Recent Posts

SHAZ! How the devil are you?  I hope yourself and himself are well.

Mrs Red makes sloe gin every year but muggins here has to pick the berries. I end up looking like a bad lion tamer.

When she's finished making the gin she uses the alcohol soaked berries in her home-made chocolate liqueurs.

Lethal they are.

Click to see full-size image.

Ordinary Wellington boots aren't really suitable or comfortable on long (ish) walks, but 4 or 5 years ago I discovered these.

Neoprene Wellies.

Basically a sturdy well made rubber boot with a tough, grippy sole and a waterproof Neoprene upper that hugs your leg instead of flapping around.

Bliss.


The thorn that gives the blackthorn its name is a phenomenal weapon. Up to 4 inches long and as hard as iron, it can really inflict some serious damage. The saving grace is, it's a defence weapon. Leave it alone and it will leave you alone.

Click to see full-size image.

A belated Happy New Year everyone.

Newportlad and I used to go out every autumn picking sloes from the blackthorn to make one of my fav tipples but we gave up as cheap gin stopped being cheap and you can buy it now so it's not worth it.

I do continue to make rhubarb and ginger gin and plum sherry.

My speciality grow your own is garlic, especially elephant garlic and this year I'm going to have a go at confit and black garlic,

I’m feeling good today

Sorry Ralph, but that was great entertainment for a neutral.

And for the non-neutral 

Sorry Ralph, but that was great entertainment for a neutral.

I'm just learning about "towel-gate".

So Brentford v Forest at 2pm.

I'll be funking for Forest, and later on during the post mortem, I'll be trying not to say anything too stupid.

I feel like a bit of a fraud when I talk about football. I've always enjoyed watching it but only in the way I enjoy watching most sports, my real passions were boxing and especially snooker.

So I wasn't a proper fan, I didn't have a team or anything, and the violence and hooliganism during the late 70s and early 80s appalled me.

Over the last few years though, I've taken a keener interest because the friends I knock around with talk about it all the time. They are real fans though, steeped in the history and tribalism of the game. They can and do talk about results and incidents from games played half a lifetime ago, and there are literally dozens of players whose careers they have followed from beginning to end. Every weekend creates a buzz of excitement that I experience vicariously.

I kind of get it now.

David is 100% correct - I'll be watching this one from behind the sofa!

Camper conversions. Definitely a lot more involved than people realise. Did you manage to salvage much from the old one?

As a neutral I'm looking forward to the match.