Pret-Tea-In-Porter
Well, the Elf went home, the weather warms, and all good brewing seasons must come to an end. We managed to squeeze in a final batch. This time it was a porter, although my nephew Sean points out, strictly, they…
Category Life As We Live It
Learn To Fear Flemish In An Afternoon
Our family is full of amateur linguists. Dotted round we have fluent Italian, German, French, Dutch, and Japanese speakers. Some family members dabble in Chinese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. A few even claim English proficiency. Many…
Two Nights At The Old Bailey Watching Movies – “Life Is Wonderful: Mandela’s Unsung Heroes”
“Life is Wonderful: Mandela’s Unsung Heroes” is a documentary film by Sir Nicholas Stadlen, former judge of the High Court of England and Wales. He captured the personal experiences of the last remaining trialists and their defence lawyers, sharing the…
Elfbräu
Since September, our lovely niece, my German goddaughter, has been stuck with Aunty and Uncle here in London. As she is a fan of Harry Potter and cooped up in the spare room ‘under the stairs’ (well, more accurately ‘beside’…
All Lit Up For Christmas – Leadenhall Market, Bow Lane & Cheapside
Magicians say you should never reveal the secrets of what goes on behind the scenes, but I can share some cheer with a tale about last month’s recording of three Christmas lighting up ceremonies for the City.
Piping At The Post – Twas A Dark & Stormy Afternoon
It was a dark and stormy afternoon… I’ve always enjoyed Edward Bulwer-Lytton‘s works (honest). Interestingly, while he did provoke opprobrium for the phrase “it was a dark and stormy night“, he equally garnered admiration, leading to a lovely Bulwer-Lytton Fiction…
Huffin ’n’ Puffin
Well, the cat, or snail (see below), rather ‘puffin’, is truly out of the bag (pipe). As I mentioned in my Shrieval Chain Presentation, Puffin On Pipes:“imagine your entire family have no idea of your favourite animal, the puffin. Just…
New Sheriffs, Again
My brother Sheriff, Chris Hayward CC, and I were delighted to agree to extend our Shrieval year by 12 months till September 2021 in order to “ensure continuity of leadership”. Equally, this will give us more time, in turbulent times,…
Who Shot The Sheriff? Official Photos
I lived in Brixton in the mid-1980s and love reggae, so you couldn’t expect a two-year term to go by without reference to a great tune by Bob Marley. A number of people have been asking for some decent shots,…