The debonair Basil Marigold's

Christmas eve and we were a couple of presents down, so I headed into town. The weather was cold and grey and I walked into the superstore and bought three chocolate bars; nice ones, not your bog standards. I then walked home. My job had been done! I returned home with my haul and placed the bars on the table. The children were sat at the table doing something. I went upstairs to the little boys room. By the time I had come back down the stairs and got into the dining room the children had taken the executive decision to parcel out the caramel and dark chocolate bars and had begun to eat them. Well, one child had! The other one had begun the process of unwrapping the other bar. The phrase I believe is 'flipping my lid'. Within seconds they were getting their shoes and coats on! As the light was fading and the day was becoming darker and colder we headed back to the superstore to replenish what they had wrecked. The irony being that we passed the person for whom the pres

I notice that it has been a very, very long time since I last posted. It has most certainly been an interesting one, especially as we move towards the end of the year. Hey-ho. 2019 has been an interesting. It has proven to be a continuation of the political stasis since 2016. Only in December has there been some resolution on this front, but maybe not for the best. Time will tell, but there is only a bleak view from my point of view. However, the children seem to go from strength to strength and, ultimately, it will be them that faces the consequences in the long term. This is always the toughest part as they have no influence over it. Let us fro example take a look at the new Ashfield District Council leisure centre being started in Kirkby. This will appear in the next few years and walking past the notice boards I hadn't clocked the absolute idiocy of the graphic designer who was envisioning the future of Kirkby's swimming goers. It looked innocuous enough. It'