Just Vote!
Whatever your politics, tomorrow is the chance to have your say. I’m one of the lucky ones: the postal vote went off last week but some others have been scrambling for theirs. The alternative is to pitch up in person…
Category Blog
Beaten by two spring onions.
Last year I fell down the stairs and fractured a vertebra. Three weeks in hospital and more weeks in a special bed at home, it is proving a very long haul to recover. I’m trying to do all the right…
Damp all over.
Water spray is a great alternative to smoke for controlling honey bees. Yesterday, we were extracting over 20 kg of honey from the wax honeycomb frames from three of the sous-chef’s hives. Sticky work: removing the cappings from the honeycomb;…
Slept on it.
I confess that I was incandescent yesterday hearing that proposed tax reductions would be funded by removing benefits from many disabled people. But I took a bit of time to mull it over and realise it was just appalling presentation.…
Wheat-free dessert.
My latest cooking experiment: pear and cardamom almondine courtesy of Sarah (another with the patience and understanding of a beekeeper’s wife). I was testing out with the amazingly complex Thermomix that has been languishing on the worksurface until friend, Joan,…
So much talent.
At a charity conference last week. What a mass of talent in the room: a former rugby player and singer, a defence specialist, a company law consultant, a member of a benefits tribunal, a tax specialist. And those were only…
PIP: a bit of a rant!
Policy-makers want to reduce the costs of this benefit which supports people with disabilities. Firstly, PIP has nothing to do with work. It doesn’t matter if those getting the benefit are working or not. PIP is about the extra costs…
Ticket offices saved?
Talking on BBC Radio 5 Live last week about Labour’s plan to re-nationalise the railways, I was emphasising that 1-in-5 of the population are people with disabilities. Add a travelling companion, carer, family member or friend, and the numbers affected…
Sticky mess
Definition of Vulnerability: sous-chef carefully pouring large container of warm sticky honey into jars and unable to defend himself without spreading stickiness everywhere. Too tempting for tickling! It’s been a week of charities. Supporting the hand-over of Treasurers for…
Typical Monday morning?
Six tonnes of gravel arrived at o’crack sparrow to re-fill the drive. Before the lorry could reverse and drop the enormous heap, one car to be moved and one bike rescued. Most puzzling, the driver asked, “Have you got many…