If anyone has been trying to contact me this month and wondered why I've been so silent - the terrible truth can now be revealed.

On Monday December 3rd our broadband connection died. No internet, no email, no telephone for four weeks - everything was routed through our Alice Box ADSL modem which, no doubt in sympathy with the French train drivers ( Read more... )

I'm at one of those authorial crossroads, not quite sure which direction to take and wondering if I can get planning permission to create my own road - a far more entertaining path with lots of twists, good views and connecting all the places a good road should ( Read more... )

"I tried to get rid of them, but they were having a party, eating all my bread, bananas and avocados and swigging bottles of wine they had taken out of the refrigerator,” said Carol White, manager of the Camel Rock restaurant in the quiet village of Scarborough near Cape Point, South Africa.And to make things worse they ran off without paying ( Read more... )

Another exciting weekend on the smallholding and another trip to the ER. This time the result of an accident with ... an axe ( Read more... )

To recap: it's September 1995. We'd just survived eight months in France and then this happened. Someone stole my identity and grabbed our life savings. And, according to a witness description - that someone might be David Jarvis, our estate agent - the man who I arranged to have all the evidence sent to...That must have been the reason he'd ( Read more... )

A new svelte Kai has returned form International Kitten of Mystery Rehab. Readers may remember the consternation in International Kitten of Mystery circles over the full-figured superstar's weight. A situation that came to a head when he became stuck under a sideboard (I think James Bond had a similar problem in Casino Royale with a Russian tabby) ( Read more... )

By popular demand a whole chapter this time.

To recap: it's September 1995. We'd just survived eight months in France and then this happened. Someone stole my identity and grabbed our life savings. When I discover a forged passport may have been used to open a bank account in my name in Spain, I ring the Passport Section of the British Embassy... ( Read more... )

To recap: it's September 1995. We'd just survived eight months in France and then this happened. Someone stole my identity and grabbed our life savings. Now I discover they somehow forged my passport...You would think that someone ringing to report a passport fraud would be accorded a modicum of priority ( Read more... )

To recap: it's September 1995. We'd just survived eight months in France and then this happened. Someone stole my identity and grabbed our life savings. Now my estate agent has given me a lead - a wandering Irish con man called Peter Kennedy...I phoned Andy almost immediately. After all, doesn't 'in strictest confidence' mean ‘pass it on as soon as ( Read more... )

With Household Security issuing a brown (mouse) alert, it's been a busy time for international kittens of mystery, Kai and Xena. Here we see the feline two sizing up a dangerous situation. Enemy mice, for there are no other kind, have been sighted holding illegal gatherings under this cupboard. Time for some non-covert kitten surveillance.

( Read more... )