On most mornings, I walk down Richmond’s Duke Street as I go to the gym. Apart from one house, its mishmash of otherwise nondescript buildings don’t merit a second look. The exception is Number 4 which was built in 1999 and which I love. It is a skinny building that is supported by four magnificent…

If I had to choose my favourite place to eat ‘in the whole world’ it would be Restaurant Camille. This blog tells of an unforgettable meal we ate there on the last day of a recent stay in Paris.  I should explain that we came across Camille soon after it opened in the early 1990s…

Over the years I have developed a whole set of ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ and often these influence what I do or how I behave. This blog is about an occasion when, based on some strongly-held dislikes, I almost missed a wonderful lecture. I was invited to an event at which my host - London’s Royal College…

Just over two months ago a stranger’s dog attacked me and in so doing bit a chunk out of my ankle. Olga’s bite hurt and as she was ushered away blood started trickling out though my sock. The attack happened one afternoon in late summer and when I recounted the incident I told of the…

This blog is a celebration. Usually, those in authority order people about, as they use imperious and clipped language or leaden images to tell us what to do. On roads or in other public spaces we are surrounded by their ‘Do’s’ and ‘Don’ts’ with warnings and, for transgressors, threats of fines. Exceptionally, however, their advice is more measured - hence this blog.  Over several years I have collected…

Recently we had a week dominated by insects. Other animals made appearances, but it was insects on which we concentrated and which captured the interest of our nature-loving guests, one of whom was an encyclopaedic ‘seeker/explorer’; the other more a dedicated ‘watcher/observer’. In keeping, Jeni would excitedly show us photos and tell stories of the butterflies she had found during sorties into our meadow, many of…

Learning gives such pleasure. Clearly, I am not talking about ‘learning the hard way’ where a new idea comes out of some adverse event and leaves a bitter association. Rather, I am referring to the discoveries that open the mind and give new insights or skills that delight. This blog is about two such discoveries: one was by my grandson, the other by me. For River, it was learning to play dominos; for me, and of a…

Over two days we talked and talked. Rohan and I plus our two guests - a second Rohan and her husband Marc - had never been together like this before. Now there were just the four of us, with no children and no Rob who died in 2018 aged 84. Rob had been a close…

In 2003 we sold our large family home in London. With the proceeds we bought a smaller house close by and, a year later a cottage in France. In these two homes I have spent years learning French and developing the wherewithal to write my blogs. And there has been another acquisition - since my retirement I…

From what I know, most of us have, or will have aches and pains in our joints. For me it is my knees that are affected and the problems all started fifteen years ago soon after I retired. To put things in perspective, we have around 400 joints in our bodies. Of these, around one third…