31st May 2022 With the arrival of May, the family’s determination to ‘get sorted’ has gathered pace, keeping everyone busy both indoors and out. In Rothwell, Newbold Verdon, and Waltham on the Wolds, walls have been papered and painted, gardens mown (or even hoovered), beds planted up, and a great deal of carpentry and construction… Continue Reading

27th April 2022 Fortunately, I tested negative for COVID-19 on 4th April and was able to attend my six-monthly dental check-up. Sue, meanwhile, continued to cough up phlegm and tire easily, though she was showing some signs of improvement. Both of us have been struggling with the chilly weather and have taken to lighting a… Continue Reading

31st March 2022 Jamie moved in with us on my birthday, and after work the following day, he drove to Bottesford to spend the weekend with Ruth, planning to return to Willow Bank on Sunday night. With the easing of Covid rules, Ruth’s parents had flown from their home in France to spend a few… Continue Reading

4th March 2022 In the early hours of 9th February (3 am), CNBC, the American pay-television business news channel owned by NBCUniversal News Group and primarily focused on business day coverage of U.S. and international financial markets, interviewed Jamie. This is yet another welcome sign of the growing reputation of his Fx Learning company. The… Continue Reading

28th February 2022 It had been quite a few years since I had driven for more than three hours on a journey, and this trip was no exception. Our target, the beautiful county of Durham, lay three and a half hours away, so an overnight stay in Knaresborough was planned. We arrived at our accommodation… Continue Reading

28th January 2022 The family made it to 2022 relatively intact, although Sarah and Lee (and probably Alice) began the year suffering from some form of Coronavirus (unsure which variant). The world is a very different place compared to two years ago, fraught with challenges and anxieties brought about by the tiniest of life forms,… Continue Reading

27th December 2021 Unusually, the winter weather witches have been kind to me while I’ve been busy demolishing the pool; they could easily have turned the huge volume of soil to be shifted into something resembling the Somme or maybe even the Arctic tundra. Instead, dull and temperate days made for easy digging, wheelbarrowing, and… Continue Reading

20th November 2021 With November rapidly running out, the family seem intent on ramping up their activities in readiness for the coming festive season. Sarah had arranged to meet up with Chloe and Abby over the weekend of the 20th for a bit of girly carousing, but it didn’t end well. Chloe is the physio/first… Continue Reading

21st November 2021 Over the past couple of weeks, both Sue and I have been hectically busy. Not a day has passed without Sue dashing off on one of her U3A rambles or group meetings, while I have been tackling all those jobs in the garden that I had successfully been putting off all summer.… Continue Reading

25th October 2021 Usually, one of the first tasks after returning from holiday is to sort through the many photos I have taken, deleting the poor ones and duplicates, and saving the rest into a file on a removable drive. From these, I create a lasting memory by producing a video to show the rest… Continue Reading