Adrenaline is amazing stuff. Last night our house was partially flooded due to my not being fit enough to sweep autumnal leaves from our...

“Sunny all night, cloudy all day.” I leaned over and pecked my wife good morning. “What?” Half awake, she rubbed her eyes. For most of...

2.45pm. Wave within wave of notes ripple across the afternoon roofs, spreading jubilation. Eight bells, some four hundred years old, each...

“Do you know where my things are….” “Things?” She lifted her hands, cupped her ears. “Oh, your headstones. There.” I pointed to the...

Encouraged by various readers, I've returned earlier than I'd imagined. “Help me. Call the police. Get me out of here. I’m being held...

Beer, Devon, as the sun set For the first time in ages, four days ago I looked at reader numbers of this blog and discovered that...

I’d forgotten to turn off the phone and we were off to bed. A flurry of texts, something desperate going on. Leave it till morning, too...

my blog is half done, but ill health means it'll be later this weekend or today, sorry

Few have not been touched by the scenes at Kabul Airport, decent people from an ancient, admirably artistic and refined culture calf deep...

If you are feeling sorry for yourself, the best cure for slumping in the emotional gutter is to put yourself in another’s shoes. Here’s...

The Taliban moving across my screen took me back over the years. I recognised the tribal features of men from the north, Asiatic, others...

Hearing a roaring engine, seeing her wobbling with each step as she moved over the pedestrian crossing, I stuck my arm in to the road....

Protecting wildlife In the plot next to us there are badgers, lots of them because a kindly young woman feeds them peanuts each night and...

“I should be paying, last night he went overdrawn doing a supermarket shop,” I winked at the waiter. “I hate those supermarket bills,”...

I fall in to the same trap each time. When somebody who has wronged me becomes afflicted by contrition, I instantly forgive them. It is...

She was young, lithe, naturally cheerful, her life lay ahead of her and she was ready to flee the nest. We talked for a good half hour as...

Booing at men, because they are black, because they missed scoring in a football match! Who are those idiots whose voices rang across the...

The haunting notes of a bagpipe floated down our busy street, bouncing off shoppers in masks, echoing from the bright shop windows and...

I have become a lazy toad. It now takes effort to lift a finger and cook, clean or any of the multiple things which go in to running a...

This blog is short because I’ve a very busy week. You really can’t trust politicians. “This morning as we stood here,” the man pointed at...