Since some behind the scenes changes in WordPress earlier this year, the issue with comments boxes continues. This can change almost daily, and can affect some bloggers all the time but others not at all. For me, this seems to have no rhyme or reason, and no practical or useful p … | Continue reading
I got delayed earlier, so there will be no episode of ‘Julia’ today. Things will be back to normal tomorrow, hopefully. | Continue reading
This is the fourth part of a fiction serial, in 808 words. The Minister of Health stood up to speak first, standing to one side of the stage as an image was projected onto the screen. It was a map of the world, with most of the right hand section overlaid in various stripes of … … | Continue reading
This weekend has seen ‘Firework Night’ in the UK, with some people choosing Saturday the 4th to celebrate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night For most of the years we have been living here, Ollie has not been concerned about the noise of fireworks being let off in gar … | Continue reading
This is the third part of a fiction serial, in 783 words. When she answered the buzzer, she didn’t recognise the voice. “Miss Calder? This is the Government Car Service. I am here to pick you up and take you back to the ministry offices”. He seemed relaxed and polite, speaking in … | Continue reading
When I was a child, fully-carpeted stairs were almost unknown. There would be a central strip of carpet running up the stairs, with varnished or painted wood either side. I presume this would be there to deaden the sound of footsteps on the stairs, especially in a house like ours … | Continue reading
This is the second part of a fiction serial, in 752 words. As it got closer to six, Julia started to imagine how good it was going to feel to get home. Take off the work clothes and her annoying bra, change into some fluffy cosy pyjamas, and chill out on the sofa watching the … C … | Continue reading
I read an article yesterday that I found quite upsetting. It was an appeal from the organisation that represents Vets in the UK. ‘More than 90% of dog-owners refuse to stay with their dog when it is being put to sleep’. It seems that most people find it too distressing to be with … | Continue reading
This is the first part of a fiction serial, in 740 words. It was just cold enough for knee boots, but at least it wasn’t raining. Not wanting to work all day in boots, she took her larger shoulder bag and popped some flat leather shoes inside it. One good thing about working from … | Continue reading
Thinking back to my childhood, it feels as if the seasons were so clealy defined back then. Autumn was a time of fallen leaves in the parks of London. Rushing through them to hear them crackling underfoot. Cold, clear days when I started to wear my duffel-coat again, and woolen g … | Continue reading
Just plain scary! Title alert! Another title (or band name) alert! Believe it or not, this ventriloquist and his duck dummy were big-name entertainers in the UK, and not that long ago. (He died in 2015) The 1958 vision of cool jazz in the future. If you want your religious songs … | Continue reading
For most of the past year, encountering deer has been a daily event on our dog-walks around Beetley Meadows and Hoe Rough. Mostly small Muntjacs, but also White-Tailed deer and Roe deer. Since Ollie decided he was too old to chase them any longer they became bolder, often standin … | Continue reading
Some of these almost-forgotten things were still around not so long ago. Now they seem like relics from history. Extra-long phone cords so you could walk and talk. (I had one until 1997) A foot gauge for getting kids’s shoes just right. (Do they still exist?) Big-box televisions … | Continue reading
As I have made clear, I don’t celebrate Halloween. However, I have reblogged this true story many times in the past as it is suitable for this time of year. Only my more recent followers will not have seen it before. | Continue reading
This photos in this selection are all from the USA. Is she overdressed for modelling a towel? He wanted his ventriloquist’s dummy in the family photo. That’s worrying! And he was determined to get the family raccoon in his. These three settled for an unhappy family cat. Those kid … | Continue reading
Relish the flow of Mike’s unusual poem. I loved it! | Continue reading
Halloween is looming. The seasonal posts are appearing in abundance, and many houses here have pumpkins placed outside. No doubt many children are getting their outfits ready for tomorrow night, and excitement is building. But just so you know, there is no point knocking at my do … | Continue reading
The clocks went back one hour last night. My body told me to wake up at the normal time. Except it wasn’t the normal time, and I was not about to get up at 05:20. So I stuggled to get back to sleep, eventually emerging from the bedroom at 08:15, which in my mind was … Continue re … | Continue reading
The police in Birmingham were one of the first police forces to make extensive use of prisoner mugshots in England. Starting in 1853, they kept a detailed photographic record of every person they arrested. This was part of the area being policed at the time. The local policemen p … | Continue reading
This is definitely the worst October I can remember since moving away from London. A whole month with little more than gloomy skies, low cloud, and incessant rain. Floods, cold weather arriving early, and everything feeling damp. Eastern England (and eastern Scotland) has been ca … | Continue reading
Far away from the big cities and the usual tourist traps and destinations, there is so much to explore and enjoy in England. Much of the country has remained unchanged for hundreds of years, and old buldings in lovely villages and towns are preserved and lovingly maintained. Whit … | Continue reading
I am sure that most of my readers are old enough to remember when we only had corded house phones with real dials. So you might also remember when ‘Crossed lines’ were common, when something went wrong at the exchange, and you found yourself listening in to someone else’s convers … | Continue reading
It seems there are so many more out there. Noodles. Rapunzel is real! No idea what this is suposed to be, but he doesn’t look happy with it. Is there a traffic cone inside there? His love of elephants has literally gone to his head. Trying to look like a Yak? His fringe is in … C … | Continue reading
This is a fictional short story in 463 words, prompted by the above photo seen on Sue Judd’s blog. https://suejudd.com/ She walks every day, but goes nowhere. Circuits of the footpaths at the same pace. Not jogging, not ambling, but walking with determination, and with some purpo … | Continue reading
No captions necessary. They just make me feel happy. | Continue reading
