March 1st 2009 Sarah’s current boyfriend, Matt, an airman in the RAF (precise location: unknown, possibly classified or just never mentioned), came to visit over the weekend. He seemed like a decent chap: firm handshake, polite chat, said all the right things. She met him on our last family holiday, though Sue and I were… Continue Reading

 February 5th 2009 It snowed on Monday, and by Tuesday, I was driving Nan back to Thurcroft, where I stayed with her for a few days. Midweek, she had a hospital appointment to get her eye checked. As it turns out, since her accident, her vision has changed, meaning the treatment they had planned was… Continue Reading

29th January 2009 Not much in the way of headline news to report this time, other than Sue has finally shaken off the pleurisy for a second time and the mysterious allergic reaction that had her looking like a character from a medical textbook. It’s down to my superior nursing skills, Florence Nightingale, eat your… Continue Reading

19th January 2009 The weather has continued its icy vendetta against us all, with bone-numbing cold and hard overnight frosts. The wood burner has officially earned its place as Best Purchase of the Decade, and I’m quietly smug about having stacked enough logs to see us through until the next Ice Age or, failing that, spring. Frozen… Continue Reading

4th January 2008 As is traditional at the start of a new year, friends and family gathered together to celebrate. This year, we attended a party at a friend, Jeremy Brown’s, house in town. It turned out to be a comfortable, relaxed, and laid-back affair. Unfortunately, guests were rather thin on the ground, as winter… Continue Reading

31st December 2008 And just like that, another Christmas has come and gone in a flurry of wrapping paper, roast potatoes, and highly competitive ten-pin bowling. Here’s how the festive period unfolded at Willow Bank… Christmas Eve Charlotte and Lucas rolled up mid-afternoon in their new black Freelander, adding a certain 4×4 swagger to proceedings.… Continue Reading

21st December 2008 With Christmas fast approaching, it’s been another eventful week of last-minute wrapping, minor disasters, and the occasional starry-eyed gesture gone slightly awry… After a slow and slightly wheezy recovery from a bout of pleurisy, Sue is at last almost back to her usual self. She even managed a solo expedition to Worcester… Continue Reading

10th December 2008  The past three weeks have whizzed by in a blur of colds, cadets, carpentry and chaos. Here’s how it all unfolded, or at least, how I remember it… Sarah Sarah has been keeping herself heroically busy at school and in the skies. Much to our envy, she had a flight in a… Continue Reading

18th November 2008 Ah, the tangled webs of teenage romance. Sadly, Jamie and Harriet had a dramatic fallout last week, complete with shouting, tears, and cinematic walkouts. The cause of the dispute? A film Jamie found so boring that he abandoned Harriet mid-screening, wandered off to buy himself something to eat, and then casually strolled… Continue Reading

9th November 2008 What? Another blog post so soon? Yes indeed! When your daughter marches through town looking as smart as a Guardsman on parade, it demands immediate attention. Sarah took part in Harborough’s Remembrance Sunday Parade, and Sue and I were bursting with pride. Honestly, if we’d been any prouder, we’d have exploded in… Continue Reading