On rolling trees

This is a very small pile of enormous chunks of tree: The pile behind the house is a LOT bigger. We rolled, heaved and wheelbarrowed it all into a huge heap. I was probably not as much help as I could have been, because I stopped to look at the ivy, And the rings, and […]

On making mincemeat of it – part 1

Every year, I make a load of mincemeat, for myself, my family, and anyone else who wants some. Every year, I make it up as I go along, and no one’s complained yet. This is part 1 of the recipe – insofar as it can be called a recipe – for 2015. *** A word […]

On flowery selfies

DB said I was extremely mean for only taking pictures of ‘my’ plants, and not his – especially when his are flowering and mine are dying down for winter. Anyway. I present, in all its glory, DB’s flowering plant!

On blisters (and carrots)

I’m used to getting blisters at work. The sort caused by touching glass before its had a chance to cool down properly. I’m not used to getting blisters from washing carrots… Edit (3rd Nov): Squeaky clean 🙂

On yelling

Early evening. Dark, except for a few streetlights. A couple with a dog. Walking. Behind them, at the far end of a side street 2 figures can just about be made out in the shadows. Yelling. Shouting. Mean words, angry voices. Screams. “Help!” Shrieks. “Help! Let go of me! Help! He’s going to kill me! […]

On April mornings and riding into the blue

The view of the sky through the train station windows was of a grey, storm-laden morning. Looking out of the open end of the station was a completely different matter – blue sky and fluffy white clouds… Luckily, the train was going to take me out of the station and into the blue* 🙂 Makes […]

On Eliminating [almost] Everything

Allergies watch out! Prepare for elimination! I am declaring war on my allergies. The problem is, I don’t even know what I’m allergic to any more. It used to be easy. I used to have hayfever and my throat swelled up when I ate cucumber or melon. Admittedly that’s a bit annoying when you live […]

On Advent decorations – part 4

<- part 3 You can’t just be traditional, you have to do some outlandish things sometimes. My Christmas box had been ignored. This is the result: The dark bit in the middle is the skylight, and the light isn’t the moon it’s a handblown*, handpainted*, hand-put-together* glowing bauble. My curtain stars are hanging away from […]

On birthday food

This is the cake from the inside: This is the tray of potatoes, carrots, onions and, most importantly, parsnips ready for roasting: They were SO very good, the steak was a little bit unnecessary – but who turns down a steak when they’re offered one??! It was a very good steak too. Here are the […]

On letting balloons free

I set this balloon free 🙂 I was one of 8000 balloon free-set-ers 😉 The Berlin Wall is history – for the second time in 25 years 🙂 More tomorrow when I’m not so asleep