adore amy

And that’s another one out of the way! I am taking a mini break from the ceremonial undressing of Mini Tree, given that he will be saying au revoir in a few days and returning to recuperate in his usual outdoor home for the next eleven months before returning for Christmas 2012 refreshed, invigorated and [...]

A slight exaggeration maybe, but after a relaxing week at home with TV, comfort food, fishes and the all-encompassing pleasantness that comes from attempting nothing more challenging than laundry for a few days (only fair after muchas liveliness on the islands) it’s fair to say that a heavy sigh of resignation was emitted when the [...]

And after the baking heat of Cambridge a week ago, I finally made it home on Saturday night (despite the better efforts of First TransPennine Express) just in time for the last hour of X-Factor and shortly before the on-off drizzle set in again – awaiting me were ecstatic fishes (yay), a mountain of junk [...]

A quick update, since it’s bags packed and ready to go once again after a delightful week of fun and frolics amidst the newly falling leaves and beautiful September sunshine, albeit accompanied by at least one day so windy that I not only had an unexpected Monroe moment on Valley Bridge (thank God for 120 [...]

Well I had hoped that this week last year was a particularly galling one-off – would that it were so! This last week, and specifically the last 48 hours have made the events surrounding my earlier post pale into insignificance. I have never, ever (in the short time I’ve had it) been so grateful for [...]

Home! I finally staggered (partly through sheer exhaustion, and partly thanks to the last remaining effects of a very good lunch with the lovely Catherine Stephens at Skylon) through my door for the first time in almost a week last night shortly after darkness fell, and after the busiest week since records began (to borrow [...]

Well the final phase of pack-unpack-wash-repack-in-bigger-case is well and truly underway and I shall be leaving for Cambridge after lunch, having dashed back from Oxford last Wednesday to a patiently waiting sea of lovely gentlemen with the net result being that today has been my first much-needed day off for a week. Gosh. Oxford (as [...]

And it’s gone, for now at least (well, until the near-identical replacement arrives) and never was a departure more welcome. The still-emerging antics of an indeterminate number of News International employees have done the job for all of us who objected to this squalid, scabrous rag well before the current outcry, since amongst the tawdry [...]

Tonight’s post is brought to you from my overly warm but otherwise surprisingly charming Newcastle digs, boasting as they do excellent linen, a large, comfortable bathroom from which I entertained the idea of beginning this posting had the marble surrounding the bath been a touch wider, and a refrigerator replete with FREE bottled water, orange [...]

Well, Killer Tooth has been purposefully yanked (I’d forgotten the creaking, splintery-wood noise it makes is by far the worst bit) earlier today, and the weird anaesthetic (which I had also forgotten about, including the side effect known as fat-lip that is now beginning to disappear but earlier spoilt my consolation gingerbread man somewhat, by [...]