Wednesday May 13th 2026 "Are YOU always wanting to be your family pet's favourite human?"

Yes, Friends, are YOU always wanting to be your family pet's favourite 'human'? It's a natural enough urge, isn't it, and, according to Onion News, in one local family it's even causing serious conflict, would you believe!

And if you didn't catch the story, check out my own 'potted' version here in my blog, which cuts out some of the gory details, handily enough!!!!

Kudos Cookie !!!! Cookie always knows what she wants, that's for sure!!!!

And on an admittedly 'slow news day' this local story was quickly picked up by some of 'the nationals',  like the Times and the Telegraph, and, for a couple of hours, it even led the BBC World Service's early morning bulletins, would you believe! 

journalists at the BBC's World Service: led with the 'Cookie' story

on their first couple of early morning bulletins, would you believe!

Well, it's a story that's certainly bringing a cheeky smile to the faces of me and my wife Lois this morning, here in semi-transparent Liphook, Hampshire, as we take our near-daily walk over the 'hallowed turf' of local soccer giants Liphook United, that's for sure!!!!

my wife Lois and me this morning taking our near-daily walk over the 'hallowed turf'

of local soccer giants Liphook United, enjoying a quick 'peck on the cheek', as we

stroll behind the so-called 'clubhouse' and the so-called 'directors' shabby 'dug-out' (!)

The truth is that, fortunately, unlike with Cookie the Cat, I don't have to 'bribe' Lois to sleep with me any more - we'll have been married for 54 years this August, and our bed seems to be the obvious place for her to spend the night, which is a relief !!! 

However, as with Cookie, a warm and welcoming electric blanket is the obvious 'clincher' to the whole deal, if she ever has any second thoughts, after 54 years!!!! And this morning we finally fit our shiny-new one - the "Snugglemeister" from those clever "Snuggledown" people up in Lancashire, who got the idea from ice-cold Norway, it would seem!!!! And we'll be testing it after lunch, which is nice!

(left) me showcasing the controls to our shiny-new 'Snugglemeister' electric blanket

that Lois and I spend most of the morning fitting on our bed - to be tested after lunch!!!!

The blanket is advertised as providing 'intelligent warmth', turning your bed into your 'sanctuary': separate 'him and her' controls, nine heat levels and 4 time settings - what's not to like haha!!!!! 

So, all in all, an unusually quiet-ish day for us, a normally busy-busy kind of a couple, which is a welcome change of pace, if only a brief one, because we're got an exciting period coming up, that's for sure! We'll be travelling soon to faraway Ipswich to spend a few days with my sister Jill, then a few days with our old friend Jen in Oxford, spending time with her and Daniel, and also attending Lois's great niece Lauren's wedding. And finally, as if that weren't enough, we'll be hosting our daughter Sarah and family, who'll be arriving from Perth, Australia for a couple of weeks, which is mad!!!!! 

Busy, busy, busy!!!!!

flashback a couple of years: us at Malvern with my sister Jill, and (right)

Lois at the breakfast table with our old friend Jen, at Kennington, Oxfordshire

flashback to last year: Lois with our daughter Sarah, husband Francis,

and their 12-year-old twins Lily and Jessica, on the banks of the Thames

in London, on the family's last trip to see us from their home in Australia

Yes, for Lois and me, it's going to be a busy (but very nice!) old summer this year, that's for sure!!!! And a chance, also, to look up all the crazy old photos of us all in years gone by - that'll be a must !!!!

(left) me (14) with my sister Jill(2) in Bristol in 1960, and (right) Lois with our two

daughters Alison and Sarah, and with our old friend Jen and family in 1986

flashback to 1969: ringed are my sister Jill (11), our friend Jen, and Lois (23)

and also appearing are my dear late mum Nan (next to Lois) and my dear

late brother Steve (17) at top left, at a 'crazy hats' party' in  Littlemore, Oxford

Happy days!

