Ahem, June began dank and damp, with a succession of rainy days that sapped the spirit. However, I enjoyed trying to hawk our unwanted knick-knacks to the rest of the street at an indoor boot sale organised by neighbours in memory of our mutual friend and friendly neighbour Denny, who passed away a few weeks […]
Tag Archives: La Hune
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
Novel A History of Love and Loss
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
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
01
Jun
Jun
Ahem, I travelled down to La Hune with Jurrat and Jessie in a well-loaded car on the first day of May. Only this time I was not the driver. For the best part of 15 hours, Jessie drove almost continuously from Uckfield through the Channel Tunnel and down from Calais to the Tarn-et-Garonne in southwest […]
01
Oct
Oct
Ahem As August turned to September, I was with my Kiwi friends Ramon and Colleen in the lounge of a ferry shuddering darkly out of Newhaven harbour on its five-hour journey to Dieppe. I have done this trip several times and, despite my consistent inability to sleep during the crossing either way, it remains for […]
31
May
May
Ahem At the very end of April, I drove to La Hune, our house in France, via Newhaven, Dieppe, and an overnight stay in the Chateau du Plessis near Argentan, where the French owner told me that the previous day’s guest had been the Duke of Westminster. I didn’t ask if the Duke successfully paid […]
03
May
May
Ahem Just before the beginning of the month I flew to Malaga from where I took a bus to Marbella. I put my small but heavy bag into a property deposit box at the bus station before walking slowly down towards the Mediterranean coast, glittering under a perfect blue sky. I was excited but apprehensive […]
30
Mar
Mar
Ahem The Malawi weather improved considerably in the first week and by the time of our departure the farm was experiencing some classic crop-growing weather: a couple of hours of determined rain and several hours of sun each day. On our last night we finally managed to witness a sundowner – watching the sun go […]
01
Jun
Jun
Our amazing dog Bonnie, possibly a Bedlington Whippet, or maybe a small Schnauzer Lurcher, born in a rescue centre over 18 years ago, and more recently very frail and forgetful, as well as nearly blind and deaf, disappeared about two weeks ago. She became confused one evening in the garden at Broad Oaks in Burgess […]
01
Apr
Apr
Ahem, Muttley was one of my childhood heroes (along with Rolf Harris). As an infant TV-watcher, I thought Muttley was a philosophical genius; he could summarise all relevant social discourse into three cardinal responses: a chronic wheezy snigger; a frustrated oath-laden mutter grumble; and impatient agreement by rapid head-nodding while rasping “yeh-yeh-yeh, yeh-yeh-yeh”. It inspires […]
30
Sep
Sep
Ahem, La Hune, our family house in south-west France, looks out proud and far across the Arratz valley, having achieved five-star ratings in all reviews in its first few months as a rental house on Airbnb. This makes my daughter Jessie a “super-host”, along with our neighbour Marlene, who looks after the house and receives […]
03
Jun
Jun
Ahem, Rain fell in solid chapters and the sun shone in free verse through the first merry half of May, although the unwelcome drizzle on Coronation day was light, occasional, and parade-friendly. Ella and Gwen joined us in watching the colourful regalia on TV. Alli made the official Royal quiche, following most of the official […]
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