……And this time I swear they’re wearing hobnailed boots! After a weekend punctuated by extremely loud thumping from the loft, I phoned Martin, my very cheery pest controller, first thing this morning. He’s obviously got my number programmed into his phone, because he answered it with “Hello Gillian, I was just thinking that I’ve not […]
My sister and brother-in-law have rented a cottage in the Forest of Dean for a short holiday. Since they were actually on the same side of the country as me, for once, it made sense to meet up. They asked me to recommend somewhere to visit on the Herefordshire/Gloucestershire side of Malvern, as that would […]
I’ve had Rob the painter here yet again, mostly working on painting the outside of the house this time. It really is a Forth Bridge style job – something seems to need doing every year, and it never seems to get finished. In fact, in the one week that I had him here, he was […]
For the last few weeks, I’ve been spending my evenings studying Roman history online via a MOOC, that is a Massive Online Open Course. It’s not something I’ve done before, but my brother-in-law thought I would be interested, so sent me a link to Futurelearn, which offers access to a range of free, university-level courses […]
My passport is due to expire in early January next year. So, since many of the counties I visit insist that passports should have several months validity on arrival, I really need to get it renewed this summer. I decided that I’d put it on my to-do list for when I got back from France. […]
My mother gave me another pottery commission recently, possibly the most challenging one yet. She has a small glass bottle of olive oil which she and my father use to dress salads, but of course it drips a bit. Its not very practical putting it on a saucer, as the centre of gravity is in […]
There’s an interesting cycle of plays on at Malvern Theatres this week – Tonight at 8.30 by Noel Coward. It’s a set of nine, one-act plays, grouped into three sets of three, “Cocktails”, “Dinner” and “Dancing”, and organised so that there’s a separate set on each night. On Saturday, if you want, you can have […]
I am making the most of being in between projects at work, by taking a few days off this week to improve the house. Today, my cost-effective and friendly plumber is back, replacing the old, rusty radiator in the bathroom with a new heated towel rail. It’s a very nifty unit – it’s plumbed into […]
I’m between projects at work at the moment, so it’s a good time to take some time off to get things sorted out around the house. Today I had the electrician here pretty much all day, getting the wiring on my electric shower up to the latest safety standards. He’s installed a combined RCB device […]
