Over the last week there has been much debate here in the UK about the meaning of the phrase “a substantial meal”. A second period of lockdown in England (during which most people seemed to go about their day-to-day business much as before) has been followed by a return to a system of “tiers” that… Continue reading Word of the week: substantial
Usually at this stage of the sporting season my attention is focussed on just one of the teams I favour: Leeds United, who have returned to the top division of English football after 16 seasons in lower divisions. The All-Ireland finals in Gaelic sports (hurling and Gaelic football) are usually in September. Even when there… Continue reading Kilkenny, Leeds, Dublin (2020)
Today is the First Sunday of Advent and in keeping with tradition I have dug out our handful of Christmas-themed CDs. Also, as is now traditional with that music format, I had to track down a CD player that still works, apart from the one in the car. The first one I tried (a portable… Continue reading The earliest Christmas #1
Back in 2018, in this piece, I recorded my satisfaction at the state of my children’s teeth, and my own. I have a wide selection of fillings (white at the front, amalgam at the back), and crowns on many of my molars. They regularly need some kind of treatment, but I had gone 30 months… Continue reading Still all clear at the dentist
Earlier this year, a new business opened on the High Road in premises that had been empty for a while but had, for most of the last 20 years, been occupied by estate agents. It’s called “Exit Here”. From the tasteful, subdued look of the shop-front, and from the name of the business, I had… Continue reading “Life-affirming fun”
You are probably familiar with the three main definitions of the word “whitewash”. As listed on the Cambridge Dictionary website they are: “a white liquid that is a mixture of lime or powdered chalk and water, used for making walls or ceilings white”; “an attempt to stop people finding out the true facts about a… Continue reading Word of the week: whitewash
As noted in this piece from 2018, November is the month of the dead in the Catholic Church. Most years there are ceremonies in local cemeteries on the first or second Sunday of the month to bless the graves of deceased parishioners. This year’s ceremonies were cancelled even before the reimposition of lockdown rules last… Continue reading A cemetery at dusk
[Drafted November 2020, finalized several months later] There are many pieces on this Blog that mention Pop Master, the BBC Radio 2 mid-morning quiz. You can hear it live on the Ken Bruce Show Monday to Friday at 10.30am or use BBC Sounds to listen back to any shows from the previous 30 days. You… Continue reading Pop Master: My best week ever (w/e 6-Nov-2020)
Back in September, in this piece, I wrote about how much I was enjoying US sitcom “Modern Family”, a show that had passed us by as a family throughout its 11 seasons. Its final episodes were broadcast in May 2020, and we were catching up, through Netflix initially, and then (for series 8-11) on DVD.… Continue reading Word of the week: pilot
2020 has been marked by multiple anniversaries commemorating events from World War Two. The VE Day celebrations on 8 May, marking 75 years since the end of the war in Europe, could not go ahead as planned because of lockdown. It was a Bank Holiday, but with schools closed (and pubs, restaurants and most shops)… Continue reading A World War Two story, about timing
The Compartments 