Author Archives: fordhollow74

CANNA

Last week we said goodbye to our dog and friend of the last few years, CANNA. She was a fortnight short of her fourteenth birthday, the fifth dog we have owned since our first in 1971. KATIE MALACCA, a Dalmatian, … Continue reading

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THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

Last night I watched the International Space Station fly over. Its orbit had taken it over South America, crossing the Equator, and the Atlantic to overfly the West of England, seemingly directly over where I stood, watching, the Sun’s bright … Continue reading

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HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY?

Until this year my knowledge of the Republic of Ukraine has been minimal. I knew little of the country’s geography and even less of its history. Over recent years there have been increasing press and broadcast reports and now in … Continue reading

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DUDLEY AND EUNICE, SUCH A SWEET COUPLE.

They arrived on the charabanc for their seaside break at the Great Grand Hotel in Weston-super-Mare, down from the Midlands. Two nights bed and breakfast, take the sea air, have a good break then home again. But something must have … Continue reading

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IS THERE AN END IN SIGHT?

Rather shocked to see it is again ten months since I wrote in Chip’s Chatter. I must return to my original intention of monthly pieces now, surely, that the pandemic is waning. Progress with my work in progress has also … Continue reading

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CATCHING UP

You would have thought that the last few lockdown months would have been ideal for posting on the website and making progress on my several writing projects. Not a bit of it. I see it is ten months since I … Continue reading

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ON EXPERTISE AND CRAFTSMANSHIP

I am reading Mark Norman’s thought-provoking book on Folklore; ‘Telling the Bees – and other customs – The Folklore of Rural Crafts – The History Press’. There is much to think about stemming from this book not only during our … Continue reading

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ISOLATION

Throughout the world people are attempting to isolate themselves and their families from the pandemic winding its deadly fingers through Twenty-first Century civilization. At the same time, in all countries, dedicated health professionals strive to repel the wretched consequences of … Continue reading

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DRAGONFLY

A delight of summertime is to see Dragonflies. They come in many sizes and colours. They are predators, hunting flies as they zip around in their summer mating dance. Most of their life cycle is under water, in some species … Continue reading

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GOLD BLOCK

In one of my infrequent episodes of tidying-up, a small round tin emerged, resisting any immediate attempt to reveal the contents within. A pipe tobacco tin from the 1950s, a remaining link to my father who for a few years … Continue reading

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