Friday, January 08, 2010

Thoughts abroad

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Reading E F Benson’s preciously oblique prose in the plane prepares one for what is for me (for everyone?) a life involved in irony. I leave...
Wednesday, January 06, 2010

O that this cold, cold would . . .

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I’m looking out on a vista of snow covered roofs and watching the rifts in the cloud cover and trying to decide if the gleams of colour are ...
Thursday, December 31, 2009

News from the Charnel House!

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Life is moving at the rate of the slowest camel. The fluctuating state of Toni’s health is the clock which determines our movements. I have ...
Sunday, December 27, 2009

When in doubt: chicken!

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The emergency chicken (with home-made stuffing, bay leaves, garlic and jamon) has now served for three meals –very tasty it was too. But eno...
Saturday, December 26, 2009

Back to the rain

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My name day was marked with a bottle of Pierre’s latest fragrance and two hysterical telephone calls to wish me felicitations on my Santo. T...
Friday, December 25, 2009

Ho! Ho! Ho!

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Let’s start with the positive. Today was sunny. Cold, but sunny. Toni’s Christmas meal was an orange and two ham sandwiches: one Spanish and...
Thursday, December 24, 2009

Bring it on!

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There is nothing more irritating than someone with a gaping head wound pulling rank and jumping the queue when you have been waiting patient...
Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Countdown continues

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Only those unfortunates who get up at a quarter past six in the morning can really appreciate a lie in until nine o’clock: two and three-qua...
Tuesday, December 22, 2009

A break in the clouds?

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The damp grey misery of yesterday is now forgotten as sun illuminates a blue sky artistically arranged with fragmented clouds. Unfortunately...
Monday, December 21, 2009

Bitter bunny!

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As the ludicrous two day week which marks the end of term is turning out to be a disaster on many levels, I will not dwell too closely on th...
Sunday, December 20, 2009

How many days to what?

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I cannot remember a less Christmas-like build up to Christmas than this one. I will leave aside the unseasonal and careful sunbathing inside...
Saturday, December 19, 2009

Grow up!

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Why is it that driving brings out the sadist in us all? Returning home today I have to negotiate a turning which leads on to a dual carriage...
Thursday, December 17, 2009

It's the thought that counts

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Toni’s present is going to be far more difficult to find that I had anticipated. His request seemed, on the face of it, not unreasonable – a...
Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Moral lessons

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The lord giveth and the lord taketh away. There is nothing like a school for giving a practical demonstration to many of the teachings of th...
Monday, December 14, 2009

Normal Service Resumed!

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Today a day off school. The weekend was something of a health disaster with me rapidly getting more and more hoarse and throaty. Sunday even...
Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Reality hits!

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I suppose that the built-in frustration that comes with the inevitable traffic jams prepare one emotionally for the reality of school after ...
Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Where's Luck?

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If anyone tells you that I drove for three hours to go to a small hole-in-the-mountain out of season skiing resort (with no snow) and then q...
Sunday, December 06, 2009

Let's get away

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If you had been in the office of our school on Friday afternoon then you would have had to put up with a succession of parents all explainin...
Saturday, December 05, 2009

How much is that in days?

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I had a three and a half hour lie-in and still got up just before 10 am! It was a delight to get up in daylight and not the darkness as usua...
Friday, December 04, 2009

There is always a golden lining

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A cloudy morning. Heavy traffic. Sullen drivers. Resentful travellers. Bad driving. Another day in work. Then turning the last corner to go ...