Now that my son has started senior school (or high school) he has a rucksack full of books and equipment. He carries the exercise books for each of his subjects to and from school every day, whether or not he has homework in those subjects. He never leaves any of them in his locker at… Continue reading Never travelling light
Back in the spring the rest of the family watched the latest series of “Masterchef” together, often while it was being broadcast live. My son would often go back and watch some of the scenes again, like he does with his favourite dance routines from “Strictly Come Dancing”. Our multi-channel box now has dozens of… Continue reading The Summer of Sorbet
Looking back through the first nine months of this Blog I see that there was an unbroken run of over 150 days when I posted something every day. I really did publish each piece on the date shown, from 26 January to 4 July. Often I would post something short (maybe just the title), set… Continue reading Stopping, and starting again
Beer, I have learnt this week, is a town in Devon. It was the starting-point earlier today for a coastal walk, which involved cliffs, steep hills and fields. We had to enter some of these fields through those wooden gates that you have to climb over, stiles as they’re called. Before today none of the… Continue reading Holiday notes: Beer
As someone who still uses cash for many purchases I always have change in my pockets. I stopped carrying a wallet some years ago and use the following method to organize notes and coins in the back pockets of my jeans. Larger notes (£10 and £20) go in the left pocket, along with coins that… Continue reading 2 2’s and a 1
What do you know about Gilbert Scott, if anything? I can trace my knowledge of him (or rather them) to a conversation in the 1980s with a college friend who was studying architecture. He told me about two Gilbert Scotts, both architects, and both noted for creating things that you almost certainly know about. We… Continue reading Gilbert Scott
This time last year (late July 2015) we were getting ready for our holiday, a trip to France and Italy by car. We went by ferry from Dover to Dunkirk (Dunquerque as the French spell it). We decided to travel that way because of the lengthy delays on the Eurotunnel. Cars and lorries were backed… Continue reading Holiday timings
Our 9-year-old daughter is learning the words to the old Queen song “Killer Queen” at her Friday evening children’s theatre group. They have changed one of the lines, from “Let them eat cake, she says / Just like Marie Antoinette” to “Let them eat cake, she says / Shopping on the internet”. The opening line… Continue reading Queen, Sparks, 10cc: Moet, kimonos and lasagne
We could do with a new Hoover (sorry, vacuum cleaner). The one that we have doesn’t work very well. It doesn’t pick up much fluff, dirt or dust when used in the conventional way, at an angle to the floor, pushed back and forth across the carpet, like the one in this old Shake &… Continue reading Things that don’t work very well
During the last month I have had conversations with three different people (people I had never met before) during which the subject turned to music in the 1980s. I told the same stories three different times, which is the kind of thing that prompts me to draft a piece for this Blog. If a story… Continue reading The Smiths and The Cure
