Journal

A final goodbye to Raffles 2/11/2010 – 2/1/2024

A final goodbye to Raffles 2/11/2010 – 2/1/2024

We said goodbye to our dear Raffles this morning. It was a difficult decision, striking a balance between too soon and too late, but with hindsight it was not too soon and I would not have wanted to leave it too late. Raffles had had a malignant tumour removed from...

Here I am again

Here I am again

It's been a while, hasn't it? And not entirely through choice. Thanks to some Tl;dr behind-the-scenes machinations to do with Wordpress and Jetpack and Mailchimp, I think, my blog is no longer being distributed via email to its previous subscribers, who will not have...

What a week!

What a week!

It's been quite a week in Gitaland. Last Tuesday I was asked to be a Trustee of the branch of the charity with which I've volunteered since 2013. This nomination came out of nowhere and I was hugely flattered by it. I'm not sure exactly what I'll bring to the table...

Letting Raffles lick the spoon

Letting Raffles lick the spoon

Oh. Some moments, scents, tastes, songs instantly invoke nostalgia, bringing back crystal-sharp memories of a wonderful holiday; or a happy time in your life; or a close friend whom you no longer see for whatever reason. What's the opposite of a nostalgia cue, I...

Bumbling along

I haven't written since July. To tell you the truth life has gone on much as before with the usual daily rhythm. We think we have finally cracked how to make the puppy sleep through the night by taking him out for a walk and a sniff just before bed, though he still...

Graduation day

Graduation day

It wasn't entirely clear whether Eliza would have her degree scripts marked in time for her planned graduation ceremony or, indeed whether there would be any ceremony at all, but a couple of weeks before the date pencilled into our diaries, Eliza learned that she had,...

It hurts

It hurts

Twitter collapsed on Saturday. When I expressed my dismay, some random dick criticised me for being so emotionally invested in an app and basically told me to get a life, and this ill-tempered sniping at feelings you do not understand has come to sum it up. There was...

Sunday – geothermal

Sunday – geothermal

It was an early start for the a Sunday morning on  the Golden Circle tour from Reykjavik. On the way to the Geysir area of geothermal activity, we passed Reykjanes, where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge comes ashore, the only point at which this extensive sub-Oceanic mountain...