And it'll be nice, also this summer, to see our twin granddaughters Lily and Jessica from Australia. They'll be turning 13 just after their visit to us this year, so they're on the cusp of their teenage years. As if to emphasise that fact, the twins' 'wish-list' for their visit this year includes not only London's Natural History Museum but also the famous 9-floor Hamley's Toy Store on London's Regent Street, which seems a strange mix, but that's what 'cusps' are like, isn't it haha!!!!

The twins are sure to have grown just a little bit, even since their last visit here, that's for sure!!!

flashback to July 2025 and our little 'Australian family's last visit to England:

we celebrate the twins' birthday at Farnham's iconic Thai Bubble-Tea Shop

However, our twin granddaughters probably won't have grown as much as one old Hebrew prophet, according to the latest programme in ex-cabinet-minister Michael Portillo's latest 'celebrity travelogue' series currently showing on BBC2 - no doubt about that!!!!

Tonight Michael is again in the ancient city of Samarkand, in far-away Uzbekistan, where he visits a curious tomb.

Yes, this old tomb in Samarkand is reputedly the last resting-place of the Hebrew prophet Daniel, who was famously thrown into a lion's den, but then saved from certain death by his faith in God. Daniel's remains are said to have been brought to Samarkand by the 14th century medieval Central Asian warlord Tamerlane.

However, the term 'resting-place' turns out to be an understatement, as Old Testament prophet Daniel hasn't just been resting all that time, according to local sources (!).

Yes, Daniel's current tomb, is 18 metres long (about 60 ft), which should keep him comfortable for a while at least, but let's hope the city authorities have got a plan to add extensions, if the prophet's legendary growth continues, going forward - yikes !!!!!!

What madness!!!! And what a crazy world we live in !!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzz!!!!!

Tuesday May 12th 2026 "Historical re-enactments - always fun, yes, but not always authentic !!!"

Yes, Friends, I expect you love watching the occasional historical re-enactment!!! But is 'authenticity' generally the first 'casualty'? I wonder.....!

And if you want to know the answer for sure, ask your local 'history buff' - it's the only safe way haha!!!! Today's Onion News has a story with a bit of a health warning attached, to put it mildly!!!!

Oops!!! A bit of a rookie-error there, on the part of the Las Vegas' Mustang Club - that's for sure! 

The story, however, goes to show how valuable your local history buff is to the well-being, and dare I say it, to the general health and safety of the wider community, no question about that! 

So Kudos, Nance!!!! And this semi-official record of yet another of Nance's small but significant 'triumphs over ignorance' (!) brings a big smile to the faces of me and my wife Lois this morning, here in semi-crustaceous Liphook, Hampshire, as we sit, with a bunch of other 'old codgers', in the town's iconic Millennium Hall's luxurious Canada Room, to put it mildly!!!

(left) my wife Lois and me, pictured this morning with (right) a bunch

of other 'old codgers' in the Canada Room of Liphook's iconic Millennium Centre 

We're waiting, with the town's other 'ageing history buffs' for local author Neil McLocklin to begin his talk on 'The English Civil War in Hampshire and Surrounding Counties', so as you can imagine, the excitement in the room is 'palpably palpable', to coin a phrase (!).

[Get on with it! - Ed]

The talk has been organised by the local U3A's "Intermediate Local History for Old Codgers" group, and, as we wait for the talk, there's a wave of disenchantment filling the room when the member known as 'Tall Graham' comes in and starts nattering with our speaker for today. And you can almost hear the muted whispers of 'Get to the back of the room, Tall Graham!' - he's actually been banned by group rules from sitting anywhere but in the back row, in case he gets any taller as the meeting progresses - superstitious maybe, but nonetheless a real source of anxiety on the part of some of the group's more nervous members (!).

as we wait for Neil's talk to begin, the group member known as 'Tall Graham' enters,

to the usual accompaniment of a murmur of discontent from the assembled 'old codgers' (!)

Poor 'Tall Graham" !!!!! But finally, the poor man sits down at the back, and Neil's talk can begin, which is a relief!!!!

