Commonplaces

I'm happy to admit that I'm not one of the world's most practical people. Even so, I seem to have more sense than some. It's...

Time was, I could nip down the road, get a train to the next town, do the Saturday morning shop and get the next train back. Time was. They...

I'm old. Officially. I heard myself saying one of those things that old people say. I was round at my parents when my tiny niece potter...

The past few weeks on my daily commute through Manchester I've been tripping over little suitcases being pulled along on sticks by peopl...

My dad's gone back to the church. Which is to say that he never actually turned his back on it, he's just not been very often in the...

The problem with having an enquiring mind is that every so often you have to do things to stop the nagging. Just in case anyone else was won...

A friend is a lecturer in thingamybob at the University of Doodad. He's finding himself increasingly struggling with the modern politica...

Until a few years ago I used to wonder about the fuss about the planting up of Spring bulbs in the autumn. I love the plants and even now my...

I didn't include a caption to the Jimmy Durante/Mrs. Miller clip because I wanted it to stand on its own before I started pontificating...

The Major has given up on his library blog, which I think is a bit of a shame as I am interested in the goings-on at Sheboygan, especially n...

In the world of science one of the signal honours is to have a new species of something or other named after you. It's a bit like being ...

I popped into The Body Shop, where I was dealt with by some formidably friendly shop assistants. "Are you buying something for yourself...

There's a touch of Spring about the garden. The snowdrops are coming to their finale; drifts of crocus pepper the flowerbeds and a group...