The final slice of tarte tatin remaining from our last dinner party lay before me, covered in cream. I savoured it for quite some moments, just as a starving survivor in a lifeboat might eye up the cabin boy for his next meal. Christmas was over, 2024 had begun, and the pudding in front ofContinue reading “Blog 130. Give Me a Ring Sometime”
Tag Archives: CHRISTMAS
Blog 118. Here Comes Santa Claus
“Don’t be a grump. It’s payback time”. Thus spake Mrs Shacklepin as we transited from a windswept overflow carpark, trudged through mud and gravel, and overtook droves of yummy mummies pushing prams to the entrance of The Big Garden Centre. Naturally, I terminated my mild verbal observations immediately and pondered on the reference to ‘paybackContinue reading “Blog 118. Here Comes Santa Claus”
Blog 108. Paddington Bear Eat Your Heart Out
Double, double toil and trouble. Fire burn and caldron bubble. It is January, and so marmalade-making time in the Shacklepin household, and the cauldron – or rather the large jam-making pan – has, indeed, been bubbling away for over two hours. Steam fills the kitchen and the extractor fan is roaring away at full speed.Continue reading “Blog 108. Paddington Bear Eat Your Heart Out”
Blog 106. Told You So
Don’t panic! Don’t panic! A new variant of the Corona virus has emerged and it is the Omicron variant, pronounced, according to some classicists, Oh – MY – cron, which appropriately rhymes with OH – MY – GOD. The very name strikes terror to the heart. Worse, it is a mutant strain (my wife reportsContinue reading “Blog 106. Told You So”
Blog 73. …For Mighty Dread Had Seized Their Troubled Minds…
Merry Christmas one and all. It is now Christmas Eve and, if our Christmas is not turning out quite as jolly as we are used to, then let us make the most of what we have. Reasons to be cheerful: vaccines against Covid 19 have been found and a programme of immunisation is under way;Continue reading “Blog 73. …For Mighty Dread Had Seized Their Troubled Minds…”
Blog 71. I Don’t Like Sundays
“Deck the halls with leaves and holly”. As I quote these words, with just a touch of irony, I bet most husbands know what I am alluding to: the annual grumble associated with extracting the boxes of Christmas decorations from their obscure stowage in the loft, the acquisition of a suitably shaped Christmas tree, mountingContinue reading “Blog 71. I Don’t Like Sundays”
"A Very Vintage Chap..." 