December 2011
31 posts
Awards →
The Laughing Horse Blog Awards committee have been meeting at a secret country hotel location this Christmastide to thrash out differing views on who should receive the coveted Blogger of…
It’s all a dream and illusion now →
If you find my stories of my new life in a strange land confusing, you might want to read the tale of Maurice Wilson from the beginning. I don’t know if it was the Brussels sprouts or the Christmas…
Eve →
Is it just me? Invariably, I have relished Christmastime. It has been a time for family, for taking stock, for feasting, marking the end of one year and the coming of another one. Usually, I feel…
When Glad Tidings Were Brung →
If you find my stories of my new life in a strange land confusing, you might want to read the tale of Maurice Wilson from the beginning. Detective Snow called this morning like the Archangel Gabriel…
Lenticular →
Yesterday the Lord spake, leaving a sign above Yorkshire’s Pennine hills in the unusual and rather beautiful shape of a lenticular cloud. By the way, contrary to rumour, Len Ticular…
Twas the Night Before Christmas →
If you find my stories of my new life in a strange land confusing, you might want to read the tale of Maurice Wilson from the beginning. Christmas Eve in Cleckhuddersfax and I believe we are finally…
Justice →
Terry and Suarez shake hands before Chelsea’s game with LiverpoolThis post is inspired by recent news about two top English Premier League footballers. In a Liverpool v Man…
Truth is like the sun* →
In case you didn’t know it (and I’m sure that you do) it’s the winter solstice today which means we’re as far away from the sun as it is possible to get. Or at least it feels that way in…
Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale* →
Day three in the police protection programme and we’re at a bit of a loose end. There’s not a lot to do in Cleckhuddersfax. Mrs P has taken up knitting cakes, a popular past-time in these parts it…
Farewell →
People who are not football supporters may be puzzled by this post - (just as I am becoming increasingly puzzled about what is happening to the old Blogger interface). Yesterday, Hull…
Things I Hate About Christmas →
Don’t get me wrong, this is not a Bah! Humbug! post. I may have to spend it in our new home in Cleckhuddersfax, but not even that prospect can dampen my spirit. I’ve always enjoyed the Christmas…
Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower,... →
The police come in for a lot of criticism these days, but they’re still the people to turn to when you’re in trouble. When I explained what I’d posted about cross-dressing in Yorkshire, there was a…
Cross Cross-dressers →
I was somewhat aback by by the heated reaction to my post about Maurice Wilson yesterday. There was me thinking I was celebrating the life of a forgotten Yorkshireman and all I get are insults and…
Pointlessness →
Children starve in lawless Somalia while the great Amazonian rainforest shrinks with each passing hour. Glaciers recede to reveal scoured landscapes never seen before as unemployed workers across the…
Yorkshire Transvestite Conquers Everest →
My virtual acquaintance, Mr Pudding, has been extolling the contributions that his fellow Yorkshiremen have made to the world, for good or ill. From George Bamber who devised the first double yellow…
Marvell →
Recently, as standard bearer of the Yorkshire Freedom Army, I have had to apologise for Jeremy Clarkson and George Bamber. However, today I celebrate the life of another…
Party Time →
We went to our first (and possibly last) Christmas party last night and it was absolute bedlam. It was the annual Chadkirk Dog Training Club bash and there were forty or fifty people and dogs…
V is for Victoria, Vineyards and Vuvuzela →
Can I complete the whole of Round 9 of ABC Wednesday based on our four week stay in South Africa in February? Click on the photos to enlarge. My first V from Cape Town is the Victoria and Alfred…
Dangers of Live Broadcasting →
Yesterday was the busiest day of the year for the Royal Mail which was expecting to deal with 130 million Christmas cards and parcels as well as the usual slurry of business mail, household bills and…
October 2011
33 posts
Poem →
There’s a man I know whose life is ruled by habits and the clock. He was married in the mid-seventies when he and his wife bought a house very similar to ours but just round the corner. They had…
Water →
I took this (clickable) photograph earlier today. It is of the Upper Derwent Reservoir ten miles west of Sheffield. Up ahead you can see Howden Dam which was constructed a hundred…
Idiots →
Over in my home city - Hull, a bunch of primary school teachers have just found themselves in hot water for indiscreet communication on Facebook. These people are meant to be serving a deprived…
N is for Newlands, Neptune and Nobel →
Can I complete the whole of Round 9 of ABC Wednesday based on our four week stay in South Africa in February? Click on the photos to enlarge. One of the things I promised myself before we arrived in…
Voice →
Dad in wartime
I hadn’t heard my father’s voice since September 1979. I was the last member of our family to see him alive. He was lying in a curtained hospital bed in Hull having…
Clocking Off →
I haven’t been in the best of moods for a few days. I started with the sniffles and sneezing of a cold on Friday and by yesterday I was feeling particularly sorry for myself. I think it may have had…
Mappa Monday Challenge →
You’ve probably heard the joke about the army sergeant-major who sets his squaddies the challenge of measuring the height of the flagpole. After much scratching of heads, one soldier solves the…
Flooding →
Thailand is currently experiencing its worst flooding in living memory. The ancient capital of Ayutthaya is inundated. Above you can see Buddhist monks in their familiar saffron robes…
Down and Out Down Under →
I didn’t write about the Rugby World Cup yesterday because there are at least two periodic readers from the North Wales area and I’m not one to intrude on private grief. Not that I wasn’t supporting…
Unthank →
As regular visitors may remember, I am on a mission to photograph all of Sheffield and its environs - every square kilometre. In yesterday afternoon’s lovely autumn sunshine, I found myself walking…
In Print →
I don’t like to blow my own trumpet, well no more than once or twice a day anyhow, but I thought this was worth noting. I had my first photo published in our local paper today, along with a few other…
Mockery →
Above, you can see a doctored image of me recently produced by the talented New Zealand artist Ms Katherine De Chevalle. This faraway lady continues to doubt that my Beau is a real…