Saturday April 4th 2026 "Are YOU hooked on the new "Darington" costume drama? A lot of us are, without even seeing it yet haha!"

Yes, Friends, are YOU hooked on the latest historical costume drama to come out of TV studios -  "The sisters of Darington Manor?" It hasn't actually debuted yet, but just the reviews of the preview (or the preview of the reviews, whichever you prefer (!)), as reported in the local Onion News today, is exciting enough for me and my wife Lois, here in little, semi-bucolic Liphook, Hampshire this morning! 

Heavens to Betsy, as they say !!!!

Wowee!!! 

That's what Lois and I call a real "humdinger", and "The Sisters of Darington Manor" is certain to push the BBC's current Jane Austen-esque blockbuster "The Other Bennet Sister", out of the top ten, to put it mildly!!!! That series, about the only Jane Austen heroine, Mary Bennet, who isn't pretty and can't be easily "married off", is currently "riding high" in the ratings, but is destined to end up in a ditch  - no pun intended!!!! - pushed roughly aside by this sexy new arrival or "Darington", as it's already being called!!!!

the new ratings war which looms, dubbed by the press "the Battle of the Necklines",

between "The Other Bennet Sister", and the brand-new "The Sisters of Darington Manor"

Lois and I have been suckers for historical costume ever since our visit, with our two young daughters, to Williamsburg, Virginia during our 3 years in the States back in the early 1980's. Williamsburg, the  town which has been called a 'living museum', encourages as many visitors as possible to "party like it's 1799", and Yours Truly couldn't resist the chance to "strut my stuff" in my featured brand-new size 7 and a half "tricorn", and our two young daughters seen here sporting their shiny new "mobcaps", which was nice!

flashback to 1983: Yours Truly in his shiny-new 7.5 size "tricorn",

and our daughters Sarah (6) and Alison (8) in their shiny-new 18th century 

'mobcaps', outside the "JC Wetherburns" (!) in Williamsburg, Virginia, 

the tourist town that's been dubbed "a living museum" !!!!

The Onion story is putting a particularly savage grin on the faces of me and Lois this morning, because we're due to be visiting the market town of Petersfield, about 10 miles south along the mighty A3 dual carriageway, to put it mildly!

my wife Lois and me - a recent picture

Petersfield, Hampshire UK, like Williamsburg Virginia USA, is known for some of its colourful historical characters, like its town crier Faye Thompson and its deputy town crier Martin Johnson (Faye's husband!!!!), and we're hoping to see the couple strutting around today, while Lois buys some veg in the town's bustling market square before delivering some of her delicious Easter hot cross buns to her church's drop-in centre in the town.

And no sooner has Lois got her veg in the market square, than we catch our first glimpse of colourful town-crier and deputy Faye Thompson and Martin Johnson, "loitering with intent" (!) at the entrance to the historic "Rams Walk", which is nice!

(left) Lois perusing the veg at a bustling stall in Petersfield's market square, and (right)

our first sighting of town crier Faye in red, with her husband and deputy, Martin, in black

And I'd like to say that deputy town crier Martin's colourful headgear "knocks my Williamsburg tricorn into a cocked hat", except that I don't want to be accused of indulging in cheap puns!

[It's never bothered you before, Colin! - Ed]

(left) We pass quickly on from Rams Walk in Petersfield Town Centre,

before (right) dropping some of Lois's delicious home made hot cross buns 

at her church's drop-in centre on the High Street.

Busy busy busy!!! Retired now for 20 years, Lois and I are wondering, not for the first time (!), "How did we ever find the time to go to work back in the day?!!!!"

12:00 Finally we get back home for a welcome cup of coffee, and our first chance to look at Lois's copy of "The Week" magazine, which gives a digest of the week's news from home and abroad, wand which "plopped" through our letterbox yesterday afternoon, although, until now, we literally haven't had a moment's peace to really examine it, which is a pity!

Busy busy busy!!! And Lois and I have hardly

a moment to sit down and relax these days!!!

It's the news from abroad that captures our attention today, including news of Hungary's upcoming general election, where liberals are hoping that arch-plutocrat, or "kleptocrat", Viktor Orban can finally be "turfed out", after 16 years, by newcomer Peter Tisza.

Lois and I always follow the news from Hungary with close attention, having visited the country several times starting in the 1990's, and still having many good friends there. 

flashback to 1998, in front of our friend István's house in Pécs, 

Hungary: (from left to right) our British friends "Magyar" Mary 

and "Magyar" Mike, Lois, István and wife Mária, and me

Today's article in "The Week" is quietly optimistic that the days of Orban's "illiberal democracy" may soon be over, but the article also sounds a cautious note that this may never happen, in view of Orban's control of the media and his shameless tweaking of electoral rules to favour his own party. Oh dear!

the story in this week's copy of Lois's magazine "The Week", with (bottom right)

a gold toilet brush, like the one bought by one of Orban's cronies, bank chief Matolcsy (inset) 

Orban is often compared to his friend Donald Trump, another friend of plutocrats and billionaires, who's continuing to hold on to his job as US President. And, also in Lois's magazine this week, there's a summary of an interesting article by David French in the New York Times.

Is this a fair assessment? I think we should be told, don't you !!!!

A lot of people seem to say that Trump will be safe in his job, as long as he doesn't dive too far down in the approval ratings. If that happens, his supporters in Congress may decide that he's a liability and even go down the impeachment road, maybe?

We live in exciting times!!!!

20:00 Time to calm down after all today's excitements (!), and what better way for Lois and me to "chill out" than by settling down on the sofa to watch another programme in the new series "Just One Thing", in which each 30-minute programme describes "just one thing" that you can do and thereby make maybe huge improvements to your health.