It's a huge subject, the English Civil War between the country's Royalists and its Parliamentarians, but luckily Neil is planning to concentrate just on its effects in our own local county of Hampshire, and in neighbouring counties, which was a good call!

The 'Royalist' side was fairly straightforward, he tells us, i.e. it was just the people who wanted the King to continue to rule 'by divine right', who were mostly Church of England. 

(left) a typical Royalist confronting a typical Parliamentarian soldier, 

and (right) a map showing predominantly Royalist areas (blue)

and the predominantly Parliamentarian areas (pink), which included Hampshire

The Parliamentary side, however, the people who believed in the supremacy of Parliament, was more complicated, and riven with different factions: members of around 50 different Protestant sects, for starters, and with a mix of political ideas, some of them way ahead of their time. The 'Levellers' faction preached universal male suffrage, with some wanting to extend voting to women also. The 'Diggers' faction, meanwhile, wanted to end private property in the countryside, making the land free for all to farm wherever they wanted.

There were also a number of slightly weird groups on the Parliamentary side, like the Ranters, who rejected marriage and believed in 'free love', and the Adamites, who also rejected marriage, but who also believed in prancing around in the nude. What madness (again) !!!!!

two of the more eccentric groups on the Parliamentarian side: 

(left) the Ranters, who believed in free love, and (right) the Adamites, 

who liked to prance about in the nude - what madness, wasn't it!!!

It's nice to hear this morning, however, that, in our own county of Hampshire, and in neighbouring counties like Dorset and Wiltshire, the war was fought in a much more gentlemanly way than in other parts of the country. 

The fighting here, our speaker McLocklin tells us this morning, in contrast to the rest of the country, was strictly seasonal, with a long semi-official break during the winter months. And two prominent friends and military men who found themselves on opposite sides in the conflict - Sir William Waller (a Parliamentarian) and Lord Ralph Hopton (a Royalist) - didn't let the war affect their friendship, and between battles, this lovable pair of 'chums' kept up a lively correspondence without a hint of ill-feeling in their letters, which was sporting!

prominent local military men, Sir William Waller (Parliamentarian)

and Lord Ralph Hopton (Royalist) were determined not to 

let the war spoil their close friendship, which was a nice touch!

Yes, so altogether, the Civil War was remarkably 'civil', in this neck of the woods at least - no pun intended!!!! 

[Why did you say it then! - Ed]

And any 'cheating' was regarded with great disfavour "in these here parts", as people say "in these here parts" (!_. Hopton himself 'blotted his copy-book', and came in for a deal of criticism locally, when, in 1643, his unit turned up early for the Battle of Roundway Hill in Wiltshire, and started attacking the opposing Parliamentarians while they were still 'setting up', i.e. when they were obviously 'not quite ready', which was a pity, and a bit of a stain on Hopton's otherwise impeccable record.

[That's enough history! - Ed]

But what a crazy world they lived in, back in those far-off days!!!!

[And that's enough madness! - Ed]

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzz!!!!!

Monday May 11th 2026 "You too can fight climate change - by having more Chinese takeaways haha!"

Yes, Friends, you too can fight climate change - and have tasty meals at the same time, courtesy of your local Chinese takeaway, which is a 'delicious' thought haha!!!!

The story was literally 'all over' page 94 of the Onion News this morning - I expect you noticed!!!!!

Kudos Chen !!!!!

And reading Chen's report this morning, here in semi-conductive Liphook, Hampshire, brings a warm feeling to the hearts of me and my wife Lois, as we reluctantly fish our winter coats and scarves out of the back of our wardrobe, and brave the unseasonably chilly air, for our semi-planned walk over nearby Old Man Lowsley's Farm - brrrrrrrrrrr !!!!

If YOU are a climate-change-denier, then I invite you to come to Old Man Lowsley's place (at your own expense, naturally!!!) and see the visible evidence in the dried-out ponds and unseasonably early blooms - an odd combination!!!! 

