According to Wikipedia, spiders have spun for at least 100 million years, a date defined thanks to a discovery of a web embedded in amber. So that makes these arachnids the oldest spinners on earth. Little wonder that Robert the…
Category: Anecdote
A handful of spuds
Yesterday we dined like rural royalty on wonderful Scottish moules, an enchanting salad from the polytunnel, and the very first handful of potatoes from our little patch. Actually, there were only enough spuds for the one helping (I pulled the…
Sorting out the tools . . . a mini-break in the offing?
It’s even worse than one might suppose: not only do we need a set of tools for fixing things around the house, but we also need another similar set for fixing things on the road in the ancient motorhome! Yesterday…
The subterranean beneath us
This could be a metaphorical exercise, but in fact it is very literal: this piece is about actual caves, dark places, and frightening adventures. I was inspired yesterday to write this after an experience I have aspired to for some…
Getting things ready for the job . . . and doing it
It’s beginning to feel like a crescendo of anticipation here, with the stuttering arrival of the various components required for a couple of jobs around the place. But first came the planning, putting the new systems together in my mind,…
Coming soon, twice!
“Absolutely barmy,” someone said, but somebody else noted that the Co-op is open in the early evenings after the Post Office is shut, while the MarketPlace shop is open on Sunday mornings when of course the Co-op is closed, thereby…
A ‘new’ car means nobody knows you . . .
In one of those small dawnings of rural realisation, I’ve suddenly become aware that if the new-to-us purchase is successful tomorrow, we’ll likely be travelling incognito for some time, since nobody will recognise the car! Course, as Neville Pringle noted…
Monday: Wash Day
I’m pretty sure that Monday is the traditional clothes washing day. Apparently we can thank the Victorians for this practise, which had the advantage of offering the household plenty of time throughout the week for the drying, pressing, folding and…
Preparation, then anticipation . . .
For a Sunday homily, I guess I can do worse than to ruminate on the conjoined concepts of ‘preparation’ and ‘anticipation’. But it feels like I’ve been looking forward to harvesting these potatoes for years, rather than the usual months!…
Click-bait, gaslighting, going viral . . . these new words!
Apparently, photos of cats being cute are the most clicked items in all of social media. Not that we’re looking for a viral response here today amongst the regular daily entries of Allendale Diary or anything, just saying. . ….