Blog Fatigue

Even a Duracell Bunny blogger’s batteries run flat and after more than 100 daily posts I am taking a breather. Posts will resume soon. If you register your e mail address in the field at the top of this page you will get an e mail when there’s a new post. When I was posting… Continue reading Blog Fatigue

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Categorised as Psychology

Trick Or Treat?

Our Umbrian farmhouse had apparently lovely bowls of autumnal fare including squashes, gourds and pumpkins. Sarah painstakingly prepared them, doing a lot of peeling and de-seeding. Unfortunately there was an ornamental pumpkin in the display. Have you ever eaten a gordo ornamentale?

Free Lunch.

About six days work a year, free lunches and £25,000. That’s what a non exec. director usually gets. But what does the shareholder, ultimately employing him/her get?

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Categorised as Business

Autumn in Umbria

It is distinctly autumnal in north Umbria. Mushrooms, truffles, gourds and pumpkins are on display in the shops; and chestnuts. The view across the valley from L’Ospidale to Monte Santa Maria Tiberina is beautiful. L’Ospidale was probably a hostel for pilgrims and was restored by its current owner about 25 years ago. Today we drove… Continue reading Autumn in Umbria

Toast

The announcements on trains in Italy are made first in Italian and then in English. The English version has been pre-recorded in the same way as the announcement of tube stops are on London Underground.

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Categorised as Travel

First World Problems

A hotel bedroom is really just, as E M Forster might have written, A Room with a Loo but people can be picky and that includes me.

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Categorised as Travel

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose

(That’s the only French content in this post.) This is what the old Odeon in Kensington High Street will look like after it has been re-developed as flats with seven cinema screens in the basement. Looks good to me. The Art Deco facade has been preserved but the conservationists are still furious. 

Coal To Newcastle

The UK’s second biggest export market in August this year was Switzerland at £2.3 billion (the biggest was the US, £3.2 billion), according to the Barometer column in The Spectator this week. So what on earth are we selling so much of to the Swiss?

Three Artists

Alan Ellison and Ronnie Wood have an unusual connection. Both are in their sixties and both are artists. Alan lives in Wales and has featured in a previous post (The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore). Ronnie is making his first appearance in these pages. While you are mulling over their connection I will show you… Continue reading Three Artists

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Categorised as Art