… about thirty years ago, I received my very first Valentine’s Day card. I was a gawky, lanky, overly serious and extremely studious teenager, and the notion that someone might “fancy” me from afar was utterly incomprehensible. Yet there it Read more
Right now, as I gaze out of my window at the mess that is our front patio, I can totally understand why the Romans left Britain. Imagine the scene; it is January, Blue Monday no less, some time around 408 Read more
The new year has begun, as we knew it would, and once again I am filled with a desire to be better. A desire, yes. But an action plan on how to achieve this enhanced me – no. There are Read more
I vowed not to write about my kids but… The conundrum of Boy Seymour is a curious one. He is everything a teenaged chap should be and more: a doughnut devouring, untidy, loud, contrary, lanky, lovable, clumsy, antagonizing and often Read more
Somewhere in my house is a notebook – one of many- in which I have diarised significant events in my life. Some notebooks are full of scribbled teenage angst, others are laden with self-doubt, offloaded confessions and repeated resolutions. But Read more
In spite of always trying to be aware of the world around me, and to keep up with developments, especially the kind of developments that may be relevant to school-aged children, I must admit that I have now drawn a Read more
I thought of a book last week, as I sat in a waiting room with Mini Seymour. The book in question is Class, by Jilly Cooper, a satirical observation of the strange hierarchies that existed in society in Cooper’s heyday. Read more
This is not the end, it is not the beginning of the end…nor the end of the beginning, even! (Update – actually, it’s just the same old blog, but even more random!) Written on July 14, 2025 It is just Read more
Written on July 29, 2025 The Cactus House may or may not have had dogs living here before. The odds are that it has. The original inhabitant – Mr Cactus himself, might have had a mutt or two – although Read more
(Written on September 8, 2025) This Funny Little Bungalow, aka The Cactus House has been without a greenhouse for too long. I tell a lie – there are greenhouses here. Many of them. But they’re in pieces under the soil. Read more