Saturday morning – The calm before Sunday’s forecast rainstorm. Serenity prior to the tempest. Tranquillity ahead of the deluge. The affable Doctor Henry Jekyll afore his morph into evil Edward Hyde. Sunshine graces this corner of England’s green and pleasant land. West Yorkshire making the most of today’s solar rays by donning a ragged straw sun hat, factor 20 sun cream, while contemplating an eastbound trip along the A64 for […]
Twenty eight years ago today I became a father for the first time following my son Jonny joining the cast of this reality show called life. A rollercoaster of a gig that my boy has thus far weathered relatively well, arriving into adulthood as an engaging and grounded young man of whom I’m very proud. Never short of a whimsical putdown or a quip at his dad’s expense, Jonny is […]
Yesterday, I ventured east on the A64 to the York Designer Outlet where I met up with my twentysomething son Jonny. An amiable young man, the fact he’s occasionally prepared to read my narratives, when his sister steadfastly refuses, contribute to making the Leeds lad my favoured offspring. I’m not upset about my daughter Rachel’s stance, but she won’t be laughing (rather like her brother reading my monologues) when my […]
Yesterday afternoon, I started the unenviable task of tidying our garage. A tedious job that included the cleaning out of my toolbox, sorting screws into comparable sizes and pondering why, during my 29 year marriage, I’d gone to the unnecessary expense of purchasing two of every tool. Amongst the emotional re-acquaintances I made sorting my toolbox, I was reunited with dust and wood shavings from when we lived in Bedfordshire over 21 years ago. Not to mention finding scores of […]
My week of exercise and healthy eating unceremoniously came off the rails yesterday evening. The willpower of yours truly, stoic foe of temptation over the previous seven days or so, conspicuous by it’s absence during a visit to Headingley cricket ground. An evening sojourn with a pal to witness the Yorkshire v Lancashire T20 Blast game. All the ingredients were there to stress test my self-discipline. For instance, my mate Mike and I had to walk past St Michaels […]
Twenty seven years ago today I became a father for the first time. It was just gone 3 am when my son Jonathon made an appearance at a Bedfordshire hospital. His arrival followed a harrowing seven hours for his mum, and me shouting myself hoarse with regular cries of “Heave!”….. An unhelpful yell that made it appear the delivery room was the scene of intermittent rugby scrums. Towards the end of her long labour, the doctor and midwife […]
Recently, I visited York to see my son Jonny on his day off. It’s always a fillip to catch up with the lad who calls me dad……. He calls me some less flattering things as well, but they’ll remain within the family. Jonny and I took in lunch in one of York’s many fine eateries. It’s always a dear do feeding the lad, who assumes expensive tastes when his old […]
