Monthly Archives: June 2020

Counting the pennies

A friend who grew up in rural Ireland in the 1940s used to tell of her mother’s keeping of the household accounts. They lived in a rectory in frugal times when clerical stipends did not allow for anything other than … Continue reading

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Distant images

We were all once children. It seems something easy to forget. Leafing through a family photograph album, it can seem strange to look at pictures of people now long dead when they were young. There are photographs of my grandparents in … Continue reading

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Forty years a serviceman

Dad was “invalided out of the Navy” in 1962. Whether or not this was the correct term for his discharge, it was the term used by our family. It sounded strange to the ears of a child, the word “invalid” … Continue reading

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A propensity for lies

Ironing a pile of shirts on a Saturday morning provides an opportunity to dip into the BBC Sounds App. The selection of past programmes and podcasts is sometimes too vast, there is too much choice. Time that could have been … Continue reading

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Being a non-swimmer

The warm sunshine has brought out a plethora of paddling pools. The sound of laughter and splashes can be heard from many quarters. I think I could manage a paddling pool, but nothing any deeper. At the age of thirty-eight, … Continue reading

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