The Sincerest For Of Poetry
Apprenticed To My Mother
Walking Into Trouble
Dead Flies and Sherry Trifle
The Last Will Of Sven Andersen
Booms And Busts
Buster & Moo
Salisbury Square
My Father and Other Liars
Life In A Conversation
Life, in a Grain of Sand
Life In A Flash
Category Archives: thought piece
Caught By A Phrase
The Textiliste has no sense of smell. Not really. So it wasn’t unusual to have a sack pushed at my face and asked to sniff. Dried lavender, you see. From last year. Collected from the garden it will be used … Continue reading
Sticky With Laughter
Today is a good day. I know the old saying ‘nothing good can come of a day which starts with having to get out of bed’ but I’m not of that view. Certainly not today. No, today is a day … Continue reading
Posted in gardening, miscellany, thought piece
Tagged dog, garden, laughter, thought piece
24 Comments
Memorials And Memories #thoughts
Back in 2014 there was a memorial at the Tower of London, with ceramic poppies, one for each Commonwealth casualty during WW1. It was memorable and very moving, especially when they read out my great uncle Willie Dyson’s name and … Continue reading
Posted in London, miscellany, thought piece, visits
Tagged Covid, dog, London, memorial, St Tommy’s, visit, wall
58 Comments
Unintended Consequences: The Pub And The Pandemic
I was enjoying a socially distanced walk with a friend today and we began to reminisce about cosy pubs and welcoming restaurants. At the moment, the weather is bitter – the Beast From The Baltic is battering us on the … Continue reading
Posted in history, thought piece
Tagged Beer Orders, courage, grand metroplitan, pandemic, pubs
24 Comments
Bloody Hell
This does not paint me in a good light, hence a few pictures of Dog at the end to ease the guilt… I’ve always considered myself to be a fairly generous soul. Magnanimous. Not given to fits of envy… In … Continue reading
A Georgian Trifle And Hope For The Future #curiousarchaeologist
Another rather splendid post from my brother to set our current problems in its historical context.
2020, One Heck Of A Year #garden #forwardlooking
Everyone suddenly burst out singing;And I was filled with such delightAs prisoned birds must find in freedom,Winging wildly across the whiteOrchards and dark-green fields; on – on – and out of sight. When the page turned and we headed into … Continue reading
Posted in gardening, thought, thought piece
Tagged 2020, dog, garden, in review, Siegfried Sassoon, thought piece
34 Comments
Back To Front #peace #quiet
As I look out into my garden I see a lot of green, a lot of growth. Buds poking through the loam, next year’s plants making an early bid for freedom. What is that? Norman renewal, evidence (again) of climate … Continue reading
Empty Chairs And Other Thoughts #thoughtpiece #christchurch #NZ
It’s gloomy here, today, though no rain, just grey, just a bit meah. No tears from Heaven. Funny word ‘tears’… (n) watery droplet secreted from the eye socket; or (n) rips in the fabric. Both applied to my visit to … Continue reading
Posted in miscellany, New Zealand, thought piece
Tagged 2020, Christchurch, Christchurch cathedral, NZ, thought piece
17 Comments
Snobbery Or Maintaining Standards? #thoughtpiece #Benschott #jeevesandtheleapoffaith
As a child, growing up in leafy if somewhat reserved Surrey in the 1960s – think Downton Abbey without the money or titles in so far as rules of behaviour were concerned – I was often challenged by cutlery, the … Continue reading
