Category Archives: 2015

Ahem, In the annual French Letter Hunters’ Dinner at the beginning of the month, after a fine but predictable meal of wild boar stew, spetzli, red cabbage and Brussels sprouts, I initiated a rousing collective rendition of Do ye ken John Peel. My assumption that practically everyone knew the famous English hunting song was met […]

Ahem, Bulbous fists of mist gripped our village for several mornings in a row, burned away by the sun often before the dogs came back from their walk with Alli. I got used to working from home again, in between having porridge for breakfast, soup for lunch (standard Autumn fare), and walking the fields in […]

Ahem We are in full fall. The legendary colours of autumn in Alsace have reappeared in the woods, lanes and country paths of the South Sundgau, signalling the advent of morning frosts, long afternoon shadows, days of mid-forest stillness, and the promise of even colder weather, lumpy clouds like French hotel pillows and the crackle […]

Ahem, I returned to Basel in a rejuvenated Galahad on the last weekend of the month exhausted but enriched by the experience of writing and communicating about development, hunger, and food aid issues every day in a working environment that was varied and unpredictable. Hosts for most of my Roman stay, Andrew, Fionnuala, Evelyn and […]

Ahem, Concerned about over-staying my Latin welcome with the eternally hospitable Pickup Tennysons of Olgiata, I accepted an offer to look after another house and garden in the same neighborhood, and started to lead a more ascetic existence than I had until then. This was excellent preparation for another move after two weeks into the […]

Ahem I divided the month of July between working in Rome and holidaying in South West France, with just a couple of passing night ships at home in Leymen. With my working time at a premium, I flew to Zurich after a full and stressful working day in a hot Rome, took the train to […]

Ahem Leymen’s acknowledged eminence grise of local village history, Max Wyss, lives within a stone’s throw of the Chateau de Landskron at the top of the hill. He runs the society that undertakes and administers repairs to the castle. I went to see him as part of my occasional research into the history of the […]

Ahem There was a rare and immediately memorable Stanbrook family gathering this month in London with most of the living Stanbrook family in attendance, namely my brother Clive, sister-in-law Julia and all their children and grandchildren, with Alli and me, Jessie, Ella and Gwen, cousins Diane and Brendan and assorted related cousins, nieces and nephews. […]

Ahem I have been gazing out across a moist flower-bordered billiard-table lawn, blurred through the window. It’s an overcast day, 24 hours before the start of the London Marathon. The garden has broad oaks and green acres, and my father in law has given it a timely tonnage of additional nutrition that the English drizzle […]

Ahem We went to a restaurant in Huningue, Autour de la table, with the Jarvises and the Barneses to celebrate my birthday and where force majeure encouraged me to copy Gwen’s well-established record of eating meat only on her birthday. I had some very thoughtful cards and presents, including a log storage bag and a […]