Hobbies
Northumberland, Part One
It takes a week to cycle from Penzance to Berwick. It took me 40 years. Because on the way, I wanted to include every town in England, in what amounted to some two years of [more…]
Literature
Arts
Briefs Encounter – A reappraisal
After a chance meeting on a train platform, a married doctor (Trevor Howard) and a suburban housewife (Celia Johnson) enter into a muted but passionate, and ultimately doomed, love affair. With its evocatively fog-enshrouded setting, [more…]
Literature
An Old Man’s Musings, Part Sixteen
Thank you fellow Puffins for many a chortle lately. There have been some splendiferous insults directed at various members of our ‘soi-disant ‘ elite, really cheers me up. All very inventive!! Whenever I think of [more…]
Animals
Larry’s Diary, Week Two Hundred And Sixty-Seven
Monday Good morning, my Puffin friends. It was lovely and sunny when I woke up this morning, quite different to the rain and wind that were forecast. So, I hurried off downstairs and out into [more…]
Fiction
A Price Too High, Chapter Nine
He remembered nothing of the drive back, at 02:00 he woke up, he was hungry and thirsty, downstairs he ate cold chicken, drunk a pint of milk and looked for biscuits. He was soon back [more…]
Arts
Always Worth Saying’s Question Time Review
Question Time 6th February 2025 The Panel: Michael Shanks (Labour) Russel Findlay (Conservative) Kate Forbes (SNP) Lorna Slater (Green) Alex Massie (Journalist) Venue: Glasgow An outbreak of journalism on this week’s Question Time, or at [more…]
Fiction
Jinnie’s Story, Book Seven – Chapter Thirty-Two
It was almost 8 a.m. when Jinnie dragged herself out of bed and left Paolo snoring gently. She made her way to the kitchen, desperate for a cup of coffee, and the first thing she [more…]
Holiday
Yet Another Caribbean Christmas And New Year, Part Three
Saturday 28th December – Antigua (mid-cruise changeover day) I really don’t know why, but as usual, I woke just after six a.m. as it was just getting light, and we were heading into port. It [more…]
Diary
A View (Literally) Through The Greenhouse: Storms (What Are They Good For?)
There has been much huffing, puffing and pearl clutching, from the usual suspects, where the subject of “interference” in politics is concerned. Whether it be financial (the hypocrisy runs deep in this particular river) or, [more…]