The green, green grass of home
FOR a while last week we thought the winter was over. We had three perfect days of lovely warm sunshine. Of course it couldn’t last, and out came the thermal … Continue readingThe green, green grass of home
Recent Posts
A final homage to Wodehouse
IN previous columns here, here, here and here I wrote about Homage to PG Wodehouse, a 1973 tribute edited by Thelma Cazalet-Keir, sister-in-law of Wodehouse’s beloved stepdaughter Leonora. My final extracts begin with an account by the … Continue readingA final homage to Wodehouse
A flurry of fruit flies
I am handing the first section of today’s column to my husband Alan. NO matter how closely we monitor the contents of our kitchen fruit bowl, throughout the warmer months … Continue readingA flurry of fruit flies
Comic gems from you, the readers
FOLLOWING my series of comedy gems, which you can revisit here, here, here and here, it’s time to present a selection of readers’ favourites which escaped my gaze. The first, the Arthur Haynes Show, was suggested by … Continue readingComic gems from you, the readers
Peacock of the midden
THERE can’t be many municipal tips which are home to an ostentation/pride/muster of peacocks (choose your collective noun), but ours at the nearby market town of Clitheroe is one. The local … Continue readingPeacock of the midden
A toast to the anchovy
I AM no great fan of Nigella Lawson’s TV cookery programmes, where she simpers her way through a recipe, licking her fingers in a culinary version of soft porn. Likewise, … Continue readingA toast to the anchovy
Thanks for dropping in, deer
WHILE our daughter Elizabeth was visiting last week, we were in the front room on Thursday evening when we noticed a visitor in the field at the back. With great … Continue readingThanks for dropping in, deer
Mugg meets the Master
IN previous columns (here, here and here) I wrote about Homage to PG Wodehouse, a 1973 tribute compiled by Thelma Cazalet-Keir, sister-in-law of Wodehouse’s beloved stepdaughter Leonora. Here is part of the contribution by journalist … Continue readingMugg meets the Master
Serenaded by a nightingale
LAST week contributor Derek Reynolds left a comment about a wonderful visitor near his Shropshire garden: ‘For the first time in my life, I heard a nightingale. Yesterday evening my … Continue readingSerenaded by a nightingale
Comedy gems, Part 4
WELCOME to the final instalment of my comedy catalogue, starting with a visit to the grim Craighill estate in Glasgow, home of elderly friends Jack Jarvis and Victor McDade. Still … Continue readingComedy gems, Part 4