18th November 2022 More than one family member has recently found themselves in the hospital for scans. One of Sarah’s routine check-ups confirmed that her baby is a boy and produced an incredible set of photographs. Isn’t modern technology marvellous? Jamie’s latest scans and X-rays show encouraging signs of healing, and plans are now being… Continue Reading

9th October 2022 On 4th October, I had my third, and hopefully final, Lucentis injection. It truly is a remarkable drug; improvements in vision can be noticed within hours, and any discomfort disappears after a day. With any luck, that will be it for a couple of years at least. Sue drove me to the… Continue Reading

1st October 2022 It’s time to return to some sense of normality. Queen Elizabeth II once described a difficult year as an “Annus Horribilis”, and without doubt, 2022 has been just that. The ongoing pandemic, the mounting effects of global warming, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the resulting sanctions and Putin’s retaliations,  and, of course, the… Continue Reading

Queen Elizabeth II; Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022 Not by any means could I be described as a royalist. In my view, the monarchy is an outdated dinosaur that should have been consigned to the refuse bin of history centuries ago. Yet, our Lilibet conducted herself throughout her reign… Continue Reading

6th September 2022 With August rapidly drawing to a close (it was the 28th), Sue and I decided to make a rare visit to Jamie in Waltham on the Wolds. Unfortunately, we happened to pick a day when he was attending a supercar rally in Derbyshire. Undeterred, we made alternative plans and arranged to take… Continue Reading

27th August 2022 The heat that had settled in towards the end of July returned at the start of August. We’d had very little rain for several months, and both gardens and fields showed the strain. The ground was bone dry and rock hard, and digging up the last of the potatoes was a tough,… Continue Reading

6th August 2022 The heatwave forecast for our return to the UK duly arrived on the 18th of July. Fortunately, this gave Sue and me ample time to get both ourselves and the house prepared for its arrival. The fruit and vegetable plots had been pruned and weeded, the lawns mown, and the hedges neatly… Continue Reading

10th July 2022 It had been a long overnight sail, and by breakfast, we were still making our way through the western group of the seventy or so islands that form the Orkneys. The view from the deck was a striking contrast to Greenland’s wild, barren coastline. Low, flat, and verdant slivers of land drifted… Continue Reading

7th July 2022 No icebergs, whales or dolphins were spotted today. We’ve long since left the Arctic Circle behind, with only a handful of birds making use of the airflow from Ambience to help them on their way to who knows where. The sea is choppy, dotted with white horses, plenty to keep the dedicated… Continue Reading

5th July 2022 Despite being the capital of Greenland, Nuuk, like every other settlement we have visited on this trip, has an urban sprawl confined to a narrow, barely sufficient strip of sloping terrain between mountainside and sea. Blocks of community buildings cling to the rocky face of some unpronounceable mountain range encircling the port,… Continue Reading