Diversions

Spare a thought for spiders. With all you folk isolated at home, I’m sure the brilliant sunshine, in the south, anyway, will show up a...

‘Wouldn’t it be great if we all had our own ventilators?’ I suggested this to Arthur as we Skyped at the end of the day. We were trying...

Arthur was teasing me. ‘This is your time, old chap.’ As a serial procrastinator, I had to admit that my psychiatrist friend had me bang...

I think I may have misheard

I spend an hour or so in a library from time to time, for a change of scene, to watch others nod off, pretend to work, wait for the rain...

Friday evening it was. I stopped on Churchill Bridge to offer help to a man and woman with suitcases, not sure which way to go. You know...

Sidney dropped in for a coffee. ‘What d’you think, Dave, First World War generals? The Titanic?’ Sid was trying to find the right...

We found the turkey on a hedge. It was Christmas, so nothing odd about encountering a turkey per se – but on top of a hedge separating a...

See the photo? The latch, lock and handle it shows are now in your memory, as an image rather than a physical object, for you cannot see...

At times like this, I need diversions. Our new grandson is arriving later with his mum and dad. He’ll help for a few days, though I’m not...

How recent should your photo be? Actors deserve some licence, I suppose, given how ageist their trade is, though offering something that...

The NHS has given me an insight into a story I am planning. Wednesday it was. ENT surgeons, hunting for further nasty cells after a...

Three and a half years since he began so fervently to advocate leaving the EU, Mr Johnson has come up with his first suggestion as to how...

Thank heavens for Sidney. If ever there was man with his feet on the ground, it’s Sid. I mention it because he was round yesterday with a...

Our grandchildren’s primary school in Sussex gets things just right. Last year, Ernest Shackleton and Endurance. Boring dead blokes with...

Apropos that rather special 24 hours I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, here is our new grandson listening to one of my stories. Children...

First up, I lost a chunk of my left ear on Friday. Don’t get me wrong, it was no accident. It was removed with considerable grace and...

My distinguished psychiatrist pal, Sir Arthur Whatnot is swanning about in Biarritz. He says its faded glory makes a change from smart...

More summer reading for you in your deckchair or on your yacht. Three titles: two offbeat books and a gem. I have to tell someone about...

'Daddy goes slow when he takes us, but you make us go fast, Mummy.' Fast? Really? The complaint had been issued by a six-year-old...