21st February 2010 The original opening paragraph, a perfectly reasoned and articulate tirade on the nonsense of global warming, has, regrettably, been deleted. You see, the new me no longer whinges about tax hikes, council rates, carbon offsets, or anything else likely to raise the blood pressure. I absolutely will not mention the fact that… Continue Reading

7th February 2010 Having just re-read my last blog entry, it seems I’ve officially joined the ranks of the Grumpy Old Men. This suspicion was confirmed earlier in the week while watching Grumpy Old Women on TV, a show I thoroughly enjoyed, not least because I found myself nodding furiously in agreement with most of… Continue Reading

31st January 2010 Time, that slippery eel, has darted past us again. It’s been one of those months where we’ve all been whizzing around in separate orbits, occasionally crashing into each other around mealtimes or when someone needed a lift. Like ships in the night… if the ships had washing to do, jobs to attend,… Continue Reading

17th January 2010 Surprisingly, it’s only been ten days since I last put finger to keyboard, yet it feels like mid-March already. The sun made a rare appearance today, so I took the opportunity to clear away the garden debris and chop a decent pile of logs in readiness for more cold weather (apparently on… Continue Reading

7th January 2010 Like many people, I couldn’t wait to see the back of 2009. Though Sue and I are now officially retired and collecting our teacher pensions, any joy is tinged with apprehension as we brace ourselves for the likely arrival of a new government in spring, and with it, the dreaded tinkering with… Continue Reading

 13th December 2009 There has been a fair bit of news since my last instalment in November. As always, life has a way of keeping us on our toes (or on ladders, in my case, wielding a paintbrush). Sue has been hard at work at the local Catholic school, managing to miss just one day… Continue Reading

29th November 2009 For the past three weeks, I’ve been holed up in Bulgaria helping my stepbrother David “renovate” his house, though ‘renovate’ might be stretching the truth. ‘Systematic destruction’ may be more accurate. Communicating with the outside world proved to be a bigger challenge than rebuilding it. The internet moved slower than a Bulgarian… Continue Reading

2nd October 2009 Yet again, I’ve had to be cajoled into finding time to write a blog. I’ve no real excuse; sometimes I’ve just been too busy, and other times I simply didn’t feel like it. Life seems to have settled into a routine, punctuated by random events, and I’m quite comfortable deciding which of… Continue Reading

24th September 2009 It’s been a while since my last blog, and so much has happened that I’m sure half of it has already vanished into that shadowy corner of my brain labelled Recycle Bin. But Charlotte requested I put finger to keyboard, so here I am, taking a break from the relentless glamour of… Continue Reading

2nd September 2009 There are a few unmistakable signs in our household that something significant is about to happen: the house is suddenly spotless from attic to skirting board, the fridge and larder groan under the weight of provisions, the laundry basket is suspiciously empty, and every drawer is bursting with ironed clothes. When, on… Continue Reading