Schnozz, p94 & Woo-nderful news

..so the BB brought Barty home last night, rolled into a shivering ball in his arms, feeling icky-poo from the anaesthetic and sneezing rather less than he had been. Apparently, he has the bitch and pups of a sinus infection and they’ve drained something and poked something else; whatever they did, it made his eyes [...]

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Seeds in the hooter

Judging by Barty’s pained looks, his unwillingness to move from his special armchair, his constant tickety-tacketting around after dark on restless paws and his volcanic, near-constant sneezing, we conclude that he has the abovementioned complaint. Not to mention the strings and ropes of snot, discarded all over the house at nose-level.
The poor beast is also [...]

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I’ve got buns in the oven

Nooo, not the metaphorical type; literal buns! In fact, bread, and shortly chocolate chip cookies, if I don’t eat all the dough.
It’s a grey, dank and cold day here at Three Chimneys. I went out running with the dog this morning at 8am alongside the river, which was roaring and churning, the ducks prudently staying [...]

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Duvet Nostalgia

I stayed at the Little House last night – gotta start packing, omg – and in the midst of pulling out my winter-weight quilt and a lovely furry flanellette bed set from the cupboard, a whole load of memories got pulled out too.
I remember buying that flannelette bedset; I remember the incredulity with which I met the [...]

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Galloping towards Christmas….

Again, whole weeks gone and nothing bloggish to show for it.
It’s amazing to me how we drop into a sort of busy neutral; the world flows past us or we whizz past thr world and don’t make contact much along the way. Time to slow down and think of 10 lovely or striking things that happened [...]

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Pop Pop, Bang Bang

…and so to Three Chimneys, for a wonderful weekend of digging, garden fettling, bulb planting and skip filling. Things continue apace and the house, which Ro dourly prognosticates to be ’falling down’, is now rising, phoenix-like, out of the ashes. It has been sorely neglected, it is true. The previous owners did all sorts of unnamably evil things to the [...]

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Things I Loved About my Weekend in Cornwall…

Seeing my family. There’s nothing quite like the seaside for inspiring a little bit of giddy irresponsibility, as seen by my brother’s eyebrows taking on a life of their own…
 The wonderful weather. No rain, no wind to speak of, sunshine, warmth, sweet breezes and heavy dew. The scenery was amazing, all the nostalgia of my [...]

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Donald Christopher Stormonth Farquhar, 1934-2009

My dear uncle Donald died on Saturday 5th September 2009. I was informed yesterday. I wanted to write a little about my memory of him, how much I missed him when he was alive, and how much I mourn his passing now.
My father’s older brother, Donald was always a raffish, exciting, exotic character. He would appear bronzed [...]

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In Which I Muse About Cooking…

I think this post is going to be a long one. I feel the need to spread myself over this topic and hug it like a long-lost friend. In a sense, it’s a recapturing too; I’ve been divorced from more than a husband this year. All the effort and upset has caused me to fracture and [...]

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Has it really been that long?

A whole month seems to have passed since I last wrote but really, how did it go so fast? The calendar assures me I’m right – here we are at the 10th August, halfway to the Autumn. Actually, one of my favourite times of year in coming now, Harvest through to Christmas. A really special, rejuvenative time. [...]

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