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…

We have recently had scaffolding up outside our house (again), as our chimneys needed repainting. When he climbed up the ladders to start the job, our decorator found a family of jackdaws nesting in one of the chimneys. Fortunately, this is a “redundant” chimney so there was no debris in our fireplace. The chimney was…

Last week I wrote about my trip to London for a fateful football game. Having been away just over 24 hours, I was dismayed to return home to find wood and dirt scattered all over the road. On closer inspection it became obvious that our “friendly” badger had made yet another appearance. The vegetable beds…

A week ago, the football season ended, there was elation for some and disappointment for others. (And great sadness mixed with the elation after the events during the celebrations in Liverpool). My husband and son set off for Wembley on the Saturday, in the hope that their team would win promotion to the Premier League.…

I play in our local orchestra, and I will admit, this TFTD is an obvious plug for our summer concert! The pieces include the well-known New World Symphony by the 19th century Czech composer Antonin Dvorak. He often used folk music from Moravia and his native Bohemia. In 1892 he became the Musical Director of…