Paul mentioned in a comment below that my sorry story of the hire car puncture is a very good reason to insist on having a proper spare tyre when buying a new car. My parents would totally agree with him. They bought a new car towards the end of last year, and the subject of […]
I spent Sunday back at Eastnor Pottery getting another fix of throwing. Business really seems to have taken off since the Pottery Throwdown programme, and the studio was full of people having a go at throwing. Three were on day two of a weekend course – they had spent all day Saturday throwing, and were spending Sunday […]
I really don’t like this time of year. It’s not just the short days, dark evenings and persistent fog. Or even the rampant consumerism and tacky decorations wherever you look. It’s more that it reminds me forcibly of when Christopher got diagnosed, out of the blue, in the week before Christmas. It doesn’t help that […]
I was back at Eastnor Pottery today, having my regular fix of pot-throwing. I was mostly just practising throwing cylinders and vases, and cutting them in half when I’d finished to check the profile. I’m still suffering from the curse of the “heavy bottom”, and there’s usually plenty of clay left at the bottom of […]
On Tuesday morning, I had a meeting with some potential suppliers at our Head Office in London. I’d never actually been to that office before, but it’s very central and handy for meeting visitors who might not want to trek all the way out to Malvern. Unfortunately, that means we have to trek in the […]
I popped along to Eastnor Pottery the other weekend, to pick up my latest set of fired pots, a stack of five serving bowls. The decoration is very simple, but really surprisingly effective, I think. I’m pleased with them anyway. While I was there, Jon the Potter asked if I would mind changing the date […]
I’ve been having real trouble with my kitchen appliances lately. In fact, it strongly feels like they’re conspiring together to cause maximum irritation! My washing machine has decided to leak intermittently all over the kitchen floor. I’ve spent hours watching it, trying to catch it in action, but it always waits until my back is […]
I’ve been so busy lately at work, that I’ve simply not had time to sort out the usual list of domestic chores, which have therefore been piling up. Now that the equipment trial is finally over, bar writing up the final report, I’ve got some breathing space at last. So I took today off as […]
I am quite used to getting regular correspondence from the Development Office of my Oxford college, which is essentially a plea for money thinly disguised as a news update. It’s becoming an accepted part of “giving back” for the education I received – and seeing that I was at University before the days of student […]
I checked with National Rail first thing on Saturday morning, and it was clear that the signalling problem had been fixed overnight, and that the train companies had managed to sort out the ensuing knock-on effects of having their trains in the wrong place. At any rate, trains were now advertised as running to time […]
