The Mizmaze
It was 5th November, and I'd moved on from South Wales to the New Forest. I was at the tail end of my final caravan holiday of 2017. I'd parked Fiona near the church at Breamore (which is pronounced...
View ArticleNow we are four
A new pleasure this year. My little great-niece Matilda - known to one and all as Tilly (though personally I prefer Matilda, but it's not my name at stake here) - has lately turned four, and so this...
View ArticleThe Goose Dinner - purchase and preparation
I'd felt it was time to play hostess at Christmas, and so last month I ordered a goose from Alan Woodward, my favourite butchers shop in Henfield. And I invited my local friends and their husbands. In...
View ArticleSubtle background changes to the blog
Keen-eyed blog-sleuths may detect one or two subtle changes to my blog. Yes...the profile picture has changed, though it's still the usual me. But it's more subtle than that! If you look at my...
View ArticleThe Goose Dinner - cooking and eating
The last post about my Goose Dinner on 19th December left me with guests arriving shortly at 6.30pm. I had to stop my preps by then, as the kitchen would inevitably get full of people wanting worktop...
View ArticleDid it matter?
By which I mean, did it matter that I sent no Christmas cards this year? Well, so far, nobody has taken me to task about it. Nobody has said things like 'Huh! So I wasn't worth dashing a card off for?...
View ArticleBrexit is Brexit
Now here's a thought. After the Brexit Referendum on 23rd June 2016 (yes, it was that long ago), Mrs May (our Prime Minister) was repeatedly heard to say, when asked what the result might entail,...
View ArticleO Holy Night
I start this post in the last hour or so of 2017, on (I think) the seventh day of Christmas. One of the things I did today was to get hold of a recording (actually I found three that I liked) of a...
View ArticleWhy I would still vote for Brexit
A comment I composed for my 'Brexit is Brexit' post became so long that I'm going to present it as a separate post, kicking the New Year off with it. Background: Bear carefully in mind that when young...
View ArticleJust squeaked in
Sometimes you just have to make a quick decision. A few days ago, I noticed that Vodafone was offering a cracking Unlimited Broadband deal to new customers, which seemed even better if you were already...
View ArticlePut back in the attic: memories of failure and marital breakup
It's an annual event. Every winter I go up into my attic and fetch down some boxes of photo prints or slides to scan. There's an awful lot up there. I took some 5,000 pictures from 1965 to 1989 using...
View ArticleParis Lees in Vogue
I was very pleased to see that Vogue included the journalist Paris Lees in a photo that made it onto the BBC News website - see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-42572561. I studied the...
View ArticleCunning preparations for my op
The op in question is the removal of the thick, ugly, malformed toenail from my right big toe. It takes place at 9.15am on Monday morning, in less than two days' time. It'll be at the Health Centre in...
View ArticlePost-op
There it is. One beautifully-dressed big toe, after the nail was removed earlier this morning, and the nail bed treated so that a new nail ought not to grow back. I was requested to phone Jackie (who...
View ArticleDeep in the New Forest
I lived in Southampton with my parents from 1963 to 1978, and had a car of my own from 1975. In those first three years of personal car ownership I explored the nearby New Forest almost to death. But...
View ArticleBack in proper shoes
Back in slippers, anyway! That's my feet - both of them - just a little while ago. I returned to the Health Centre this morning (Jo was wheels this time) and had the initial post-op dressing removed...
View ArticleAnother personal achievement - two million Flickr viewings!
I went to bed late last night 45 viewings short of a significant viewing milestone on Flickr. But this morning, it had been passed. I took this screen shot as soon as I was out of bed. There it is:...
View ArticleHis and hers
I saw these cards in a local post office just yesterday. A card for a baby boy alongside a card for a baby girl, both clearly by the same manufacturer, a complementary pair in the same series of...
View ArticleToe update: two weeks post-op
I've hardly been out since 8th January, when I had my toe op - just two visits to the clinic, three essential household shopping trips, a couple of lunches with my local girl friends, and one trip into...
View ArticleOne artist to speak to, one historian to listen to
While resting up at home, I haven't been entirely idle. Last week I decided on the dates for my caravan holidays in 2018. From March right through to November. I could book the Club sites online, and...
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