The disruption at our London home was at its worst a week after renovation started - seven workers traipsing through the house had become a nightmare. My wife, Rohan and I had known that it was an ambitious project but decided that getting all the work done at one sitting was worth any inconvenience.…
Hold Tight!
My knees were at their worst over Christmas 2014. They are better now, but then, walking up and down stairs was very painful. At the time, I was having to navigate two flights of stairs twice a day as I changed trains at Clapham Junction. Pain could be lessened by holding on to the bannisters…
When Time Stands Still
Klim and I first met when we were eight years old. We lived in different parts of town, went to different schools and were in different gangs, but our lives were always criss-crossing. In our twenties we grew closer as first we shared ‘digs’ at university and then a flat in London. A lifetime’s…
Space Odyssey
Near us in Richmond is a gatehouse built by Henry VII in around 1500. It is one of the few remaining parts of his palace. Each time I walk through its archway I become aware that I am occupying the same space through which once passed the likes of Henry VII, Henry VIII,…
A Most Generous Character
If our stays in Brittany were to be part of a play, models for the stage sets and the dramatis personae, are already established. There would be two sets and, based on the arrangements in our home, some scenes would take place inside, in the main living room, and some outside in the vegetable patch.…
Sartre had an Answer
There can be few treats greater than watching shooting stars streak across the sky. But craning one's neck in the small hours while waiting for a momentary glimpse of a meteor has its down side. Forget the cold, the neck ache next day and the fact that this August we saw none, the search brought…
Art Provocateur
There was a time when works of art that others might see as sad or frightening simply left me cold. Well, that all changed a few weeks ago when we visited a Scottish sculpture park. There, two of the installations did what art is supposed to do - they provoked emotions - and the…
The Top Drawer
Through the wonders of the friend's grapevine we contacted Emile and Denise. We had decided to buy a house by the sea in southern Brittany and sent them, as we did many others, our wish-list, just in case they knew of anything suitable. As if by return, Denise sent us the details of a…
Magic Spells Safety
Within minutes of leaving home I realised that something was very wrong. I was on my way to the baker's and while my early-morning brain had ensured I put on my cycling gloves and my cleated shoes, it had made a muddle over my crash helmet. The absence of a chin strap and the feeling…
Mother Nature’s Unfinished Business
In the five years before she died, my elder sister Susan was plagued by shortness of breath. For Ann, the dominant last symptom was pain. For Mike, whose recent operation has made all the difference, it was ankle swelling. Odd as it may sound, all suffered unnecessarily because their bodies responded inappropriately to their…
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