Oslo residents Elisabet Helsing & Graham Dukes have a rubbish day out You remember the dear old dustbin? Back in the forties all our good parents had one, just out of sight beyond the kitchen window. It was mostly filled with the greyish powder left after a good blaze in the kitchen grate, but anything…
The apprentice’s tale
It was a most unexpected ending to the day. Rather than feeling joyful, that afternoon was filled with sadness. We had been building a wall on and off for twelve months; it was the year's big project. Then the work was done, the site was cleared, and it was time for saying goodbye. I didn’t…
Animal antics
It was part of my job to set exams. One year I decided on a new approach – I would write questions that came at the curriculum from new angles. Within an hour of the exam finishing, angry students had arrived at my door. I had tricked them. Generations of students before them had analysed…
French without tears
It took some time to realise what was happening and it was wonderful. On the Wednesday of my week in Paris I had been to a film and had understood most of what was said. By the Friday, understanding spoken French was almost second nature. After six years, something had clicked. In aeroplane terms, I…
Granny C and the thistle
Granny C was angry. She wanted to see more of us. She had come to stay and we weren't paying her enough attention. She knew we had planned to clear the thistles from the meadow to allow the poppies to re-grow like last year [Field of Glory, 15th August, 2011] but spending hours digging each…
Reasons to be cheerful
A couple of 'newsy' things have escaped comment in this blog over the past few months. Since both news items are reasons to be cheerful they must not go unremarked. The first (though not necessarily in the order it happened) was the promotion of Joe Collier from BMJ journeyman blogger to Guest Blogger of the…
In the aspect of the beholder
Until recently our feelings about views have usually differed. While my wife loves ‘untouched’ expanses of nature, the Cairngorms for example with not a house in sight, or miles of Atlantic rollers, my breath is taken away by man-made structures. The Roman aqueduct at Nimes blew my mind when I was a teenager, and for…
Carry on nurse
In Fulham Palace Road, the darkest hour is just before dawn, says Philip McGough. I had bragged that I would be fitted with a titanium alloy hip of space satellite quality to return me to Fred Astaire class mobility. On returning from hospital I announced that I now had a ceramic hip joint. My children,…