Ahem The weather this past month has been ridiculous even by English standards, a confusing farrago of passive aggression and bipolarity. For several days it was just damply dismal; then it slowly brightened up in a faltering, febrile way, before becoming positively neo-African at its zenith for a couple of days; then suddenly sank back […]
Author Archives: Lionel Stanbrook
2026 Ahem
PEAGE PINTXOS BANISTER: May 2026
Ahem, I travelled down to La Hune with Jurrat and Jessie in a well-loaded car [...]
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01
Jun
Jun
2026 Ahem
MUSKETS SHRIFT RAPT: April 2026
Ahem Alli and I were up and early on Good Friday to be driven with [...]
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30
Apr
Apr
Professional Writing Writing
They awoke…
The hidden past of the bisexual pronoun Those of all political and cultural persuasions [...]
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2026 Ahem
BABY FAIRYLAND TWITTEN: March 2026
Ahem I was about to open a pile of birthday cards when I was encouraged [...]
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30
Mar
Mar
2026 Ahem
QUOTIDIAN HAMMERHEAD HIPPO: February 2026
Ahem Rain and colder weather in southern England dominated the first few days of the [...]
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02
Mar
Mar
21
Jun
Jun
A hyperbaton is when you put words in an order that seems or sounds wrong, which is difficult to do with confidence in English. When almost everything else in the English language is so careless, lazy, and slapdash, the rules for English adjectival word order are throat-tighteningly strict. Punishment for this crime, as ever, is […]
02
Jun
Jun
Ahem, La Hune, our long-neglected house in south west France, was my location and work-place for most of the month. Plotting a non-motorway course due south, I took the overnight Newhaven-Dieppe ferry and drove through Rouen, Chartres, Vierzon. Limoges, Brive, and Cahors to tiny Mansonville (population 286), on the border of the Gers and the […]
01
May
May
Ahem Ant and Susanne, the magnificent Miles from Luxembourg, arrived at Broad Oaks on their bi-annual work detail on a long list of repair and maintenance jobs in the house and garden, crucial as the occupants are incapable of doing the jobs themselves. They left only when almost everything – from making a bonfire and […]
01
Apr
Apr
Ahem Our dogs have not been well. Both Bonnie and Max have suffered from stomach trouble, but Bonnie stopped eating and drinking and her temperature soared while she walked around in a dehydrated and discombobulated daze. There were rumours of a dog virus around the walkers’ slopes of Batchelors’ Farm. She was referred by the […]
02
Mar
Mar
Ahem A small section of the road outside the house was resurfaced one day without warning, with a lorry, a paving machine, several vans, and a team of hi-vis jackets. This stopped all traffic, including ours, from using the road. It followed a similar instance a few weeks ago, when a footpath signpost just outside […]
03
Feb
Feb
Phase out animal agriculture? It’s the quickest and only intelligent way to reverse climate change. But is it the easiest way? There seem to be few candidates for a genuinely easy way to stop and reverse climate change, but if people in their billions stopped buying and eating food made from or by animals over […]
30
Jan
Jan
Ahem The year started new-pin-brightly, with a hangover-free park run on a mild New Year’s morning. Also, I began a diet and forswore alcohol, once again, amid a barrage of friendly advice, some of it consistent. Many agree that lifestyle change is the key choice to make, then offer you a large pie and chips. […]
31
Dec
Dec
Ahem On 5th December, Jurrat knelt in the autumn leaves before our first-born daughter Jessie in the garden of Broad Oaks and asked her to marry him. She accepted and her sister Gwen (who was nearby) burst into tears, and Jaxon, their sensitive Staffie, jumped for joy up and down around them. So we will […]
I’m against Covid. I’ve had a primary, secondary and a booster. I had a reaction the first time that made me regret the vaccination for a couple of hours. Then after that I didn’t regret it, and when my best friend’s sister passed away some time later from Covid, more than a month after contracting […]