Category: News

Hello, and welcome to another Sunday. The early part of the week has been cold, wet and windy and it seems that “winter” is finally trying to make its presence felt. We had our first frost on Thursday night/Friday morning and the end of the week was bright, sunny and cold! They’ve had snow further north and various warnings about the impending Arctic weather but so far we, at least, are snow-free. It would be nice if that were to continue indefinitely but the “experts” reckon we’ll probably get our share in the coming week(s).

Oops! Stop Press – our first snow of the season was delivered on Saturday night/Sunday morning! Very pretty and not enough to cause any disruption – that’s the kind of snow I can just about put up with. Continue reading “17 January 2016”

It’s been a good week – I hope yours has been tolerably pleasant as well. It’s still unseasonably mild but there’s just a tinge of winter in the wind and I suspect it won’t be too long before the frost descends and those daffodils and other bulbs which have ventured out of their hibernation too soon will be cut down in their prime! Actually, as I sit in my study overlooking the Upper Green, the wind is howling and the rain and sleet is hurtling horizontally against the window – absolutely miserable.

Continue reading “10 January 2016”

Happy New Year to you all. I hope you had a pleasant transition from 2015 to 2016 and that you’ve made a list of resolutions which you might have some remote chance of maintaining. As with most years, we were sound asleep and no doubt snoring vigorously when midnight arrived in Moreton Pinkney but it was New Year’s somewhere and that’s good enough for me.

Continue reading “3 January 2016”

Hope you all had the most marvellous Christmas you could have hoped for. We certainly did! It was wet and windy but still remarkably mild for the end of December – the temperature was 58 degrees Farhenheit as we drove to Nick and Lucy’s for lunch. The wet and windy bit I understand but what is going on with the moderate temperatures? Mother Nature is becoming increasingly confused – our lawns need mowing (I retired the lawn mower for this season in the middle of October, I thought), bulbs are bulbing, and even the birds are beginning to look at one another with a little twinkle in their eyes. Crazy.

Continue reading “27 December 2015”

It’s still unbelievably mild! Mid-December and the temperatures around our neck of the woods are similar to what we might expect in May, so the very nice BBC weather woman told me on the radio on Friday morning. Certainly not what we are used to in December! Lots of photos of daffodils blooming in various parts of the country – ours are not out but we do have the green shoots of some of our spring bulbs thinking about making an early appearance. Oh! They’re going to be pretty pissed off when the winter finally kicks in

Continue reading “20 December 2015”

Is Christmas really less than two weeks away?!

This will be quite an unusual Christmas for us – we’re still in disarray from the move and the various projects ongoing at Framington House and Nick and Lucy are in the midst of their own house move early in the New Year so it’s chaos all round. Wherever and however jumbled and unsettled it might be, it’s sure to be fun and we’re well on the way to being ready or at least giving a very convincing illusion of being so.

Continue reading “13 December 2015”

Back home again after a short & sweet outing to the States for Thanksgiving. Although it was but a fleeting visit, it was especially sweet nevertheless – it provided me with my first opportunity to give my mother a squeeze and a hug since my father died at the end of October. There was sadness in the visit, no doubt, but also a great deal of pleasure and much to be thankful and grateful for. And even better, I managed to squeeze in two Thanksgiving dinners in the space of three days.

Continue reading “6 December 2015”

A quick update this week – as I wrote last time, I think, I’m currently in the States visiting with my mother, both my brothers and their delightful families. Visiting this week does mean that I’ve been able to enjoy not one but two Thanksgiving dinners – I knew I came at the right time. But, before we get to a brief account of some of our adventures this week, I need to bring you up to date with last weekend’s activities. Continue reading “29 November 2015”

Whew! Have we been busy? Is the Pope Catholic and/or do bears defecate in the woods? You betcha!

Phase One of Penelope’s Front Path is finished – having dug, hard-cored and whacked the paths, she has laid the pavers along both sides and, I have to confess, it looks grand. There is still the edging and pointing to do, hence we can really only count Phase One as having been completed.

Continue reading “22 November 2015”

Good morning to you all. We’ve had a fairly decent week with some pretty fine (and mild) weather at the beginning of the week. Temperatures reached the giddy heights of 16 to 17 degrees Celsius (low 60s in old money) on Tuesday and Wednesday but on Friday the wind and rain started and the temperature plummeted. Fortunately, the chimney’s been swept and the logs have been delivered so we’ve been able to have a few toasty-warm fires to pass the evenings. Continue reading “15 November 2015”