Tea is a great calmer, when it comes to drinks, we hear tonight. And the programme's recommendation is that everybody should have at least 4 drinks of tea a day, and maybe cut down on coffee and energy drinks at the same time. Thanks to the theanine and flavenoids in tea, doing this will have a calming effect on your brain, and give you less anxiety, better sleep, increased energy, improve your heart and bone health, improve your memory and reaction time, and reduce the risk of dementia and premature death. Yikes - what's not to like haha!!!!

It's good for stress levels:

It's also good for the heart:

Lois and I already have 4 cups of tea a day, but it's nice to have confirmation that it's quite okay to have it with milk or sugar, if you want. We have it with milk, but gave up sugar long ago. Also, unless you have other reasons to avoid caffeine, you don't have to choose a decaf option. Plus, there's no need to choose a herbal tea, unless you prefer the taste, which is reassuring!

One thing Lois and I don't do is to always use fresh water in the kettle, when making a cup of tea, something about the oxygen in fresh water, apparently! We routinely re-boil old water to save money on our water bill, would you believe! So the answer is probably just to measure out the water we need with the cups we're going to drink it in. If we put just that much water in the kettle and no more, there'll be no wasted water, and Bob's your uncle! 

But your views welcome - postcards only !!!!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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

Friday April 3rd 2026 "Have YOU tried standing up at YOUR workplace? The results are amazing, says a new study !!!"

Yes, Friends, have YOU tried one of those new 'standing desks' at YOUR workplace? The results are amazing, according to a new study, and so much effective than a conventional workout, that's for sure!

Onion News has more....

Worth considering isn't it!

And reading the study's results here in semi-rural, over-leafy Liphook, Hampshire this morning brings a quiet chuckle to the faces of me and of Lois, my wife of 54 years, as we take our near-daily walk over the "hallowed turf" of local soccer heroes Liphook United, to put it mildly!

flashback to this morning: my wife Lois and I take our near-daily walk,

which today takes us over the 'hallowed turf' of local soccer heroes Liphook United,

with (right) Lois testing me on the names of flowers: 'bluebells' in this case - easy peasy!!

Let me put my cards on the table at this point! [I wish you wouldn't keep doing that, Colin! - Ed]

Lois and I have actually been retired for 20 years, so we're pleasantly immune from 'workplace fads and fancies' (!), although in fact we've busier than we've ever been, would you believe! "How did we ever find the time to go to work back in the day?", has become almost our daily mantra, which is mad!!

The fact is, however, that, even after 20 years, we still haven't established a fixed daily workout routine, although we're more than willing to watch younger people doing theirs, whether it's in the football club carpark with a fitness trainer, or just a young couple practising their "moves" on the deserted pitch - see pictures below, if you want 'chapter and verse' !!!

during our near-daily walk today, my wife Lois and I somehow find time to watch some of

the younger folks 'pumping iron' (and other things!) in the car-park and on the deserted pitch

I don't think that any records for fitness or endurance are being broken today, but I'm proud to note that the local birds have stepped up to produce a tally of the most different birdsongs - twelve, would you believe! - that Lois and I have ever heard on this football field, since our records began 15 months ago, which is a nice achievement for us - and another PB (personal best), no question about that ! 

[You lazy so-and-so's, Colin ! - Ed]

14:00 Phew - quite a tiring morning of us, that's for sure! And, "gluttons for punishment" (!), after lunch, we even postpone our afternoon in bed to watch some more people doing workouts in a fascinating programme from the "Just One Thing Team" (Roman Kemp, Zoe Ball and Clive Myrie) about so-called "easy exercise", "eccentric" exercise, or "reverse-moves exercising", which is nice.

Who knew that it's better training for your muscles to walk downstairs than to walk upstairs? Or that it's better to exercise by sitting yourself down than by standing up? And lowering your weights is better than lifting them up, crazily! 

The key is to do it all slowly, apparently, and, because you don't get out of breath, you can do it for longer. And not only that, but, afterwards, the body somehow 'repairs' your tired muscles by making them stronger - it's totally mad, isn't it! 

And doing this kind of lower-intensity workout is not just making your muscles stronger, but also improving your bone density thus reducing your risk of fractures, and at the same time somehow managing to lower your blood-sugar levels. 

Also, it's good to 'lunge' whenever you can, e.g. when you're stooping to send a bowling ball down the alley to knock over some skittles. Or when on your feet, to just raise your heels, and then putting them down again really really slowly. Or standing and pushing against a wall, that's another one!!!! What madness, isn't it !!!!

And to do these exercises, you don't need to get a gym membership and you can even wear your normal clothes! You just have to remember not to overdo it - to start slowly, vary the muscles you're working on, and to build your 'workout' up gradually, over the weeks and months.

16:00 Phew! Lois and I feel quite exhausted after watching all these youngsters - and even the "old codgers" on that TV programme (!) - all doing their workouts, even the so-called "easy" ones!!!!

So, after we get out of bed (!), it's nice to indulge ourselves on the couch with some special Easter hot cross buns that Lois somehow found time to make earlier today - kudos, Lois !!!!!

(above) flashback to this morning: Lois makes some hot cross buns for Easter,

and (below, right) me sampling one of those buns on the couch this afternoon - yum yum!

Lois also somehow finds time to distribute chocolate Easter bunnies to all seven kids in our little cul-de-sac, and later we get a very sweet and very appreciative, home-made Easter card from little Iris next door, which is nice!

[And when are YOU going to get off your backside and do something, Colin?! Just saying!!! - Ed]

(above, left) Lois delivering two chocolate Easter bunnies to mum-of-two Rachel 

across the street, and (below) the sweet home-made card from little Iris next door

Awwwww, bless !!!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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