There we were bumping along the mud caked lanes, not a soul in sight, when our hire car suddenly listed to one side. Hire car, you say? Haven’t you been living in rural Mallorca long enough to have purchased your own by now? True, but having a car in our neck of the woods is a tricky business. For starters,...
The other morning I awoke after a terrific rainstorm to hear a rhythmic croaking emanating from the garden but something was wrong. The frog anthem was coming not from our pond, but the swimming pool at the back of our finca. A moment later beneath the window came woops of excitement from my eleven year old son, Ollie.
‘Hurry!...
One of the wonders on my return from Borneo was discovering that Gordon Brown had neither quitted government nor been admitted to a psychiatric wing. So far so surprising. Meanwhile one of his goody two shoes, right hand women, Ruth Kelly, had thrown in the towel, and frankly could you blame her? As transport minister I’m not sure how effective...
A recent survey apparently reveals that women hate working for female bosses. Now whether this was funded by an obscure misogynist circle I cannot say but it did have me pondering about my experiences working for women. In truth I only ever had two female bosses and both were rather controlling and at times paranoiac. However one has to look...
We were sitting in the midst of a vast rainforest when one of our tribe arrived with some importance to tell us that he’d just heard faintly on the BBC Radio World Service that Lehman Brothers and fellow Wall Street giant Merrill Lynch had been kicked into touch. We looked at each other and shrugged. ‘Oh well,’ someone said....
I see that my chum, the good Baroness Buscombe, chief executive of the Advertising Association, is throwing her weight (no pun intended) behind the government’s new health initiative to stamp out obesity. Although I’m not for nannying of any kind, it is commendable that the advertising industry is attempting to unite the commercial sector to jointly tackle the problem with...
‘Oh dear. This passport’s had its chips.’
The nice Gatwick airport official who’s examining my dog eared and disintegrating passport, is clicking her teeth.
‘Use it a lot?’
‘All the time.’ My voice cracks with desperation.
‘The magnetic strip’s torn. Better get it renewed as soon as you’re back in Mallorca.’
I’ve been shunted into my own space away from...
Well it’s official. We home owners have every right now to go and blast a burglar to oblivion should he dare to step over the threshold. Under new laws, all of us can defend ourselves ‘instinctively’ which apparently translates as striking out when fearing for our own safety. Well, I think there’s a fair likelihood of that basic ‘instinct’ being...
What, I wondered, should I buy my budding horticulturist Scottish husband for his birthday? Then I hit on it. Two thousand live worms, a box full of wooden slats and a small plastic bag of nuts and bolts. The Scotsman had been muttering about buying a wormery for some time, a concept unknown up here in the Mallorcan hills, although...
Much as I rarely agree with our nannying government poking its nose in our daily affairs, I do have a little sympathy with Norfolk Coast Partnership for its concern about the plight of crabs caught by children on beaches. My sister and I used to go crabbing in Wales and we rarely caught more than a few and always returned...
Yet another absurd health and safety ruling has popped up, this time regarding the throwing of mortar boards on university graduation day. Anglia Ruskin University has demanded that students refrain from hurling their black hats in the air when they celebrate passing their degrees for fear someone might get hurt as the hats descend. It does have the air of...
The death of 240 years of monarchy rule in Nepal should come as no surprise. It was in June 2001 that the then-Crown Prince, Dipendra, murdered ten of his close family, causing chaos and uncertainty for the country. His uncle, the current king, Gyanendra, took over the throne and has had a choppy ride ever since. When I was last...
We’ve heard it all before but Boris Johnson and the Metropolitan Police genuinely seem to have taken the bull by the horns and decided to get tough on crime in the Capital. While Ken Livingstone sat in his ivory tower ignoring the violence erupting on London’s streets, new Mayor Boris has put his money where his mouth is. For anyone...
A newspaper headline hit my computer screen this week. Both Posh Spice and Paris Hilton would be vying for attention in London’s hot spots as Posh touted her new line of flared jeans at Harrods and Paris, her new fragrance at Selfridges. A pair of images appeared of both air headed and talent-less women sporting thick makeup, anorexic skeletal frames...
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