Sunday April 5th 2026 "Friends, do YOU already have an escape plan ready, if ever you're wrongfully imprisoned?"

Yes, Friends, do  YOU have an escape plan ready, if ever (Heaven forbid!) you become wrongfully imprisoned for a crime you didn't commit?

Most of us do, don't we! But one local prisoner's prison term came to grief as a result of one simple mistake he made - see this morning's Onion News for details!

Oops!!! And of course the plan was discovered by prison staff during the routine weekly prison beauty contest (round 1: prison 'togs', round 2: swimsuit etc etc) and as a result he was moved to a cell with no windows, which was a bit harsh, my wife Lois and I think, as we read the story in Onion News' print edition here in leafy Liphook, Hampshire, to put it mildly!

my wife Lois and me - a recent picture

The story makes us smile, because this morning we've come up with our own 'escape plan', would you believe! 

We're not in prison (yet!) but we may have to make a quick getaway at, or near, the end of the Sunday Morning Meeting today at Lois's church - and with good reason: if this week's preacher's exhortation address is longer than usual and the meeting is prolonged, we may have to slip quietly out through a side entrance - because we have an important lunch invitation to get to today, and we mustn't be late, our hosts have warned us, in no uncertain terms!!!

details of the daring  "escape plan" that my wife Lois and I have worked out

if we have to slip away early from this morning's Sunday Morning Meeting:

the 'X'-es mark the approximate position of our seats, next to a little-known

side-door which we can push quietly open to make our escape - simples!!!!

Luckily, this week's preacher, local man John, keeps to his allotted 30 minutes, and we can get away as normal, in time to 'scoot' up the mighty A3 dual carriageway to our daughter Alison and family's temporary home, 16 miles away to the north, just over the county line in Churt, Surrey.

And, as it turns out, we're, if anything, slightly early for our invitation so no worries there! And we arrive just in time to see our son-in-law Edward carving the meat for the special meal he has laid on, for this year's Easter Sunday lunch, which is nice!

our Easter Sunday lunch of pork, Yorkshire pudding and vegetables, with our 

daughter Alison's family: (left to right) Isaac (15), our son-in-law Edward, Lois, me,

Rosalind (17), Alison, and Josie (19) at Churt, Surrey today: (middle left) our

3 grandchildren showcasing the chocolate Easter eggs Lois and I have bought them,

And, as you can see from the photos above, Bjorn, one of the family's two dogs, delights Lois and me by finding time in his schedule, on another of his very busy days, to pose for a charming selfie with us on the family couch, which very much puts the icing on the cake for us, and makes the visit especially memorable, which is nice! 

Kudos Bjorn!!! 

16:00 I drive Lois and me home to Liphook with that 'pleasantly full' feeling - no meal to cook tonight, but possibly we'll just find room to have more of Lois's delicious home-made Easter hot cross buns, with a cup of tea or two, or three!!!

flashback to Friday: Lois unveiling her 2026 buns, to my obvious delight, to put it mildly!

And, with no evening meal to prepare tonight, there's more than enough time to discuss some of Lois's classic hot cross buns of past years, which is nice!

flashback to two of Lois's classic hot cross bun batches for 'Easters Past':

(left) Easter 2021 and (right) 2017, at our former home in Cheltenham - yum yum!!!

Happy times!!!!

20:00 Feeling pleasantly relaxed, but thinking about a possible early bed, like a couple of old 'ruins', we decide to wind down on the sofa tonight with one of Lucy Worsley's tales of another 'old ruin' (!) - Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire, the ruined former home of 17th century playboy William Cavendish.

Yes, 17th century hell-raiser William Cavendish was a bit of a naughty boy, no doubt about that! But there's evidence in the castle he built, up north in Bolsover, Derbyshire, that he was also a bit morally conflicted. 

Did he sometimes regret his hedonistic life-style, and long for something a bit more virtuous now and again?

The jury's still out on that question, because, inside his castle, Cavendish had installed two halls for his personal moments of contemplation, called 'closets' in those crazy, far-off times, with William dedicating one 'closet' to virtue and the other one to vice.

The other 'closet' where Cavendish did his 'contemplating' was quite different, however, as presenter Lucy explains:

But did Cavendish favour one 'closet' more than the other one, for his contemplation hours? Lucy thinks she knows the answer: the 'vice' closet, which Lucy says, seems much more 'personal'.

And not only that, but there's an intimate little motto there, over the window:

The clincher, however, is that 'vice closet' was the one with the nice view:

Cavendish's statue of Venus, overlooking his garden fountain, has been criticised, however. Although supposed to be based on a slender, elegantly turning, classical figure of the goddess, it was obviously modelled, instead, on some local, rather dumpy Derbyshire lass.

But, rather than sneering at this dumpy Bolsover Venus, Lucy thinks that we should celebrate her as an example of British classicism.

Naughty Cavendish!!!

It's all a bit sad in a way, because Cavendish's big hobby, apart from vice, was horses, and he desperately wanted to be appointed King Charles I's Master of the King's Horses. He even went so far as to invite the King and Queen to his castle for the weekend, as a "sweetener".

Perhaps King Charles wasn't impressed by Cavendish's "Closet of Vice", because the king never gave Cavendish the job, perhaps, also, influenced by the growing wave of puritanism sweeping the country, prior to the Civil War of 1642-1651.

Poor Cavendish!!!!!

Fascinating stuff, though, isn't it!

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

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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

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!!!!