Last time I got my head above water enough to post something up here, I mentioned stalking butterflies as a current, unsatisfying obsession. At the time, this was included to build a feeble case about the inexorable cycles of nature, blah blah. But we all know this was just a thin and ineffective balm for …
Call me butter 'cause I’m on a roll . . . The bird-feeder project that started a few days ago as a swift piece of DIY using odds and ends of this and that found here and there is now assuming the epic proportions of an Amish barn-raising. Once again, the rabbit-hole principle rears its …
I’ve never been much of a petrolhead. In the past, the idea of subscribing to the polluting, expensive, city-clogging race of ‘cagers’ (as cycling activists call them) was anathema. Sure, motorbikes and Anglia 105Es have done their damndest to weave their tempting spell, but the purity of human-powered transport tended to win out. As a …
Frankly it’s a miracle that we’ve made it this far with the blog without so much as a mention of cricket. I blame COVID-19 and the fact that it’s put the kybosh on pretty much all sport in front of a large audience. But with Test Match Cricket resuming in the UK today, perhaps now’s …
Even my nearest and dearest wouldn’t say with a straight face that I have a good sense of fashion -- or indeed, any sense of fashion. In the past, let loose from the daily requirement to don a conservative suit and tie, I may well have struggled a bit to strike the right sartorial note …
Welcome back! When we left off yesterday – a cliffhanger moment if ever there was one – your faithful correspondent was just about to set foot on Aussie soil for the first time in the sun-baked conurbation of Brisbane. My cousin and her two daughters picked me up; I was in a haze of jetlag …
Readers of these perceptive and illuminating insights into Aussie culture will be stunned to learn that when it comes to being in Australia, this isn’t my first rodeo. It’s probably the seventh or eighth – although I will concede that this is the first time I’ve been here as a legal permanent resident. The first …
As a semi-pro freelance writer, I've developed some pet hates when it comes to cliché-ed phrases -- and one of the most tooth-grinding is 'sneak-peek'. Let's face it, this twee substitute for the perfectly good 'preview' or even 'glimpse' has had its day and should be taken out back and humanely shot. What follows is …
It’s not the purpose of this blog to go on rants about life’s little frustrations. After all, its stated purpose is to ‘embrace’ life in the country and I really believe that’s the way to go. No-one wants to read a whole lot of negative, bellyaching posts about petty everyday frustrations. These tend to tell …
We’re still chasing our tails to get the cottage in a liveable state. The veranda remains stacked with boxes, the garden is choked with weeds, and too many conversations start with “have you seen my . . .?” At these times, it’s important to drop everything and get out of the house to do something …
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