This is the twentieth part of a fiction serial, in 757 words. Young Edmunds ignored the difference in their ages, and spoke to Dave in a patronising tone that seemed to be deliberately insulting. “David, we have some questions for you, questions concerning your job here. You see, … | Continue reading
Following the stroke that affected the vision in her left eye, Julie had an appointment at the hospital today with a specialist orthoptist. They are eye-doctors who deal with problems of eye movement, such as lazy eye and misaligned eyes. After a long series of tests the lady con … | Continue reading
Just in time for Christmas, David from https://cabbieblog.com/ is running a fun free competition to win a signed copy of his latest novel. Please check out the link below, to see how you can enter for free. Win a signed copy As a retired London Cabbie, David has a wealth of infor … | Continue reading
I’m not feeling well enough to get on with the fiction serial today, so here are some facts from history. | Continue reading
This is the nineteenth part of a fiction serial, in 833 words. With everything happening at once, Dave was relieved to have good excuses not to have to spend too much time with Penny. He even contrived for Fran to come along to the appointment with the undertaker, so he had no re … | Continue reading
My good friend Antony has been on a trip to south-west England, to places that have hardly changed in hundreds of years. He took some excellent photos, and here is a link so that you can also enjoy them. North Somerset & North Devon photo session. Picture-postcard England still e … | Continue reading
A solid Motown song from regular writers Holland-Dozier-Holland, this was a big hit for The Supremes in 1966 and into 1967. I expected others to release cover versions, but I was certainly not expecting the Psychedelic Rock band Vanilla Fudge to choose a Motown song. They release … | Continue reading
I can speak from personal experience that this one is true. | Continue reading
I have featured the Scottish band named Texas on this blog before, with a different song. This one from 2001 is a cover version of a New Radicals song, with amended lyrics. I think it suits Sharleen Spiteri’s voice really well. That is her impersonating Elvis Presley in the video … | Continue reading
This is the eighteenth part of a fiction serial, in 753 words. If you need to catch up with any previous episodes, here is a link to all of them. https://beetleypete.com/?s=road+rage Dave told Maggie about the news from Scotland, and then he phoned Fran at work and told her. She … | Continue reading
One of the golden rules of life seems to be that when something bad happens, more bad things have to happen. So when Julie was in hospital on Wednesday night, I got home late and had a slight niggly cough and a bit of a runny nose. By Friday morning that had turned into a … Conti … | Continue reading
I featured this song in 2017, when I was doing an A-Z series and got to ‘E’. Now I’m giving it its own spot. A modern take on the big Soul ballad, this 1996 record by the American girl group En Vogue reached the top ten in many countries around the world. Almost 30 years … Contin … | Continue reading
I would like to thank everyone for their much-appreciated kindness and good wishes expressed in the comments on the post about Julie being admitted to hospital with a stroke. Even followers who almost never comment saw fit to do so this time. Our blogging community really shows i … | Continue reading
Some things in life come along with the ability to change everything in a matter of minutes. We had intended to visit Julie’s elderly aunt and uncle in Suffolk yesterday afternoon, and just before 2pm we set off in her car, with her driving. After less than four miles, she starte … | Continue reading
This is the seventeenth part of a fiction serial, in 820 words. On his way home from work on Friday, Dave received a phone call from Alan. He took it on the hands-free system in the car. It was short and sweet. “Dave, Penny tells me that you won’t see her one extra morning becaus … | Continue reading
Let’s see what you make of these. | Continue reading
Adding some seasonal flavour with this well-known hit song. Written by Irving Berlin, it featured in the 1942 film Holiday Inn. Bing Crosby’s original record release holds the record for the biggest selling single of all-time, with over 50,000,000 copies sold worldwide. I’m not v … | Continue reading
This is the sixteenth part of a fiction serial, in 752 words. Nearing the end of the first week, Dave was really enjoying the new job. Maggie had been as good as her word by helping him out with what seemed like endless queries he was unable to answer. The different dealerships a … | Continue reading
Today I feature a song from 1965 that I feel sure everyone has heard. I will add that I don’t like the song at all. I find it rather dreary, to be perfectly honest. But it has been covered no less than 2,200 times! That has to put it into the cover versions hall of … Continue rea … | Continue reading
A variety, including maps. Some maps might have been shown before. I have posted so many I can’t remember them all. Let’s hope this settles all those social media polls and arguments. | Continue reading
