here is the link and then you have to click on HOT 100 and ‘click here to nominate’. www.ahlanlive.com/18417-2 …

All went well. The Egyptian scarf was a huge success. Leo lent it to his girlfriend during the mid-morning break when she complained that she was cold. “Then I kissed her,” he told us proudly over lunch. “But not on the lips.” “Er, does she know she’s …

I returned from Cairo last night to sad news. Leo apparently came home from school yesterday weeping. “What’s wrong?” asked Rupert. “She broke my heart,” he wailed. “Who?” “My girlfriend,” Leo told him. This girl is the reason he was all dressed up on …

I travelled to Cairo last night with my friend Joy who is the wife of the Swiss Ambassador in Abu Dhabi. I am never travelling without her again. We get to the airport where she checks in at the business class counter (despite the fact that we have eco …

Henri Cartier-Bresson talked about the “defining moment” in photography; that split-second when you capture an image that will never be forgotten. In life there are defining moments too. Depending on what you are into it could be the first time you saw …

Sometimes you have a day at work that sets it apart from any others. Yesterday was such a day for me. I ventured into the western region with Delores the photographer and a guide; the lovely Leila from the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development. I was …

Every week in the magazine we have a back page interview called Life Lessons where people I interview give their five life lessons. I have thought long and hard about what my life lessons would be and can only come up with a couple. Treat everyone as y …

The girls are totally and utterly obsessed with some game on the internet where you have a flat and pets and move your furniture around and go to sleep. My question is this: why not just play in a real room as opposed to a virtual one? Maybe it is beca …

One of the results of making friends with my aunt again is that I am back in the will. I hasten to add that I am only back in the will because she tried to leave her money to my children, bypassing me, but was told they would have to pay inheritance ta …

Several months ago, Bea drew this cover for my novel. She was clearly more optimistic than I was. The top figure is me and the other three the children in the book who are called Emily, Charlotte and Edward. Loosely based on three children you know wel …