And once again, also, we're delighted by the lovely birdsong and the 'wheeeee's' of the occasional aircraft flying thousands of feet above our heads, to put it mildly!

my wife Lois and me this morning as we take our near-daily walk, which today

takes us over nearby Old Man Lowsley's Farm, now a nature reserve, to the

accompaniment of local birdsong and the wheeeeeeee (!!!!) of a British Airways

flight to faraway Antigua, for one plane-load of sun-seeking tourists - lucky them!!!!

Plane-spotting - yes, it's mine and Lois's latest obsession, thanks to the shiny-new "flightradar24 app" on our phones!!!!! And semi-leafy Liphook, Hampshire seems to be the perfect spot to "indulge ourselves", being apparently near most flightpaths out of London's Heathrow and Gatwick Airports, not to mention also, a mere 20 miles from here, Britain's premier airport for private business flights - Farnborough, Hampshire, also known as FAB, would you believe!!!!!

What a great place to live !!!!!

Even in the afternoons, when you'll normally find us in bed for 'statutory nap-time'  (but don't come looking (!!!)), it's hard for us to resist the temptation to stop whatever we're doing and check the exotic destinations of the overhead flights, high above our heads. 

Lois wants me to make it a regular feature in my blog from now on, so watch this space! 

[Don't bother! - Ed]

us this afternoon, during 'statutory nap-time' today, when we're delighted

to hear a private business flight from Geneva a mere 3000 feet above our heads, 

and just 3 minutes away from landing at nearby Farnborough Airport !!!!

And when we're not thinking about planes today, Lois and I are remembering my late brother Steve, whose 74th birthday it would have been today, and celebrating his great sense of humour, which still inspires us!

memories of my late brother Steve: (above) pictures from our family holiday

on the Isle of Wight in 1956, (left) braving the medieval stocks at Brading - 

Steve's in the middle, between me and our sister Kathy: don't worry, we were 

later released thanks to a last minute plea from our lawyer haha (!!!!)

fast forward to 1975: our first baby, Alison's first Christmas: 

the three of us seen here with my brother Steve and my sister Jill

more memories of Steve, in later years: (left) in France with work colleague Anne-Marie

and her mother, and (right) in New York with our sister Kathy, by then a US resident

Steve inspired Lois and me no just with his irrepressible sense of humour but also with his many other qualities, and with his fantastic guitar-playing, together with, in the 1960's, his espousal of all the protest singers, introducing Lois and me to the music of, especially, Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie.

Singers Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, two of Steve's biggest heroes

And Steve changed both Lois and me, inspiring us, especially, with his unfailing, and purely instinctive, support of the underdog in most given situation.

It's hard to believe it, but even the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, was once very much an underdog, as Lois and I learn tonight in the second part of the fascinating BBC2 series "The Elon Musk Show".

We see the other side of Elon Musk tonight, the years when his two apparently 'doomed' projects like his Tesla electric cars and his SpaceX rockets, both seemed to be going nowhere (literally!!!!).

Elon's wife for many years, English actress Talulah Riley, ex-Cheltenham Ladies College student and star of St Trinian's 2, all about the naughty schoolgirls of posh boarding school St Trinian's, remembers her first impressions of Elon, and she recalls the early days of their courtship, when he was still an unknown in Britain at the time.

Elon's long-term wife, English actress Talulah Riley (centre)

seen here in the 2009 film St Trinian's 2, all about the

naughty schoolgirls of posh boarding school St Trinians

Elon has, Talulah says, "a kind of innocence to him. What I mean by that is that [Elon] feels with incredible purity whatever emotion he is feeling at the time. He feels things very very deeply."

And Talulah recalls one of her early dates with South African-born Elon, going out to the cinema with him, at a time when he was still an unknown in Britain.

And if you know what cinemas are like in Britain, you'll guess the consternation that this caused, to put it mildly !!!!

She says, "Everyone else in the cinema was looking at us, like, 'What the hell is going on over there?'. And I was saying to him, like, 'No, come on, get up off the floor!', but he was enraptured by what was going on on the screen, and he was feeling it! He feels things!"

Fascinating stuff, isn't it!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!