Here's something my mate Matthew and I used to talk about sometimes over a couple of beers at the Railway Pub in West Hampstead, London, around 1995. When we weren't talking about cricket, or girls, or books, or history (he's a historian), we talked about music. Specifically, 'pop' or rock music, to use those inadequate …
Remember last year, around this time, when this blog expressed frustration about the rarity of female Common Brown butterflies, and how difficult they were to photograph? Of course you do! Well, this year for some reason, we are faced with virtually the opposite situation. The gals are everywhere, but the male of the species is …
I'm sure I've mentioned previously that one of the great hazards to Australian cyclists is the swooping Magpie. The males do this to protect their nest when their eggs have been laid. In other words, in spring. In other other words, now. And if you look at that beak, you can see why being subject …
There’s an age-old question that has taxed the minds of history’s greatest thinkers: who would win in a fight between a bear and a gorilla? (Or endless variations thereof). Well, we had our own version last week at Corner Cottage – and it’s done nothing to satisfy that ancient question. I may have mentioned in …
Hey, I’ve missed you too. January steamed by really fast and although various things happened, in the way things do, none found themselves onto these pages. I have a couple of half-written, rather uninspired pieces that may well make their way here eventually, but they had nothing of the excitement that gets them over the …
Now that the left-over turkey has been consumed, the decorations are looking a bit last year, and the dyspepsia has rendered us regretful and peevish, let’s talk something basic: something fundamental, grounded, in touch with the very earth that bore us. Let’s talk boots again. Being here in Braidwood where men are manly, work is …
It seems about time to relieve the tension, release you all from those tenterhooks, and deliver an update on the whole butterfly situation. When last the lepidoptera featured here, it was with some frustration that I had to report complete failure in fashioning a lure to bring the district’s butterflies flocking to the Corner Cottage …
I never thought I’d be one of those people who obsessed about their roses. Turns out I am. Which means I was wrong about ‘those people’ as they are clearly pretty cool. It’s really because I've never had a garden of my own. And the fact that Corner Cottage’s previous occupants studded the grounds with …
Sometimes you just can’t anticipate how things might turn out. Even when you set out to do something quite ordinary and usual, events can take an unexpected course. The human imagination just can’t take in all the possibilities the universe can throw at you, which means there’s always the potential for a surprise, even if …
Those who've stuck with us through the lockdown months in Braidwood may recall the glib statement way back in April that as soon as we could, we’d be adding another to our number – that most essential component of any well-rounded family, a canine companion. Unbeknownst to us at the time, in a now-established social …
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