Month: October 2025

‘These are the good days’, according to a scientific discovery it is the five word sentence that can beat the blues. ‘Hedonic adaptation, also known as the hedonic treadmill, is the process by which people quickly return to a stable level of happiness after experiencing significant positive or negative events. This means that even after … Read more

It was a Sunday Sunday. I didn’t get dressed. I didn’t cook. I didn’t hoover. I didn’t garden. I didn’t wash the dishes. The dawter and her beau bought me the ‘Observer’ and I read an article on Bill Nighy who was asked to be Vogue’s agony uncle. That man of style makes me smile. … Read more

I taught Millie this morning, a clever, delightful 14 year old who is as sharp as a tack. I gave her a baton and asked her to conduct Barbara Streisand singing ‘Rainbow Connection’. 3/4 time and charming. We watched Sir John Barbirolli, then Alondra de la Parra conducting ‘Ravels Bolero’, which gave me the brainwave … Read more

Well worra week its been. The trees are falling to bits – to quote Laurie Lee – orange and crimson leaves all over the path. On Wednesday I had a blood transfusion, my bloody haemoglobin levels were so low that it was deemed necessary to hang two bags of vital fluid higher than my head … Read more

Pink sox, blue jeans, grey t-shirt and a purple sweater, my attire for the day at the seaside. I wear very old trainers that are falling apart but are the most comfortable of footlingwear. I drove through the falling leaves, arriving in Brighton by lunchtime. I parked the car in Hove actually. It took me … Read more