News – Page 48 – The Moreton Pinkney Picayune

19 March 2017

What a splendid weekend we had last weekend – Bubble came for an overnighter which is always a blast, albeit somewhat exhausting for those of us who are not used to the continual presence and energy of young children. We played games, we read stories, we drew pictures, we played the supreme pie face challenge and then, after lunch, we did more of the same! On Sunday we ventured out to the chaos and cacophony that is the Spiceball Leisure Centre’s swimming pool – my goodness, can young children shriek! and in the echoing confines of the tiled surfaces it wasn’t long before my ears were bleeding. Continue reading “19 March 2017”

12 March 2017

More wind and rain but I guess that’s what is meant by “March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb.” Let’s hope the lamb part turns out to be true.

We did have a goodish afternoon last Saturday so we decided, as we sometimes do, to take a stride across the countryside. When we had the dogs, of course, we were out striding every day, morning and afternoon, sunshine or rain and fine it was too. Now though, when the weather outside is howling and sheeting it down with sleet and stinging rain, it’s much more pleasant to sit by the fire and put the world to rights.

5 March 2017

Another wild and (somewhat) windy week. When Storm Doris scampered across the UK last week and went on to rampage through the Netherlands and Northern Europe, we imagined that we would now get a bit of respite from the wild and windy weather. And we did – a bit. Nothing like the wind gusts of Doris but plenty of rain and strong winds interspersed with some bright days which tried to persuade you that Spring might be hiding just around the corner. The snowdrops are out in all their glory and the daffodils are just peeking their heads above the surface – is it safe to come out yet?

26 February 2017

Wow! What a weather week! Mild temperatures and “so-so” weather interrupted with a vengeance on Thursday by Storm Doris which sped across the country from west to east bringing gale force winds, some destruction, one fatality and heaps of snow in Scotland and the north. Apparently, it was dubbed a “weather bomb” where a front develops rapidly with a significant drop in pressure in a very short period of time. We escaped with no damage but the winds were so significant that we had to leave our gates open to let the breeze howl through to prevent them blowing off their fixings and dancing around the garden.

19 February 2017

Oh my goodness! Too many things to do and not nearly enough time. This week’s engagements: a splendid lunch with Nick & Annabelle, another NT Live outing to the Banbury fleapit and lunch with a swarm of former colleagues. Whew!

12 February 2017

Good morning to you all. I’m sitting in my study looking out the window over the Upper Green, Moreton Pinkney as the snowflakes drift casually down, lovely to look at and thankfully insufficient to cause any disruption or inconvenience. I think this calls for a warm fire.

5 February 2017

I’m delighted to report that Lady Penelope has all but recovered from her recent cold, cough, and chest maladies. Thank you to all those who sent good wishes. She’s nearly back to her original self and, once again, an increasingly frequent visitor to the gym. During her confinement she very kindly passed on to me a very minor version of the original but since I do not have any asthmatic tendencies, my own confinement was short and sweet.

29 January 2017

Ooh, it’s been a rough week for Ms Playchute. She’s spent another couple of days in bed this week with a chesty cough and congested lungs, all of which exasperated her asthma. It’s the Queen’s “cold” apparently which kept her (the Queen, not Penelope) out of action over much of the holiday period. It’s doing the rounds, it seems, as several of our neighbours have been afflicted in a similar manner. She’s on the mend (fingers crossed) thanks to the antibiotics and steroids. Continue reading “29 January 2017”

22 January 2017

So now we know. Teresa May outlined her priorities for negotiating Britain’s exit from the European Union in a speech on Tuesday. As we suspected, her main priority is for the UK to have full control over immigration, i.e., an end to the right of EU citizens to live and work in the UK and, presumably, an end to the right of UK citizens to live and work abroad although they haven’t received the same attention (I wonder why?) as those smelly, foreigners who come over here, steal our jobs, steal our housing, steal our national health service and steal our women! In other words, the most important aspect of what will be our new relationship with the EU is based on pandering to the racist element in the Tory party and the loony Brexiteers rather than considering the appalling damage that will ensue when the UK withdraws from the single market. As one commentator put it,

15 January 2017

Phew! This will have to be a quickie – not much to say and three thousand and forty-seven other things to get through today! Sorry.

We had a wonderfully delicious lunch last Sunday at the Orange Tree in Chadwick End with Nick, Lucy and Annabelle. I’m not quite sure why they invited us but it was a delight to be included.