It’s been a good week with some lovely days of bright(ish), clear(ish) sunshine and moderately pleasant bordering on hot temperatures. Don’t things always seem better when the sun shines? Continue reading →

Phew! What a scorcher! We’ve had some blisteringly hot days this week but like all UK summers, I suspect this will all be but a memory in a few days time. Monday was good – temperatures in the mid-20s Celsius (upper 70s Fahrenheit) and Tuesday was even warmer. Wednesday, though, was the real scorchio! The thermostat in the kitchen reached the dizzying heights of 30 degrees C (86 F) which, for most folks around these parts is akin to sitting in a blast furnace surrounded by molten lead. Fortunately, it cooled down a bit on Thursday and Friday but is set to stay warm with only the occasional thunderstorm for the next few days. Enjoy it while you can! Continue reading →

It’s been a pretty decent week, all things considered. Even though we had to say “goodbye” to Adam and Ava week before last, we’ve had fun with Nick, Lucy and Annabelle and our politicians continue to say and do stupid things – what could be better? Continue reading →

It’s been a great week, somewhat tempered, however, by the necessity of having to say “good-bye” to Adam and Ava on Wednesday. Goodness, how those three weeks flew by! Continue reading →

What a great day! Last Saturday I am talking about, of course. The sun shone (mainly), Ms Playchute’s catering more than lived up to its legendary reputation, the bride was gorgeous and the groom was passable and the garden was filled with friends and family, much laughter and good cheer. Continue reading →

This needs to be short and swift this week – so much to do and so little time! We’ve a celebratory celebration to organise this weekend (i.e., Penny has a celebratory celebration to organise) and there will be little or no time to do anything afterwards. So, you will have to put up with last week’s “news” and wait until next weekend for this weekend’s news (if that makes sense). Continue reading →

It’s been another great week, although I have to concede that the weather has not played its part! We did have some lovely weather on Thursday but the rest of the week has been a bit of a damp squib – one of these days summer is going to arrive (perhaps). Continue reading →

Wow! What a week of weather! Bright, sunny skies and reasonably pleasant temperatures interspersed with torrential downpours of rain, sleet and hail. The sound of the hail smattering against the Velux roof window was positively deafening. Continue reading →

Just when I thought we were turning the corner, the weather reminded us that it can still bite us in the bum. Wednesday was one of those gorgeous “spring-like” days when the sun shone and the birds chirped; Thursday was cold, wet, windy, grey and miserable – so cold that we fired up the wood burner. In the middle of May! Continue reading →

What a thoroughly depressing and disappointing week this turned out to be! Not only has the weather been pretty much shite but on Friday morning we woke up not to the hung parliament all the pollsters had been predicting but rather, to the Tory bastards having achieved the unthinkable – they secured an overall majority. What Cameron couldn’t do last time when pushing against an open door, he managed this time, largely because the Liberal Democrat vote simply vanished. Five years ago we all thought the Lib Dems would temper the Tory extremism. How wrong we were – they seemingly abandoned their principles and social conscience at the whiff of power. Their reward for keeping the Tories in check? The loss of 49 seats leaving them with a rump of 8. So much for trying to become Tory-lite. Continue reading →