I have recently been in contact with a family who’s son has just come out of the navy.  It doesn’t seem five minutes since he passed all the entrance requirements, the hefty medical stuff and after a couple more months delay in civvy street, off he went.  8 years later he  has decided the politics [...]

I am currently listening to the mens’ singles final at the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.  That funny little part of south west London that is the byeword in absolute sporting and behavoural perfection.  It is wonderful to note that all the contestants have to abide by strictly applied dress rules.  All playing [...]

Some of the things that come to mind regarding the very unexpected heatwave of late is how much I do not envy those folk who still have to attend an office block or warehouse to earn their crust!  Having done that for great periods of my working life over the years, I know full well [...]

I used to share a bedroom with a sister who was always much tidier than me.  It would be a battle ground and after a while, her irritation with my less tidy ways would boil over and a clear demarkation line would appear, beyond which I dare not let anything of mine stray – particularly [...]

There is a tiny office near me where a relative runs a web based business – all kinds of activities online and so her business is all contained within the one room – no goods arriving or going out, no packages to worry about and no garbage beyond the usual lunch packets and chocolate wrappers, [...]

In a lifetime ago I worked for a small company out in the sticks – a funny little industrial unit way out of town a few miles off the nearest bypass.  It was idyllic though, we were surrounded by nature, birds, squirrels, farmland.  For those of us who were not in a tearing hurry to [...]

When the family is small the worry is always that the little ones will crawl around and pick up germs from all the muck an dust that infiltrates the home.  Those carpets, so lusciously soft and inviting, may look nice and clean after the daily vacuuming, but they still harbour and unimaginable number of foreign [...]

After the lovely relaxed months during summer, there is probably an inclination to leave some of the less regular cleaning chores ‘for a rainy day’.  There is always that niggling feeling that spending too much time on cleaning up and tidying around the place, somehow it is a shame that the good weather is not [...]

On a very busy day, it can be extremely difficult to do all the housekeeping tasks that need  doing to keep on top of this never ending task.  It is possible to whizz round each room and plump up cushions and pillows, shaking other covers and sideboard cloths into shape as we go.  The kitchen [...]