A fortnight ago, Rohan and I had lunch with our grandson River and his Dad - River had just turned seven. He had celebrated his birthday proper at a party with his friends; now at lunch, as well as giving him his presents, he and I played chess (see first Illustration). This blog is about…

I see home-made jams as a most precious commodity and during the 15 years or so since we retired, making jams of all types has become an important part of our lives. We do it not only because we love the whole creative process - each year we produce over 150 jars - but also…

This blog was prompted by an incident a few weeks ago when body language played a most unexpected trick!  Jill* and I go to the same gym, and while I exercise most days she is more a Monday/Wednesday/Friday person. We first ‘met’ around ten years ago but it was not until five years later that…

As a general rule, anyone walking around London will somewhere see the work of a street artist as it adorns a house or a  wall. Importantly, whether the picture has been created with care or has been hurriedly scribbled, like the signatures (tags) found along railway tracks, it is part of a long tradition. Wall…

This blog started with a conversation in the gym when one of my ‘gym buddies’ made what I saw as an unwarranted slur, although he might have meant it as an amusing quip! Apart from exercising, during every gym session there will be moments when the regulars acknowledge one another; for some it’s just a…

If I have learned one thing as a blogger, it is that any single word is only half the story. In reality, what precedes and what follows helps determine that word’s full meaning. And, added to words in the text, there are also more distant determinants; with a book for example, there may be the…

Many readers will know that for years my knees have been causing trouble. Apart from aches and pains there have been occasions when I have fallen and sprained tendons or ligament and each time recovery has taken months. Up until now, X-rays and scans have shown nothing broken or damaged. Nevertheless, the pain has meant…

I am an inveterate challenger and this blog tells about two occasions when I was at it again. I have actually been challenging for years. At school, I challenged teachers or fellow students when I felt that they had said, or done something I saw as wrong. Later, challenging was a central part of my…

Living in a world where politics are so troubled, it would be odd if I did not write something about sadness. But, importantly, sadness is not a feature of the events themselves, rather it is how we, as individuals feel about them and my approach to such feelings has changed greatly over the years.  While…

This blog is about kindness, a quality of human beings for which I am very grateful. It is, in fact a complicated affair. At one extreme kindness might only involve helping a complete stranger and leaving without saying a word. More commonly, however, it is part of an ‘exchange’ where, for instance, a gift or…