Journal

Eight maids a-milking

Eight maids a-milking

Right. This is my blog so I now make no apology for a small brag because if I can't do it here, I can't do it anywhere. Inspired by my friends Sarah and David, I spent the first half of last year adjusting my lifestyle and diet. I used the Noom system which TL;dr is...

An inauspicious start…

An inauspicious start…

I’m afraid the year has not started well for Oscar. We’ve recently been aware that his eyesight is failing with age and he’s become anxious when children race towards him on their scooters. There are an awful lot of children on scooters in Discovery Bay. Frightened at...

Seven swans a-swimming

Seven swans a-swimming

You know that image of a swan looking graceful and bold and serene on the still surface of a lake but underneath paddling like Proud Mary to stay afloat? That's most of us a lot of the time, I'd say. We have to feel the fear and do it anyway. There have been several...

Six geese a-laying

Six geese a-laying

So it's six geese a-laying and we have eaten goose for Christmas but it would seem that most people in the UK eat turkey on Christmas Day so here are six turkeys, utter fails that happened during the year. My rogues' gallery includes the Ziip (2nd one, as the first...

Five gold rings

Five gold rings makes me think of music, let the bells ring out for Christmas. This year I've learnt to sing five choral works from scratch to sing with five choirs in two countries: Symphony No 9 (Choral) Beethoven St Mark Passion JS Bach A Sea Symphony Vaughan...

Four calling birds

Four calling birds

Let us first deal with the controversy of whether it should be "calling birds" or "colly birds." One predates the other by about 100 years but apparently no-one really knows or cares about the difference so, for my purposes, and because it fits better with my post,...

Three French hens

Three French hens

Three hens unlikely to be French, admittedly, laid the eggs to make this Portuguese egg tarte (pastel de nata) that I ate in Macau today. I've never been keen on eggs but these are all the rage here in East Asia at the moment so it was mandatory to try one, though,...