Al Green could do no wrong for me. I could listen to his voice singing almost anything. I was 23 years old when I bought this record in 1975, and still love to hear it. I started to write this song about you And then I decided that I would write it all about love … Continue readi … | Continue reading
Call me old fashioned, but I didn’t think any of these trendy styles would suit me. Sausages? ‘Tennis Ball’. Definitely not for me. The Woven Look. Choppy Layers. With those ears? Groucho Marx on a bad hair day. Something not right about this style. The Victorian ‘Plastered Down’ … | Continue reading
My good friend Antony sent me a link to Loren Berg’s blog. She posted some amusing quotes to brighten us up on a Monday morning. I have reposted a selection here, and this is a link to the original post on Loren’s blog. Day Brightener – Things You Learn If You Live Long Enough! I … | Continue reading
This is all 21 parts of my recent fiction serial in one complete story. It is a long read, at 16,145 words. They always said never to pick up hitch-hikers. But the girl was so pretty, and she genuinely seemed to be distressed. Karl pulled over when it was safe, and watched her in … | Continue reading
In the early 1970s, I had a short-lived job selling records for a budget label based in London. I was supplied with a company car, and given an area that covered most of southern England, south of the River Thames. This meant I had to stay in cheap hotels or bed and breakfast est … | Continue reading
This week has been all about Storm Babet. (The official name for it, not mine) Months of rainfall landed across the UK and Ireland in a matter of hours, accompanied by strong winds. People have died as a result, hundreds have been flooded out of their homes, trees have fallen, an … | Continue reading
This is the final part of a fiction serial, in 750 words. The meal was surprisingly good. Shop-bought Guinea Fowl with fresh vegetables and a nice sauce. Carole was feeling mellow after two glasses of wine, and Karl seemed to be more like his old self. She decided that it might b … | Continue reading
For someone who spends a lot of time looking at Stats on my blog, (6002 posts since I started in 2012, for example) I definitely took my eye off the ball earlier this year. Something on my Admin page caught my eye today, and I chuckled to myself for not noticing it previously. On … | Continue reading
This is the twentieth part of a fiction serial, in 728 words. Decidedly unimpressed with Karl, Carole intended to move things on, specifically her departure from his house near Cambridge, followed by getting out of the country before anyone realised where she was. The next day sh … | Continue reading
Let me know when you are fed up seeing these. I can’t get enough of them! I see eight people, not four. Can’t they count? The record you never knew you needed. This one is wrong on so many levels. In the days before leg-waxing became popular? This must have appealed to a ‘niche m … | Continue reading
I was 15 years old in 1967, and when I heard this song on the radio it appealed to me immediately. Not the usual type of music I was really into back then, but the lead singer’s vocal and laid-back production really appealed to me. It went on to become a big hit, and I … Continue … | Continue reading
Here is a great post from Phil about the increasing trend for similar or identical book covers. Anyone planning to publish a book should definitely read it, and the links added by Phil too. | Continue reading
This is the nineteenth part of a fiction serial, in 731 words. After spending most of the day sitting around, Carole was getting restless. She had things she wanted to do, but there was no sign of Karl coming down from the office room and engaging with her. Karl had given her the … | Continue reading
This is the eighteenth part of a fiction serial, in 764 words. She didn’t sleep well that night. Something seemed very wrong about the house, and she hoped that when she woke up Karl would tell her it was all a joke, and take her to a nice house where he actually lived. One with … | Continue reading
This is the sevententh part of a fiction serial, in 790 words. Karl stopped the car at a supermarket on the outskirts of Cambridge, and they went inside to buy some essentials and food for a few days. As they arrived at the small village where Karl lived, Carole was sounding like … | Continue reading
This is the sixteenth part of a fiction serial, in 772 words. Carole loved the hotel, and with Karl not needing the extra time for the meeting the next day, they enjoyed a walk around the harbour and along the beach at Musselburgh. After dinner that evening, she went into the smo … | Continue reading
This is the fifteenth part of a fiction serial, in 744 words. Karl didn’t need to take any time to answer her question. “I’ll have the money, thanks. Marriage isn’t on my agenda, and certainly not to someone who can tell lies at your level, Carole. I’m going back to work tomorrow … | Continue reading
When I was 14 years old, I heard a record newly released on the Tamla-Motown label in the UK. The undeniable Motown sound was there, and the tempo was great too. But I had never heard of the singer before, Chris Clark. I bought the record, but had to wait a long time before I … C … | Continue reading
The weather has taken centre-stage this week, by changing drmatically in the course of seven days. We have gone from a cloudy and humid 24C, down to 22c, and then a massive drop to a high of just 11C today in Beetley. At least the colder weather brought blue skies and sunshine, a … | Continue reading
This is the fourteenth part of a fiction serial, in 806 words. Sitting on the bed, Carole didn’t look up at him as she spoke. Her eyes were watery, and for the first time she appeared to be truly broken. “You were right, it was me. I went outside to phone someone to come and … Co … | Continue reading
A nice up-tempo song from Marvin Gaye that usually gets overlooked now in favour of his more political songs or ballads. Written by Smokey Robinson and some other members of The Miracles, this song was released on the Tamla-Motown label in 1965. I was 13 years old at the time, an … | Continue reading
This is the thirteenth part of a fiction serial, in 818 words. When she had finished her cigarette, they walked back to the car. Karl hadn’t asked the obvious question so far, but it was on his mind. “Let’s get back on the road, and you can carry on with the story. I want to … Co … | Continue reading
For over 50 years, Shirley Baker took photos of everyday life around England, and on her travels abroad. Originally from Salford, Greater Manchester, she was also fascinated by that region, and the people who populated it. This is just a small selection of the street photography … | Continue reading