2212.25 THE CAPTAIN'S YULETIDE MESSAGE

If we thought 2021 was bad 2022 said "hold my beer". Covid is reduced to a background issue now, we are in the midst of a cost of living crisis with prices and inflation flying upwards. Then there's the energy prices which are scarily high and are having to be capped (slightly) with government intervention. Life in 2022 is so much more expensive. This has lead to strikes and hardships across the land. 

2212.19 THE GREAT FESTIVE TV ROUNDUP

It's the time of year where I buy the festive copy of the Radio Times generic listings magazine and, armed with a highlighter pen, I go through and pick out the programmes I want to watch. I know in the age of multi- channel TV and streaming this might seem archaic but it's a practice and tradition I enjoy and hope to continue for many years.

2212.03 FREEZIN

This winter is going to be hard. Perhaps the hardest I've experienced since I was a child. Already it's cold but it's going to get colder. This post however is not about the weather.

2211.18 EMERGENCE FROM THE DARK

No I'm not talking about the current political climate, cost of living crisis or the state of the world right now. Emergence from that seems unlikely, at least anytime soon. I've marked a number of milestones this year but one of them isn't something I relish.

2210.24 NATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT

Where do I start? As I write this the conservative party are selecting a new leader, the 3rd in less than 2 months.

2210.04 HAPPY 21ST RAGS

I can't believe this day has come. My youngest daughter turns 21 on this day and she is officially a grown up! For me it's very emotional, I've done my job as a father and She is free to find her own path now.

2209.28 POSTCARD FROM CEI NEWYDD

I've been excited for my holiday for a long time. There was a time where I believed we weren't going to get away what with the energy prices and the cost of living crisis but we've managed it and we are here... in our happy place.

2209.19 GODS SAVE THE KING

It's a sad time for our country. A sad time for the commonwealth and for many across the world. It's also an historic point in time, We have lost our Queen but with that we have a new King.

2209.02 TWENTY YEARS

Milestones are something you come across more and more as you get older. This month I'm hitting two major ones, one of which involves breaking (temporarily) one of my rules of disclosure.

I considered two separate posts but decided to stick to a post with two sections. Both milestones are for 20 years and both sit in different facets of my life.

2208.19 LIFE IS LIKE...

Life at the moment feels like a juggling act, or as I've illustrated it in my drawing - and as anyone will tell you, men are no good at multi-tasking (because of course we like to do a job properly!). This is especially true at work at the moment.

2207.18 BYE BYE BORIS

The Prime Minister has finally quit after years of lies and basically taking the piss out of the British people. But I have to talk about night's out, birthday celebrations, bike racing and of course, the weather!

2206.21 SOLSTICE

Today it's midsummer, the solstice. The longest day.

2206.03 PLATTY JOOBS

It's the Queen's Platinum Jubliee which is a massive deal for the whole of the United Kingdom. The late spring bank holiday has been moved from the last monday in May to 2nd June and combined with an extra holiday on the forth to give most of the country a long weekend off.

2205.24 HOME ALONE... AGAIN

It's been a while. Morticia has gone away on a gig tour for 10 days with her best friend. That means it's been just me and the dog, and fleeting encounters with the youngest daughter.

2205.12 PLUS ONE

Last week it was my birthday, the day after its my wife, Morticia's birthday. As you may be able to tell, this story involves snooker.

2204.26 THE WAITING

What a dreadful time we are living through, the world is in a sorry state with climate change not being addressed and war in Europe for the first time. Closer to home, we have a cost of living crisis, and of course, the pandemic is still bubbling under the headlines.

2203.22 IT'S BEEN A LONG DARK TIME

I haven't posted a blog for quite some time and there's a reason for that. We are living through dark times and it's difficult to get the motivation to write. But I know writing is theraputic so I really must.

So what's going down in my life at the moment?

2201.01 RESOLUTIONS

As I've said in the past I don't do resolutions. Instead I usually set myself 3 achievable tasks, I'm not about to change this year.