R's rue

That's my lovely son Ian, photographed at Chatsworth yesterday afternoon - up by The Hunting Tower. How did he get to be thirty six years old? I composed another blogpost titled "Son" back in  November 2005 not long after I began this blog. Go here. His life has moved on considerably. He is now one of Britain's best known advocates for vegan cuisine with several  popular vegan books behind him under the "Bosh!" label and he is now on the verge of buying a flat in Shepherd's Bush, West London. He remains the great lad he was back in 2005. The very core of him is still the same. Decent, kind and cheerful. His own man. For  years he had a smashing girlfriend but her mental ill-health drove them apart. He just could not handle it any more. After that, he mostly lived independently - quite monkish you might say. However, he finally brought someone new up to The Hunting Tower. It's Sarah. They have been together since last October and seem very happy i...

I went to bed early last night.  It was 8 pm....unheard of for me. Subsequently I was wide awake before five, woken by Dorothy who had noticed one of my psoriasis covered kneecaps sticking out from under the duvet  and was busy plucking off the scabs with her teeth and tongue. It wasn’t an unpleasant sensation, to be sure , so I sipped my coffee ( I leave a flask by my bed now for early morning get ups) and prepared myself for another day at work. We all have our own sayings. Many of them are inherited by parents or significant others or we just have them evolve through the general trails and tribulations of life. One of mine is ..... “ I’m old enough and ugly enough to deal with it.....”   This is all about not keeping your gob shut, whether it be in a conflict situation or just in everyday life. I have an example Last Monday I went to the garden centre in the village for bedding plants. The lockdown rules had just been relaxed and the place was busy. On one...