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 […]
Tag Archives: Ella
2026 Ahem
BLANKETS ORAL PONTOON: July 2026
Ahem, Ella and Sam gave a party at their new house to celebrate their move [...]
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01
Aug
Aug
Get Righting
Get Righting!
Everyone’s got a story to tell. Are you telling yours? No? Then GET RIGHTING! GET [...]
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16
Jul
Jul
A History of Love and Loss Novel
A First-Novel Blog: False Finishes
A new blog about writing a novel and getting it published On the sixth day [...]
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11
Jul
Jul
2026 Ahem
TRESTLE RESERVOIR BUMP: June 2026
Ahem, June began dank and damp, with a succession of rainy days that sapped the [...]
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03
Jul
Jul
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
03
Dec
Dec
Ahem My previous one-scener blue moon trips to London have now turned into weekly or twice-weekly trips into the City for my temporary stint as interim speechwriter at the Guildhall. I face down forlorn memories of my commute two decades ago into Greyface Gormenghast Gritty Thameslink, the grimmest railway station in Britain. I would slope […]
01
Oct
Oct
Ahem, By general agreement Alli’s birthday this year was more of a birtholiday. We had first visited the sceptred Isle of Wight 25 years ago and I am the only one to remember any of the key details which included a magical day in Blackgang Chine. This time Alli and I started by looking around […]
31
Aug
Aug
Ahem Sometimes I run out of patience and often I run out of things to say. We occasionally run out of food items, thanks to Brexit’s damage to reliable food supplies. My account is running a deficit, which makes me run scared of running dry or on empty. I have run a fever and I […]
31
Jul
Jul
Ahem I’m sure that I’m the last person in Little Britain to have noticed that tea shops and coffee houses are replacing traditional pubs throughout town and country as social centres and meeting places. I even wonder if the British pub can survive much longer in its present form. It’s yet another British institution now […]
03
Jul
Jul
Ahem My vegetables are being pilfered and pillaged. Every time I go to the garden, at least five fat pigeons disengage themselves from the already skeletal broccoli, beans and courgettes, and flap unhurriedly up to reclaim their posts in the surrounding trees. Last year there were hardly any of these flying rats. I would rather […]
01
May
May
Ahem Easter gave us an opportunity to use the garden for a childish grown-up family Easter Egg hunt and to see Jessie, Jurrat, Ella, Sam, and celebrity Rottweiler Maisie. I got accused of indolence in laying the chocolate eggs on behalf of the Easter rarebit as too many of them were found close to the […]
03
Apr
Apr
Ahem We’ve been thinking of renting a cottage on the Isle of Wight, if it’s not too dear. But it might well be. Alli nearly booked a place in Bembridge on the south east coast a couple of months ago. However, we held back as the owner would not return deposits to renters once they […]
31
Jan
Jan
Ahem The turn of the year did not witness many resolutions, still less successful ones. No surprise here, being the first new year under the endless lockdown mentality, although the perennials of dry January and committing to lose weight remain worthy of mention. Much more heart-warming was the long-awaited arrival of Maisie the Rottweiler from […]
01
Jan
Jan
Ahem No sooner had Gwen arrived back from York than we drove together to the supermarket for her to buy tons of sugar, vegan butter, chocolate, and other ingredients to add to the loads she had already brought to bake her vegan chocolate brownies. Her first days here were spent in labour-intensive and kitchen-hogging mixing, […]