I am delighted to feature a new historical romance novel by Marina of https://athensletters.com/ Marina Montrose is based in Deauville, France, where she breeds horses with her husband. She is also an artist and writer. She writes Regency Romances, short stories and mysteries. ‘M … | Continue reading
All kinds of stuff today. Apologies for any I may have posted before. | Continue reading
This is the fifteenth part of a fiction serial, in 796 words. On Dave’s first day in the new job, Alan picked him up and took him to the offices above the main car showroom. He was going to just spend the day getting used to the place, having his role explained to him, and … Cont … | Continue reading
Despite a couple of very bright sunny days, the story of RAIN continues. It was raining so hard on Friday night that the noise of it kept waking me up. No prizes for guessing the forecast for this coming week… 🌧️ —————————————————————————————- It was our grandson’s 11th b … | Continue reading
This is the fourteenth part of a fiction serial, in 768 words. The arrangement carried on as normal, until Alan came back from Germany. That first meeting with him in the kitchen of the house before he went to work made Dave feel incredibly awkward, considering what he had been d … | Continue reading
Some of these surprised me. This is a 2022 list. But I checked, and the order is still the same now. I didn’t realise how many people lived in Mexico, and I hadn’t expected Nigeria to be so high up the list. The UK comes in at number 22 apparently, with 69.5 million people. | Continue reading
I recently had an email from WordPress with a selection of offers and suggestions. As usual, they were offering 30% off an upgrade from Premium to Business if I paid for two years in advance. I ignored that. Then there was something about ‘Paid Subscribers’. Apparently, this woul … | Continue reading
This is the thirteenth part of a fiction serial, in 827 words. His first weekend back at home after five days with Penny felt really strange. On That Saturday, she had warned him how not to act with Fran. “Don’t change the way you would normally behave. Forget taking flowers or c … | Continue reading
Have you ever had a mosquito bite? You might like to learn more about those insects. | Continue reading
This is the twelfth part of a fiction serial, in 762 words. Driving to work that evening, Dave could feel the guilt washing over him like muddy water. Fran had never done anything to deserve such a betrayal of trust. He wasn’t sure how he was going to face her at the weekend, but … | Continue reading
I have been fascinated by ants since I was a small child. | Continue reading
Facts, animals, mysteries. A real mix today. | Continue reading
This is the eleventh part of a fiction serial, in 796 words. As he was eating his breakfast trying not to stare at Penny’s body under the nightdress, she was relaying her telephone conversation with Alan the previous night. “So, he has a great job in mind for you. You know that b … | Continue reading
We know how important bees are to food production. But it never hurts to learn a few more facts about them. | Continue reading
After I enjoyed finding an example of her work online which I used in Sunday’s post, I looked into the background of the artist, who had not been creditied. Helga Stentzel is a multidisciplinary artist from Russia, now based in London, UK. She works across a wide range of media i … | Continue reading
This is the tenth part of a fiction serial, in 798 words. Dave made sure he was ready for work before Penny got home. When she got in at four-thirty, she was carrying some shopping bags “I stopped off and picked up a rotisserie chicken and some freshly prepared salad. Can’t have … | Continue reading
Visit the post for more. | Continue reading
Really only one thing to say about the weather this week. Rain. The sun has finally reappeared this morning. —————————————————————————————- We had a break from routine, with a house guest. Julie’s oldest son Daniel lives in Norwich, and he works from home. When she went to see hi … | Continue reading
It has been raining non-stop here for over 18 hours now, and everything feels soggy! | Continue reading
This song started life as a French song, ‘Comme D’Habitude’, originally released by Claude Francois in 1967. When it was rejected by many famous non-french singers at the time, the lyrics were re-written by the Canadian singer Paul Anka while he was working in America, and releas … | Continue reading
This is the ninth part of a fiction serial, in 755 words. Leaving his case and the other bags in the small hallway, Dave made his way into the huge rear extension of the cottage that Penny liked to call the ‘family room’. They had extended into the back so far that they no longer … | Continue reading
As an extra tribute to the passing of Jimmy Cliff, I am featuring one of his own songs, from 1969. This song has been covered so many times since, I would need a separate post to list every version. I will just add a selection. It is such a good song, that most versions are … Con … | Continue reading
Dogs, cats, and a random owl today. | Continue reading