Well, let’s see . . . a fair bit of work has gone into the compiling of all the components for the big ‘book of the blog,’ but it’s all finished now, and the proof came back by 1st Class…
Category: In-Between Times
New projects for the coming year . . .
There’s a variety of new ideas floating around these valleys, some of which may come to fruition in the new year ahead. If they do, then the work begun this year will have laid the foundation for those projects of…
Old Man Bottom
I suppose in every language, there are idiosyncrasies that will trip just about everyone up. Things like that verse in the carol ‘Ding-dong merrily on high’ where the line ‘And i-o, i-o, i-o, by priests and people sungen’, and you’re…
Last-minute shopping
Today somehow feels like the last convenient opportunity to get out to the local shops and snap up the critical stocking stuffers that you know will be especially appreciated by your beloved on Christmas morning. At least, that’s what I’ve…
Poetry: Practice of Life
It’s often said that, like acting, you have to live in order to be able to write. I loved poetry in my youth, but then decided I needed a lot more living to be able to appreciate it. In fact,…
The season turns . . .
I dropped into the Post Office yesterday morning to buy a stamp and post a letter, and Elsie and Jane had the fire blazing. How warm and cosy it felt. When I got back home from my errand, we sat…
The August Bank Holiday Weekend
It’s the last holiday weekend before school, isn’t it? So what’s everybody doing, I wonder? I went to Allendale area notices on Facebook a week ago and asked! Not overwhelmed with responses, but a few came in. Someone is going…
The butcher is closed . . . but WMH Meats steps up
It must have been the end of July the butcher shop closed, since that’s the first notice from WMH Meats in Allendale area notices, that the Haydon Bridge firm would be delighted to take orders from, and deliver to, Allendale…
Wildflower joys . . .
As I write, Earnest the neighbour’s pea cock is stretched out indolently between the white elder and the pink one in the sunshine, between the wild roses and the rampant honeysuckle, as if he owns the place. Maybe he does,…
Surprising Allenheads
Actually, on my reconnoitre around Allenheads yesterday, to prepare for today’s diary entry (recall that we’re featuring free things to do for the family, on successive Saturdays, having already diarised The River Path, Allendale Smelt Mill, and The Chimneys), I…