My son and his wife are expecting their first baby any day now, (my first grandchild). You might have heard of the nesting instinct. Does that include the garden? Perhaps it’s a male version of the nesting phenomenon. Their lawn has always been very poor with dead grass and humps and bumps, so about 2…

A few weeks ago I had a short break in Herefordshire. On our first day we decided to walk from Ledbury to Much Marcle, a distance of around 7 miles. We used a recommended route, with notes about interesting places along the way. After leaving Ledbury by a rather overgrown and neglected footpath running alongside…

Do you ever ask yourself what opportunities do I have to witness my faith? Here in Elmsett we have a friendly and caring village community. We often, as a community, ask what the needs of that community are. Perhaps we are complacent and comfortable enough to think we do not share the needs that become…

Friday morning is my regular group cycling event. It’s a very informal group, usually between 2 and 10 of us. We usually contact each other sometime on Thursday evening to see  who is available to go out. Of course, the decision to go out for a bike ride is very weather dependent. We don’t like…

Some of you may know that we have a vine in our greenhouse. Last year we were in competition with our resident blackbird, who appeared to “steal” all the grapes. (We knew it was him because he has a distinctive white fleck on his side). This year I have been more vigilant, or lucky, and…

I have been responsible for setting a timetable for a series of meetings happening this week. It has been a steep learning curve, with the need to alter days that people can attend, and so altering the timings of the remaining attendees. It has also become apparent that the amount of time allocated to each…

I recently went to the Beer Festival in Stowmarket Museum of Food. There was a whole array of different beers, (wine, spirits and soft drinks as well). One of the beers I tasted was Heresy produced by Bishop Nick brewery. It got me to wondering what was the heresy committed by this clergyman. You will…

A fortnight ago we were blessed with the famous “Bill the boxer” for a week. Although I could have left him at home, I preferred not to leave him for long periods. So, he came with me to one church meeting – apologies to the good folk of Bramford for the sound effects, and then…

Well, I made it! 123miles in 3 days – including the hottest day of the year so far. Our first day of cycling was mainly on the flat with no sight of Hadrian’s wall. However, we made up for both on day 2 – the wall and many hills. Remember when you freewheel down a…

By the time this TFTD is published I shall hopefully be on a train home from Newcastle, having completed a 3 day cycle ride along Hadrian’s Wall – actually on roads following the route along Hadrian’s Wall, from Silloth to Tynemouth Hadrian’s Wall was the north-west frontier of the Roman Empire for nearly 300 years…