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Little Julie Burchell's Rupert Bear Annual
I was in Lewes the other day, and bought this annual at The Fifteenth Century Bookshop. I'd been looking for it for years. Pre-1970 Christmas annuals are getting rare nowadays, because not all that...
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Rupert and the Water-lily
Let's get on with the Rupertfest!My 1958 Rupert annual contains five stories, with Things To Do on the pages in between. The first story is called Rupert and the Water-lily. This is clearly the main...
View ArticleMen's groping hands
The kind of touching that some men indulge in when chatting to women is presently very much in the news, and I suppose I'd better throw in some remarks of my own. After all, I was able to observe these...
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I had my Op two years ago today!
Some people get very awestruck about the Day of their Operation, as if they were being reborn. Some refer to it, perfectly seriously, as their 'real birthday'. I don't share this way of looking at it....
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Rupert and the New Bonnet
It must by now be plain that I'm running through the stories in my 1958 Rupert Bear annual for reasons far beyond personal self-indulgence and nostalgia. These stories are an index to the social...
View ArticleRothesay and Lena Zavaroni
I've been a curious person all my life. Some will of course leap to an interpretation of that statement which reflects on my very questionable character! But I mean that I'm consumed with a wish to see...
View ArticleVerbal excess?
No fancy writing today. I've just started a cold, and I don't feel mentally sharp.It's a day of routine tasks at home, so far as I feel like doing them, and if necessary I'll say 'mañana', and not...
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Broadchurch
Broadchurch is an eight-part ITV drama that began tonight. It's a small-town seaside resort murder mystery that kicks off with a boy found dead at the foot of a cliff. Apparently the town will become...
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Rupert and the Ice-flowers
One thing about Rupert Bear is that he's always wearing the same outfit: red jumper, matching yellow check trousers and scarf, and white boots. You never see him wearing anything else.I dare say that...
View ArticleI still get a kick out of it
By now you'd think that I would be completely blasée about being treated like a natal woman. But I'm not. I still regard it as the most amazing thing.This morning, for instance. I'd gone to my local...
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All done and dusted
I'm now at the tail end of the cold I mentioned a few days ago. Looking after myself carefully, with rest and good food, has paid off. Unfortunately it's now at the 'hacking cough' stage, and that...
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Mother's Day
I felt surprised when my diary told me it was Mother's Day today.But of course. I shouldn't have forgotten. There have been the usual ads all over the place, and messages from retailers wanting to sell...
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Murder - take your pick
(There's a sequel to the main text, involving New Zealand, if you skip on) It's 8.20pm as I start this post, and it's a cold night in Sussex. It's actually snowing out there, harder than they said it...
View ArticleMy first bone density scan
I had a bone density scan at the local Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath today. Another woman of my age had suggested it in February, to check on the onset of osteoporosis. So I asked my doctor...
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Post-Prada, post-GRC
The years from 2008 onwards have turned out to be the most eventful of my life, in good ways and bad. Mostly good, I'd say, at least from my personal standpoint. Others might disagree, and shake their...
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Wet knickers and Monty Python
The above, dear reader, is a Female Bottle. It's called that because of the distinctive shape of the spout, which fits over a woman's nether parts so that she can pee into the bottle if she needs...
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All set for a holiday in Shetland - and all about the Shetland Metro and...
I really think that when it comes to North of Scotland holidays, Shetland will have to get priority over Orkney.I know, I know: Orkney is so rich in world-class archaeological sites - a stone circle to...
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A single-handed voyage
I've always been fascinated by the sea, and voyages, and especially what it must be like to sail single-handedly around the world. No light undertaking! It's been done many times now, of course, and...
View ArticleSocial position
Transition, whether accomplished at glacial speed or in a rush, changes one's life forever. And one of the consequences is a radically altered position in society. There's no getting away from it, the...
View ArticleMa Vie en Prose
That's nice. Overnight my cumulative pageview total has topped 200,000. Well, that's 200,000 since February 2009, so it has taken about four years to get here. On the other hand, there have been...
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