Whilst I was pontificating about creating a vegetable garden, it struck me that I forgot to mention turf. Firstly, it’s that green stuff under your feet. Secondly, its perhaps the one plant [...]

I am reading various publications promoting the growing of vegetables. This is to save money but also to create healthy food for us to eat. Most of us realise that supermarket vegetables are [...]

Talking to somebody in Bradwell the other day, they told me they had read my latest book. I hung on to every word, such readers being rarer than hen’s teeth. They wanted me to do for [...]

For energy, we don’t really need sun as long as we have good light. Then the solar panels transmit power to our battery. One day last week, the battery reached 90%. That confirms what I was [...]

I once spent a week, with Ann, studying lichens at a Field Centre. It taught me that after miles of walking, searching, the best lichens were often in the vicinity, usually where I parked the [...]

An author writing about the Cairngorms discussed the psychological landscape as opposed to the physical one. I wondered what that meant. Psychological, of course, relates to the mind or mental [...]

For many people it has become de riguer to claim childhood poverty. However, this must stop. It is a valid claim only to those of us who really experienced childhood poverty. What is that, you [...]

An author called Richard Askwith has written a book called The Race Against Time: Adventures In Late Life Running. He has previously written about fell running but, at the age of 62, has now [...]

Well, here we are, recovered from the virus highlighted in my last post. It was, not to overstate the case, the worst virus we ever caught. Paracetamol disappeared down throats at an amazing [...]

Ann and I just want to be together, even in illness. Tuesday lunchtime and the decline begins; by evening we are unstable on our legs, headache, body aches and then the cough. I tested but no [...]

The round walk at Bradwell is a joy. However, I would say that because it is also the regular run for Ann and myself, assuming we are not up in the high hills. Consequently, I thought I would [...]

As I observe the current mental health epidemic, I find myself disagreeing with those who feel a need to stop work. For certain, they see work as the problem and not the solution. My experience [...]

I note a lot of people showing overly concern about longevity in the modern world. It’s as if they are embarrassed about dying too early, that it looks bad for the family. I understand [...]

Enigma abounds in this amazing country of ours. It often arises as something done by people in the past, and yet we don’t know why or when. Stonehenge might be the greatest enigma but what [...]

My energy bills for October 2022 have not increased too much. The frenzy caused by the media has been absurd. It has frightened many of the aged, not least when forecasts for later in the winter [...]

Is it possible to exaggerate the value of a tree. Yes, I know that they tie up carbon and benefit the environment by their sheer presence. However, other benefits might be more difficult to [...]

In 2010 I wrote a book called ‘A Guide to Natural Burial‘. In it I reminded readers that where they were able to add walking to a funeral, it enhanced the ceremony. For instance, at [...]

Apples and marrow in Bradwell might seem an esoteric subject but stay with me. It arose because in recent weeks, with Ann and I walking around the village most days, we have picked up this free [...]

When our council house estate was built in Shrewsbury in the 1950’s it was invaded. These were house martins and within a few years, almost every house had one under the eves. There were [...]

Gardening springs between joy and despair. Earlier this year I bought three online cottage garden plant collections. I knew it was late in the season, the plants were on sale and cheap and they [...]

I love trees. Sitting here, I look out at a small forest stretching up the hillside. The leaves gently wave in the winds. However, much of my current labour is about planting trees in the garden. [...]

Jelly Babies are dangerous. However, nobody could miss the red flash on the packet highlighting high sugars. As it was, that was precisely the reason why I was buying them. Oh, what a hazardous [...]

In my new house, we live with solar panels. There are eight of them, working away and providing ‘free’ power. I wish it were quite so simple. Firstly, I am surprised how little we [...]

I have just had a world class holiday experience. No, not a cruise to Venice or a tour of Bali; it was far more prosaic. With Ann, I walked from my door, paid £5.00 each for a ticket from two [...]