Three Years Quitversary

I remember it well. At just gone 6pm, exactly three years ago, I pulled down the blind at the ticket office window. My working day was done. I went out the back door. It was a dark, damp evening. I lit up a cigarette. A Pall Mall Red, with a little menthol cartridge in the …

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The Magic of Youth

Mrs P and I went for a long walk through Kensington and across the Thames into Battersea last week. It’s familiar ground for me. I used to live in the area. Just over three decades ago one summer, I strolled into Chelsea Fire Station., the one in the photo. It was all a bit awkward. …

Remembrance Day

Today is Remembrance Day. The day we remember those who fell whilst serving in the armed forces of our country. The photo above includes my dad, taken somewhere in the Middle East in the mid/late 1940s. He’s second from right. He’d originally joined the RAF during WW2 and was about to deploy to a fighter …

Winter

November marks the start of winter by my calendar. It is feeling a bit wintry. The clocks have gone back, darkening our skies an hour earlier. The winter wonderland and Christmas market stalls are being put up in Bournemouth. Caffe Nero have the festive drinks menu and cups in stock. I like a Pumpkin Spice …

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Living La Dolce Vita

Most folk have a lottery fantasy or two. I have mine. If I should suddenly, and rather unexpectedly, find myself with a fortune sitting in my bank account, I would travel. Permanently. Forever, if the fortune allows. Just me, from place to place. Taking up residence in each new location for a month or three. …

The Half Century

What is life? Answer the question as you wish. But getting through each day is a victory. Surviving to see another year is a triumph that one should celebrate. I do not say this lightly. In many parts of the world, and one particular region of Europe at the moment, these victories are harder to …