A few years ago one of my favourite cousins in Ireland had an operation to remove a “congenital wart”. We joked about how bad that sounded but we knew that it wasn’t. “Congenital” means, simply, that she was born with it. It doesn’t mean that it was big, painful or dangerous, just that she had… Continue reading Word of the week: congenital
2016 has brought us news of so many deaths, the deaths of so many famous and talented people whose work we have enjoyed for so long. Yesterday brought the saddest news of all: Caroline Aherne has died aged 52. This will be the shortest piece on this Blog and it can only echo David Baddiel’s… Continue reading Caroline Aherne RIP
The recent Oscar winner “Bridge of Spies” (Best Supporting Actor for Mark Rylance) is set in the late 1950s and early 1960s, during the Cold War. Part of the movie is set in Berlin, before and after the Wall between east and west is built. In one scene two characters (one of them played by… Continue reading Attention to detail in the movies
The children’s author and former Children’s Laureate Julia Donaldson is probably best known for “The Gruffalo”. We have been fans of her books for many years, with “Stick Man”, “The Snail and the Whale” and “Room on the Broom” all constant features of our children’s younger lives. When my son and daughter were 5 and… Continue reading Time Windfalls
The Compartments 