Diary
A View From The Greenhouse; Hooptedoodle And Other Matters
I return from a bit of a hiatus where, due to several factors, not the least of them a little bit of self pity, I allowed what passes for my creative flow to dry up. [more…]
Health
Cooking
A Short Guide to Coffee (noun) Café Kaw-fee
At various stages of its journey from Arabia through Turkey and into Europe, coffee has been known as the Devil’s Brew and the forerunner of Viagra. The fact that it made it to England is [more…]
Diary
A View From A Hospital Bed; Folk (Nowt So Queer As Edition)
It’s the waiting that gets to you. I’d arrived, as requested, at 7am and was escorted to a curtained cubicle. The people looking after me, although my needs were minimal at this time, were all [more…]
Cooking
A Truncated View (Truly) From The Greenhouse; A Better Life (Part 2)
By the time my loyal reader gets around to reading this shorter than usual missive, I should be the proud owner of a brand new left hip. I take nothing for granted, but I’ve lost [more…]
Health
Surviving a heart attack when alone
Two daughters duly came to visit last weekend (the third lives in Spain) and after a nice pub meal, a bit of a catch-up and a stroll around the marina in the sunshine I had [more…]
Health
The Big Big D
From HMS Pinafore: Captain: Bad language or abuse, I never, never use, Whatever the emergency; Though “bother it” I may occasionally say, I never use a big, big D — Chorus: What, never? Captain: No, [more…]
Health
What’s special about special needs?
The Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, has promised a statement on Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) in the autumn. The driver is largely money. Local authorities have retained financial responsibility for SEND [more…]
Health
Why are we living longer
The statistics don’t lie. For some reason we are living much longer than previous generations, but why. Surely it cannot be down to rNHS, they seem to want us all dead as does this rubbish [more…]
America
California’s Medi-Cal implosion Explained
California’s Democrat socialist democracy, thanks to our one-party supermajority, is a sterling example for our country. At least its chief architect, Gavin Newsom, hopes so for his 2028 ambitions. His chief entitlement used to attract [more…]