You've come a long way since then! Even though many of the problems are the same (especially damp basements) no-one could describe the way the archives are cared for now as 'entirely unsatisfactory' !

Excellent & thought provoking article.

Oooh, that cat does look stressed......

How like your dear papa! I'm afraid it's in the genes.....

Mamdani? A chink of light in the darkness indeed....

Happy, happy days, when everything was possible.

Christmas presents to your nearest & dearest?

Oh dear! Wish I'd known! Herefordshire heaped with pumpkins; I could have brought some up with the girls last weekend. Hope you didn't get too wet and managed to have some fun. Did J make a good corpse bride?

Hope they enjoy grandpa's Brussels sprouts as much as they have the home grown carrots, onions & apple juice this week!

Did they watch a few clips of the shows as well? I'm not sure how much sense the words would make without meeting the family! Great 90s family favourite......

It is neither nocturnal nor herbivorous on Rottnest Island, a tourist spot off the coast of Perth, Western Australia. There, the quokkas potter amongst visitors in broad daylight, and jump onto picnic tables demanding food. The island was called Rats' Nest by the first Dutch sailors who saw them.

Leominster (the English one)

Oh no! The very first time I have heard this news. One of my favourite poets too. Which geography teacher was his neighbour? To lose him and Jane Goodall in 24 hours is too much.....

Oooh yum! That sounds fabulous!

He was. The very best of the best. I still miss him every day. He would be appalled by what is happening now.

When we lived in London we attended an Anglican church which had a German vicar who had migrated here. We took my father (WW2 soldier) to a Remembrance service there. Bernhard asked "Does your father know I'm German?" to which my father replied 'I fought so that men like him could come & live here".

Temptation beyond endurance dad, when all that grub is at nose level.....