Pottering Around
Once upon a time, long, long ago, I was going to be a potter. Seriously: a real potter making pots to sell in my own workshop. A career change from…
Once upon a time, long, long ago, I was going to be a potter. Seriously: a real potter making pots to sell in my own workshop. A career change from…
Nine or ten years ago I had a defining moment, never forgotten. I was climbing Helvellyn in the Lake District, one of my favourite walks. After the longest, hardest climb…
My sister Lesley emigrated to America decades ago. She settled in a small rural community in northern Utah called Deweyville. The residents pronounce the name “Dooeyville”. In England it would…
In the weeks preceding Father’s Day a blizzard of advertising offers the perfect gift for dad. I tell my grown-up children I don’t need or want a gift, without success.…
Inevitably, this post is thoughts on Easter, the greatest of our Christian festivals and a time for reflection. It’s a story of contrasts: an infinite agony beyond human endurance began…
There was a time when the Earth was flat. If you walked or sailed far enough, you would fall off the edge. Yes, really. No one was in a position…
Ahh, true love. I hope you give and receive it. My sweetheart and I have exchanged it since our teenage years—it matures and deepens with age. I’ve used John Lennon’s…
In prehistoric times the written word was hand-made wall pictures. Eventually marks in clay tablets appeared, later quills and ink, then steel nibs, then fountain pens (the most elegant way…
Anticipation is a huge part of Christmas, and memories add to it. I remember carol singing at Christmas. Groups of the braver kids would go round the estate, singing “Hark…
One of my precious possessions as a four year-old was a knife. About twelve inches long, it was made of soft white alloy, a toy rather than a knife in…