Jeni Barnett

Outside looks inviting, but inside has won out. Yes, yes I know I should be smelling the damp earth, digging up the weeds, I know I should be kicking over the leaves and planting snow drops for the spring BUT I cannot be arsed. Why can’t I be bothered? Because I have had a long … Read more

The comment from ‘Grancangirl’, for just a nano second, upset me. My initial reaction to nasty posts always has the same affect on me. I read it once, then again, then wonder what I did to make ‘Grancangirl’, and the likes of her, be so hurtful. And then I remember that I am in favour … Read more

Sometimes, just sometimes, I think my cottage may be the cause of my ill health. That the North/North West facing aspect is lousy Feng Shui. Then I remember that being ill and getting better takes time when you are three score years and eight. When so many folk die in their late 60’s I am … Read more

In 1589 a botanical garden was opened in Basle, a Chestnut tree was planted in Duddleswell, East Sussex, whilst over in Somerset John Harrington was busy inventing the first flushing water closet at his house at Keelson in Bath. He called it ‘Ajax’ a pun on an Elizabethan slang word for privy – ‘Jakes’ – … Read more

In-between the floods of Texas, the old gits birthday and a glut of runner beans, the month comes to a balmy close. This August has gone so quickly I can almost recall it minute by minute. My little red car had new pistons because I drove it into the ground without oil. My car does … Read more

The sky is low. the purple lilac outside the kitchen window looks limp. I’ve been watching the butterflies, because Saint David Attenborough wanted us to count them. One orange, two red admirals, and some white ones. Not as many as there used to be, in 1984 we had blue butterflies fluttering by. So I went … Read more

Now the thing about a blog is that it’s personal, owned by you. Written by you, for you and for whoever wants to be associated with you. I’ve been blogging for about ten or so years, and I’m still none the wiser in how to make more people see what I write. I’m in and … Read more

So now we are witnessing the outing of well paid BBC players. Outed by politicians who own companies worth millions, outed by dispassionate hard hearts who have always bleated on about the BBC being biased. Outed by a government that has as much decency as an evangelical pastor who has been outed by a self-serving … Read more

It’s raining. The kale, broccoli, cauliflower and runner beans are loving it. The raspberries are shrivelled and the strawberries have a little life left. I am, officially, theeee most boring woman in the world. I’ve been doing my yoga, and walking. I’ve been doing my hoeing and mowing. I’ve been mediating and chilling and then … Read more