The glass fusing course was thoroughly enjoyable, but the downside is that it’s very hard on the hands. Last time, I came away with my hands covered with small but surprisingly deep cuts. This time, I was much more diligent about “grozing”, or filing away the very sharp fragments from the cut edges of the […]
Last autumn I spent a very interesting day learning how to make glass bowls at Rainbow Glass studios in North London. My sister and brother-in-law were so interested in my description of it that they decided to go on the same course the following month, with the result that it was glassware all round as […]
Last week was the annual Open Day of the Department of Engineering Science at Oxford University. I don’t normally manage to attend, but this year I made the effort. I was invited not only to attend the afternoon lectures and evening drinks reception, but to spend the morning judging the final year projects and recommending […]
It sounds faintly Victorian and somewhat amusing, but I’ve recently been through an attack of gout and I can assure you it’s no laughing matter! I thought that a full-on migraine was painful, but an episode of gout is right up there in the pain stakes. It was horrible. It started completely out of the […]
Having seen what a big difference it has made having some decent new windows, ideally I’d like to have all the old ones replaced throughout the house, bringing them all up to the standard of the extension. But that’s far too expensive to even contemplate doing in one go – the bedrooms and dining room […]
I was so pleased with the utility room window, and indeed with the various jobs I’d had this building firm do for me, that two years ago I decided to have the next worst window dealt with. This was a big window in the kitchen, that I’d always hated. It was in fact a double-glazed […]
Looking back at the state this house was in when we moved in, first we, and latterly I, have done a great deal to improve it. But there always seems to be a never-ending list of things that need doing. Take the windows, for example. In the extension, the windows are all modern, bespoke double-glazed […]
I had some college friends staying for the Bank Holiday weekend, together with their ten year old daughter, and we all decided to go out for Sunday lunch at the Feathers in Ledbury. I’d really enjoyed lunch there a few weeks ago with my sister and brother-in-law – they do a “proper” roast Sunday lunch […]
