Mount Crushmore is back. Regular readers will recognise that this soubriquet was first attributed to the enormous pile of rubble left over from the demolition of the old Philips shipyard buildings at Noss Marina in Kingswear, where my boat is moored. Despite the pile being subjected, for over a year, to the attentions of anContinue reading “Blog 128. Call me Sir”
Tag Archives: LOCKDOWN
Blog 125. The Baked Potato
You know, there is something about electric hedge trimmers; like their brother, the pressure washer, they become habitual very rapidly and you always want to cut off a bit more foliage with them. I reflected on this as I gave a jolly good trimming to the berberis hedge the other week, swiftly followed by aContinue reading “Blog 125. The Baked Potato”
Blog 122. Suffering is Good for the Soul
Out of the impenetrable darkness, a disembodied voice spoke: “I can’t feel my nose.”though, to be more accurate, what it actually said was:“I garnt veel by doze”,the voice being Jane’s and she being afflicted with a stinking head cold.We were back on the boat – the first visit in 2023 – and we lay rigidlyContinue reading “Blog 122. Suffering is Good for the Soul”
Blog 114. It Felt Good To Be Out Of The Rain
The heat was hot and the ground was dry, as the tautological lyrics by the pop group America say. And, behold, the British establishment and its media have found something else to terrify us with. Yes, the UK has experienced a ‘heat wave’ and we are all doomed. Health warnings are broadcast, schools are closed,Continue reading “Blog 114. It Felt Good To Be Out Of The Rain”
Blog 93. The Blue Poop Challenge
Whatever happened to Wonderloaf? Or Mothers Pride? Or thick sliced white bread? I posed this question to Jane as I gazed, disappointingly, at the rough lumpen toast with bits in it that rested on my plate at breakfast time. The previous night we had pondered on the important issue of what to have for breakfastContinue reading “Blog 93. The Blue Poop Challenge”
Blog 89. Damned clever, these Chinese.
“And we jolly sailor boys were leaping up aloft, with the landlubbers lying down below”. Ahoy, landlubbers and shipmates: I’m back from the boat, wind-burned, weather beaten, bruised, aching in most joints, and smelling faintly of diesel oil. This last characteristic is a little odd, bearing in mind that conditions onboard are not so primitiveContinue reading “Blog 89. Damned clever, these Chinese.”
Blog 88. Come back dressed like an officer.
The first signs of a crumbling civilisation are beginning to show. I refer not to the continuing open arrest of British citizens in their own country, nor to the compulsory wearing of face nappies on boats in Force 8 gales; not even to the riots in Bristol and Northern Ireland. No, I refer to theContinue reading “Blog 88. Come back dressed like an officer.”
Blog 86. Fifty Two Weeks In
Ta Daah! My boat is back in the water after nearly four months of being laid up ashore. We have seen photographs, sent by our secret agents in Dartmouth, showing APPLETON RUM bobbing happily alongside a brand new pontoon in the new floating marina. This is wonderful news and we still hope to get downContinue reading “Blog 86. Fifty Two Weeks In”
Blog 85. “Hi Tweety; So Long Jerry”.
Spring is trying to arrive in Melbury though, because of a storm last week, I had to lash down our newly painted garden furniture (Blog 83) and secure the entire outfit to the house using a large ring bolt and a double sheet bend. The narcissi are up and blooming, primroses and celandine decorate theContinue reading “Blog 85. “Hi Tweety; So Long Jerry”.”
Blog 84. Still On The Naughty Step
It is census year in England (I think Scotland does its thing next year) and I have just completed the form online. Yes, yes I know the census date is actually 21 March and I was jumping the gun a bit but, let’s face it, under the present situation we won’t be anywhere else butContinue reading “Blog 84. Still On The Naughty Step”
"A Very Vintage Chap..." 