20th Century
The Only One in The World?
I’m a great believer that surges of adrenaline reshape the connections in the brain in the way a deluge of flood water might reshape a river valley. You are not the same person after an [more…]
Hobbies
Authoritarianism
A View From The Greenhouse; Hooptedoodle
A normal Sunday morning, or so one might think. The end of August is damp and fairly breezy up here in the hinterlands, but nothing out of the ordinary for the time of year. My [more…]
Hobbies
Postcard from Cornwall (Porthleven)
It must be close on 20 years since we last holidayed in Cornwall. We used to go every summer when our children were young but the lure of foreign holidays and the dread of getting [more…]
Animals
Larry’s Diary, Two Hundred And Ninety-Four
Monday Good morning, friends, my good friends. The weather forecast said warm and sunny this morning, but they seem to have got it wrong again. It’s dull and overcast. However, the mood is bright in [more…]
theatre
Postcard From London
Mrs AWS and I are in London having chaperoned a Chinese VVIP to a rendezvous in the food court outside Euston Station. The little girl and her new escorts head off in the rough direction [more…]
Collecting
Collecting Lamps
Many thanks to our host and mentor Swiss Bob for prompting me to write an article about solutions to the loss of lighting during power outages. Obviously oil lamps and lanterns won’t run a laptop, [more…]
Hobbies
Backgammon
Backgammon, one of the oldest known board games, traces its origins to ancient Mesopotamia, but England significantly shaped its history. By the 17th century, backgammon was popular in English taverns and homes, with the term [more…]
Animals
Larry’s Diary, Week Two Hundred And Ninety-Three
Monday Good morning, my good friends, and it’s a lovely morning, warm and sunny. I was intrigued to read that the Tories put in a Freedom of Information request to find out the actual cost [more…]
Diary
BR And The Weather Versus a G-P Correspondent
We’re off to London chaperoning; myself, Mrs AWS, and our VVIP, the granddaughter of a Chinese injection-moulded plastics billionaire. Our trip has been disrupted by Storm Floris. Only two trains this day head from as [more…]