Please click on the following links for information on each subject:
08.01.2006
Ts & Cs for submissions
08.07.2025
Why I spoiled my ballot paper in last year's general election
26.06.2025
01.05.2025
27.04.2025
10/4/25
I’ve nothing against theme parks but it is something of a modern allegory that the one proposed for Bedfordshire is on the site of an old brick works. A leisure park replacing an industrial site is symbolic of the changes in society that have brought us more leisure time, reduced our time at work, and moved a lot of this work away from manufacturing. We seem to be doing more playing and less working but haven’t yet reached the point of all play and no work!
5/4/25
Beautiful and eloquent "Thought for the Day" on Radio 4 today. Speaker urged everyone to stand close to a flowering cherry and just listen to the sound coming from it.
1/4/25
My white flowering cherry is full of sweet scented blossom. It is just about on time as this is when it should be fully flowering. It's a wonderful sign of spring in the garden - along with the daffodils, primroses and celandines.
I think I understand why Eliot wrote “April is the cruellest month” but I prefer Robert Browning’s “Oh to be in England/Now
that April’s here”.
I really hope that the changes to our benefits system do not inflict any cruelty on anyone. If they do then Starmer must rethink these changes rapidly.
March 2025
20/3/25
Spring Equinox and some warm sunshine at last. So treat yourself to "Here Comes the Sun", a great, uplifting song written by George Harrison.
19/3/25
Bitterns are booming! Their numbers are increasing it seems and if you get down to Ham Wall on the Somerset Levels you might be able to see one.
16/3/25
Tremendous rugby from England yesterday as they overwhelmed Wales in their final game of the Six Nations. Final score was 68-14.
13/3/25
Today marks the 5th anniversary of my first Covid comment, a tweet to Evan Davies on Radio 4:
13/3/20
If he (Patrick Valance) wants 60% of the population to get the virus in order to develop herd immunity and if the mortality rate is 1% simple maths tells us that 400, 000 people are going to die of it. This is INSANE.
Your thoughts please Evan.
FOR MORE COVID REFLECTIONS VISIT: link to THOUGHTS
9/3/25
DIY acronyms and abbreviations
A NEW ACRONYM: HAND
It's friendly and useful; Have A Nice Day!
Here's another one: KAI - Keep At It
And another: ADA - Avoidance Distraction Absorption
An ABBREVIATION I've used is: BVC - Behaviour Values Character
I haven't given much thought to this aspect of language until now but it's a fascinating exercise to identify the huge number of acronyms and abbreviations we use in our daily lives. I hadn't realised they were so all pervasive. I've put some of them up on our puzzles page if anyone wants to test their knowledge. Please click on link PUZZLES
8/3/25
Agree with Ben Wallace. We must keep supporting Ukraine. Trump is right to say that wars are stupid because of the suffering they bring. He is right to want to get rid of nuclear weapons because if used they will destroy us all. It's good to hear a world leader say these things. BUT HE IS COMPLETELY WRONG TO TRY TO MAKE A DEAL WITH PUTIN whose brutal aggression continues to bring horrific suffering to the people of Ukraine.