Gosh! Monday morning, and a lie-in. Not that we should admit to such things, but in the last 30 days there have been only two mornings when we didn’t have to get up to do breakfast – and it is the same on this 31st morning. Not that we are complaining. Perish the thought, as [...]
I am sure you will agree that I have been very restrained so far in my total absence of progress reports on the Summer of Cricket, despite the fact that it is the Ashes series that is being played out. And I am sure you are relieved by my lack of coverage, especially those of [...]
Last night, as I went out to the laundry room to lock up, I noticed the dark silhouette of a hedgehog at the foot of the steps leading up to the patio. It was like seeing an old friend. We knew the hedgehog was still in the garden (having over-wintered in a clump of leaves [...]
If it appears that diary entries are still few and far between (sounds as if it should be a Shakespearian phrase, but it is nothing more than a tired old cliché), and if you are thinking that I have no excuse now that Book Two is complete, then you will be pleased to know that [...]
I know that the subject of our yellow trumpet vine (campsis reluctans, to give it its Latin name) is one that is brought up no more than once a year, but I would like to think that there are those amongst you who live in eager anticipation of the annual review of this wayward plant’s [...]
Slumped in front of the TV last night, watching an extremely talented National Youth Orchestra coping with some very challenging orchestral scores, we were happy to give them full marks for their interpretation of a piece by an obscure Polish composer who was quite evidently a lifelong victim of some painful internal ailment. However, we [...]
Although brighter weather is forecast as the week progresses, and indeed we would expect something different following tomorrow’s full moon, it is too late for the tomatoes. Blighted though they were, we have been tentative in lopping off blackened limbs, because many tomatoes are on the verge of ripeness. So we have been gambling with [...]