Christmas & New Year 2018 With Brexit dominating the news 24/7, it was a refreshing change on the 28th of November to get out into the Leicestershire countryside for a ramble with John. I had plotted a circular route from the Royal Oak in Great Dalby into my GPS using some new software. The app… Continue Reading

23rd November 2018 It seems to me that Christmas arrives earlier each year. In my opinion, decorations, music, adverts, and films about the 25th have no place in September, October, or November, or dare I say, even before the 20th of December! And as soon as the day is over, we are promptly reminded that… Continue Reading

9th November 2018 The temperature has certainly started to drop as the year marches on toward its finale. Leaf gathering is now in full swing, the chainsaw has seen a lot of use, and the log pile is growing impressively large. Most evenings have seen us firing up the log burner, though, on the first… Continue Reading

14th October 2018 Since my last blog, the nights have started to cool, and the days are no longer quite as pleasant; winter is on its way. I must stop checking the weather conditions of friends in Italy, Cyprus, and Canada; it’s only going to get increasingly depressing from now on. It doesn’t help that… Continue Reading

23rd September 2018 Over the August Bank Holiday, I went sailing with Sarah and Lee. They had honed their boating skills over a pleasant but sweltering summer and felt confident on the water. However, with the wind up on this occasion, they felt they needed Dad to show them how to handle more challenging conditions.… Continue Reading

6th August 2018 Shortly after writing the last blog, our Mediterranean-style summer rather annoyingly drew to a close. On 27th July, Charlotte, Lucas and Ellis arrived to sample the delights of Harborough by the Sea and cool off afterwards in the pool at Willow Bank, before rounding off the day with a family BBQ. On… Continue Reading

26th July 2018 Full recovery from our journey to Canada took a few days, but out of necessity, we plunged straight back into routine. For once, the British weather cooperated, remaining sunny and warm. The lawns were mowed, the pool was restored from green to blue, and the allotments were watered and weeded. Sue visited… Continue Reading

17th June 2018 Breakfast of cereals, toast and strong coffee set us up for a 10 a.m. start to a long day of travelling. The forecast promised temperatures of 28°C and above, but in the morning the sun struggled to break through the high cloud. As we left Midland heading south, the traffic began to… Continue Reading

16th June 2018 We had an abortive start to the day. Eager to get on the road, we left the motel at 9 am with the sun shining brightly, perfect for sightseeing. However, a few hundred metres down the road, the Satnav screen suddenly switched to night mode, making it impossible to see anything in… Continue Reading

15th June 2018 Our destination today was Sudbury, with the Satnav estimating a journey time of around three and a half hours. The sky promised a clear, bright day. We left the motel just after 9:30 am, once the rush-hour traffic had eased. We hadn’t travelled far when we made our first stop in Bruce… Continue Reading