Month: July 2015

My grandparents and a family friend, an eccentric Pole of partial German parentage, drove me to Konz Hbf. I felt little when I left. To say that my efforts in Hunland were in equal measures frustrating and frustrated is to verge past the point of understatement. Yet, I could not manage to muster much enthusiasm for China. The process thus far has been long, costly and drawn-out. That my nerves were already taxed to the breaking point led me to having a certain measure less patience than I normally would have had. Still, it seemed as if things worked out in the wash.

Continue reading “Living With the Han 1: Spite and Malice From a Thousand Li Away.”

Hip Hip Hip Hooray

We’re off to the Pyrenees
Tomorrow, not today
To test out our poorly knees

Hip Hip Hip Hooray

We’re going to escape the heat
I tell you where we’ll stay
A place that little can beat
A country very small
Where Catalan is spoken
Where mountains stand very tall
And the Euro is just a token

So see you when we get back

Next weekend hopefully
That’s if we don’t lose our track
And end up in the Alps 🙂

This is one of our favourites – Protein-Packed Prawn Stew

It is an ideal meal after a hard day out walking or when time is short as it is high in protein and is ready in just 15-20 minutes.

A fresh baguette is also a must for mopping up the tomato sauce.

Preparation time is short – 15-20 minutes.

Continue reading “Janus: The best I Can Do For Tonight – Prawn Stew”

By 1980, I was ensconsed in Embra and had been a member of North Berwick West for five years.

A notice went up in the locker room advising members that volunteer stewards were required for that year’s Open at our neighbouring course. Muirfield, home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.

My mate Dave and I signed up instanter. In due course we got the call to go for training on a Wednesday evening in June. We took an hour off work, drove the 25 miles to NB and smacked our drives down the first fairway just after 5 pm. Continue reading “You Really Had to Be There”

There’s a readers’ poll in Le Figaro this morning.  The question is “Was Hollande right to make public the fact that an Islamist plot has been discovered and dismantled in France?”  Seventy-seven percent of those who responded voted that Hollande was wrong to do so. (Of course 77% of the French would say Hollande was wrong to say it was raining while standing in the middle of a downpour!)

One would hope that Hollande had the agreement of France’s security and intelligence services to make this announcement, but we don’t know.  So, is it better to rub the noses of of wannabe terrorists in France in yet another failure?  Or would it be better to simply jail the would-be perpetrators quietly and leave the terrorist community in the dark?  I should imagine that the first alternative might simply spur them on to greater efforts, while the second might spread disquiet and despondency “pour décourager les autres”.