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Continue reading →: What should they put in the water?
Witches would be the obvious choice. Tradition dictates that the sinking test will root out evil, whilst providing a watery spectacle for all the family. Carpenters are kept in gainful employment knocking out ducking chairs, and stall holders can set up shop along the banks of the river, providing sustenance…
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Continue reading →: Habitats
There is wonderful photo my mother’s neighbour took some time ago. It shows my mother leaning down to talk to a fox outside their flats. She has always enjoyed an affinity with animals. When house-minding in Buckinghamshire, a doe ambled cautiously to where my mother had put food out for…
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Continue reading →: Vicarious pleasures
Is it sometimes better to experience the highs of excitement vicariously? Such as watching your children win races, create artistic masterpieces with bottle tops and curly pasta or spectating as your sporting heroes do something amazing, like not berating the referee or falling over when a slight gust of ego…
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Continue reading →: Sunday Roast with Rugby and Superbowl
How to have the traditional Sunday roast dinner Hairy Bikers style … with peppers and garlic in the roasting tin with beef and root vegetables. The beauty of slinging a roasting tin loaded with meat and root vegetables into a hot oven, is, that apart from basting to keep things moist, the…
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Continue reading →: Fish
White fish flesh slowly baked, seasoned with dill, wrapped in Parma ham or snuggled in our Le Creuset casserole dish, sitting in a puddle of milk with olive oil drizzled on top and garnished with slivers of lemon…will this be tonight’s variation of Si and Dave’s Roasted Cod with Parma…
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Continue reading →: Intolerance
I have deserted Delia. I’m sure she won’t mind too much, because at heart I will always apply her words of wisdom to the culinary arts. Si and Dave have me enthralled with recipe suggestions, their latest piece of genius is their low-fat take on carrot cake – Moist Carrot…
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Continue reading →: Smooth lines and blurred vision
The soft curve has an obvious appeal, and yet the subtlety of curvature juxtaposed with hard edges is a rare sight. Except for me, because now that my eyes are dim with age, (see Tim and the Brave Sea Captain by Edward Ardizzone) most objects take on a softness of form…
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Continue reading →: Saturday blues
The anticipation of a weekend’s freedom from toil is rarely fulfilled. My own plans usually embrace slothfulness, but acknowledge that chores take precedence. In the summer I can combine the idleness that I crave with the carrying out of the main chore, washing a week’s clothes for two grown ups…
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Continue reading →: Passion – not just a rainy day in Ballymena
Ataraxia or mental imperturbability is a desirable state of being for some people (such as Micheu). The merits of not being unduly moved by things that happen to you are questionable, but I can understand the motivating factors. Earth shattering experiences can rob one of a sense of self. ‘Being…