Travel Games

1. M1ldred

Mr TLC is a bit of a classic car fan. Our car does not resemble a classic, but we like spotting more venerable vehicles as we trundle around. We used to mark sightings with a shout of “Classic car!” but at some point that changed to a hearty cry of “M1ldred!”. All old […]

(An Unusual) Measure for Measure

How much is too much? We have plenty of space in the back of the car, but when buying bags of sand and pebbles as we did today, the big concern isn’t space, it’s weight. I didn’t want to do more trips to the builders’ merchant than necessary, neither did I want to be the […]

Five things

Futoshiki puzzles are strangely addictive (they are basically Latin Squares/Sudoku with < symbols). I used to enjoy these in my Saturday morning newspaper, but they were brutally axed. Now I’ve discovered that you can play online. Given how long I spent doing this yesterday evening, I’m not sure that this is a good thing. […]

Taming the Urban Jungle

August 2013

This used to be a garden. Several years of neglect have taken their toll. We started doing some cutting back, but we didn’t get far – we spent too much time running away to the seaside every time the weather was fine. Still, we had an enjoyable summer and at least we made […]

Pastries in a Day

I have never mastered the art of folding and rolling needed to create layered pastry, so I decided that it was time to do something about that. When I spotted the Showroom Cinema’s Pastries in a Day course, I jumped at the chance. The fee of £39.95 is really good value, considering that it […]

A Grand Day Out – Flamborough Head

Summer holiday? Gloriously hot sunny weather? It must be time for a grand day out.

We packed up a picnic and headed to the coast. Our destination was Flamborough Head – a rather beautiful area, with its dramatic white cliffs and rugged coastline. There are one or two small stretches of beach, but we headed […]

Perpetual insanity machine

I may have been the only person in the country who was delighted by the arrival of torrential rain today. Torrential rain at about lunchtime? That’ll be perfect.

In not entirely unrelated news, we have been trying to get Ginger Cat to the vet for some time. His vaccination boosters are due, but every time […]

I receive an unexpected makeover

Q: What happens when you leave the sixth form alone for two minutes with your log in screen projected on the board?

A: You acquire a rather dashing moustache. And a monocle. And a top hat (worn at a jaunty angle, of course.)

It’s a shame that the excellent local fancy dress shop has […]

We get Gardened Up

It’s a long time since I’ve been to a garden show, but I was intrigued by the sound of Sheffield’s brand new Garden Up event. Held in the beautiful surroundings of the Botanical Gardens and full of interesting things, it proved to be well worth a visit.

There were a few show gardens, some highly […]

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!

The occasion of the Younger Grandkitten’s birthday presents an excellent opportunity for a spot of baking. She is a huge fan of Rapunzel, which, combined with a dimly remembered picture from an old recipe book, gave me an idea. A few props were required – the top half of a doll from the discount […]