My recent trip to Canada was full of surprises. Not least amongst them was the decor at my Bed and Breakfast. In my limited experience B&Bs are more functional than fun. My week at Wendy's was different - here was a visual cornucopia. Each day for a week I worked with my son Joshua on…
Jam and sardines
Graham Dukes is a founder member of the Academy of Unlikely Bedfellows It really began a long time ago – I was a college student when it happened, sitting around with a group of colleagues, when (with blood glucose levels falling as the evening wore on) the conversation not unnaturally turned to food. What sort…
Time traveller
On trips abroad my mother-in-law would wear two watches. Wherever she was, she needed to know at a glance exactly what the time was at home. I would tease her - surely she could work it out for herself! And why did it matter anyway? But she never changed. Then, one morning last week, I…
The scenic route
Last week a favourite cartoon from the sixties popped into my mind's eye. It showed a large, unshaven prison escapee, dressed in a characteristic arrow-covered uniform, bearing down on an old woman standing by a fork in the road. He asks "Which is the best way to the railway station?" She replies, pointing to the…
Stand corrected
I wanted to give Charlie a hug. He had been yanked into the air by his wrist, yelled at, then whacked. He had got out of his pushchair and was caught by his distraught mother just as he was about to cross the kerb into the road. She was angry, he burst into tears, and…
Rough and tumble
Although I am recovering now, the events over the last three weeks have given a sobering reminder of how bodies - mine at least - age. Despite regular sessions in the gym, my trunk and limbs were suddenly forced to declare, or so it seemed, how they had become less able at coping with physical…
A thought for tomorrow
Graham Dukes calls for the abolition of February and March I have been thinking. I don’t do it very often, because it tends to give me a headache; however, I have some hope that one day it may earn me a medal. This particular train of thought started up a while ago when I found…
Incatitude
Alan West resorts to "Cat Stuck On Roof" story. If you want unquestioning devotion they say, get yourself a dog. I’m all in favour of unquestioning devotion and I rather admire dogs, but I wouldn’t want one in the house. So we have a cat instead. What I like about cats is their pragmatism and…