My daughter-in-law is learning to drive which gave me opportunity to revisit the basics of driving theory. There are probably many of us who were “fortunate” enough not to have to sit a driving theory exam. I can remember in my driving test being asked to read a number plate and identify a couple of…
It was my granddaughter’s first birthday last week, and as you would expect we all gathered to celebrate the joy that she has brought into our lives over the last 12 months. Looking at the date I was reminded that my grandmother, (her great -great -grandmother) was born 143 years before almost to the day.…
Every year my husband tells me he isn’t going to try growing aubergines again, and every year he does. And every year we get some fruit off the plants he has grown from seed. Part of his initial reluctance to grow them is that it seems to take a long time for them to germinate,…
We have a Victoria Plum tree in our garden and despite the drought and the apparent lack of pollinators we seem to have had a bumper crop of plums. I love to wander in the garden and eat the fruit straight from the tree. Unfortunately we seem to have a heavy infestation of plum fruit…
The next plant to mention in this series is Rudbeckia with beautiful yellow flowers that have grown up through the cracks in the paving stones in our backyard. These have not been knowingly watered and were certainly not intentionally planted, rather they seem to have self-seeded from last year’s flowers and flourished independently of anything…
This is a series of TFTDs inspired over the months of July and August – the hottest on record! East Anglia seems to have been particularly affected by the long hot and dry summer, with brown lawns, trees and shrubs shedding appearing to wither before our eyes and devastating wildfires on Dunwich Heath that required…
My family have been claiming that my hearing is deteriorating. I claim it is selective hearing! However I agreed to have a hearing assessment. As part of the assessment the audiologist asked many questions to try and illicit what sort of hearing loss I might have, if any. One of the things I have noticed…
Last week I wrote about my recent cycle trip. This is another thought from that trip. On day 2 we arrived at our final destination, the Lindisfarne Inn, nestled besides a petrol station on the verge of the A1! However, we all chose a detour to cycle along the causeway to Holy Island. (Yes, the…
I recently completed my latest long distance cycle ride – from Newcastle to Edinburgh. The road started easy and flat following the east coast out of Tynemouth, past various castles along the coast – Warkworth, Dunstanbrugh, and Bamburgh, before we took a short detour to Holy island and Lindasfarne. Our third day saw us cross…
There has been a vogue for repurposing phone boxes. Since the advent of mobile phones, the iconic red phone box has often been left unused and even vandalised. However over recent years they have received a lick of paint and a new lease of life. Many village streets have a lending library of books or…