I have a vague interest in astronomy. I've seen lots of meteor showers, the Hale-Bopp comet in 1995, and a very good lunar eclipse a few years ago. But everybody loves a solar eclipse. On 12 August 2026 a solar eclipse passed through Europe, with the Path of Totality travelling through Iceland and northern Spain.…
I last posted at the end of June. I wrote that it was 34c, the hottest June day on record in the UK. More than six weeks on, nothing has changed. That same temperature, 34c, is projected for London by the end of this week. It may even go higher. It has hardly rained a…
At one time most people in the UK could remember the summer of 1976. But you’d have to be at least 55 years of age to have any real memory of that strange time. It was a foretaste of what we are going through today, the hottest June day on record. I’m sitting at home…
The last time we visited Scotland was to deposit Dad's remains in Loch Lomond. Three years on, I was thinking of doing the same with Mum's ashes; but I recalled that she talked about how much she loved living in Crieff (Perthshire) when her family had been evacuated from Glasgow during the war. Maybe that…
We'd got as far as West Norwood (all of two miles), and I realised something was not quite right. The trusty Golf Estate was labouring a bit up the hill. And it was hardly Mont Blanc. There was a lot of luggage on board, but surely it didn't weigh that much? As we motored down…
Following two very enjoyable but busy weeks in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, we fancied a week at the seaside. Plan A was to go to Ko Chang on the Gulf of Thailand. However, the Thais and the Cambodians were lobbing shells at each other across the border, which necessitated a re-think. Not that we believed…
It was still bucketing down in the UK (and much of the rest of Europe) but we had another week in Chiang Mai. It was time to explore the old town, which lies inside a rectangle surrounded by a moat. Graham was our guide as we visited Wat Phra Singh, perhaps the most important of…
Our only other visit to this lovely country took place 15 years ago. It was a measly week of over-activity: flying to Bangkok, then a train south to Surat Thani, ferries to Ko Phangan and Ko Tao, then flying home via Ko Samui. In other words, too much time spent travelling. This would be a…
I was born in Glasgow in 1955. My parents, at that time, had no intention of moving. All their families and friends lived in Glasgow. But in 1959 Dad got a job in Surabaya, and off we went for a couple of years. It was the best thing that could have happened to me. By…
My mother died on Monday 8 December 2025 "of frailty and Alzheimer's Disease", according to her death certificate. She was 95 years old. I have written this post for those who knew her but will be unable to attend her funeral on Tuesday 6 January. First comes a very brief account of her life, particularly…
The Wight Stuff 