I’d like to know why we can’t make a puncture proof tyre. The roads around the Spicer residence are afflicted with small, sharp flints, which I am beginning to realise are the mortal enemy of cyclists. I for one am growing a little tired of puncture repair (though my technique has improved vastly with practice)…
So it begins, Lockdown 2.0 started today and unlike last time we are on our own as the Smallest Boy has moved into the flat in London and Alex is back at University in Bristol. So far it’s been fine, however it has only been 18 hours and we were asleep for most of those…
So I did it – I stayed sober throughout October. It surprised me that after the first 30 days I hardly missed alcohol at all. Joking aside, there was only one evening where I really (and I mean really) wanted a drink and bizarrely it wasn’t the usual drink I would choose (a glass of…
I have done this once before (a couple of years ago) and a bit like pregnancy/childbirth, the minute it’s over you forget what a pain it was, until you decide to do it again. Lockdown saw the Spicer family move from aiming not to drink at home from Monday to Thursday, to aiming for alcohol…
When I heard the paper being delivered this morning, I rolled over half asleep and noted it was darker and there was no bird song – winter is on the way. Before I left my last job, which was London based, the drawing in of the nights used to fill me with dread, because it…
The kids are heading, albeit in stages, back to school, which means it must be my birthday. Born on the 5th of September, I had the dubious pleasure of celebrating many of my birthdays with a return to the classroom. This year, as my birthday fell rather obligingly on a Saturday, I decided to invite…
The Spicer family are a bunch of seasoned staycationers. While many families are holidaying in the UK for the first time this summer, we’ve been doing it for years. The main reason for this is that we are lucky enough to have a family home on Exmoor, purchased over 50 years ago by my late…
I enjoy the writing of William Sitwell and was sad to see him leave the his role as Editor of the Waitrose magazine, however this seems to have freed him up to write more widely on food & drink, so perhaps there is a silver lining in every cloud. Having said that his recent article…
I have enjoyed the walking and cycling that I took up when the gyms were closed and I had pretty much decided that I would not be going back to the gym – saving myself (or rather saving Robert, as my gym membership is my Christmas present each year) a chunk of money each month.…
My furlough wanderings mean I have spotted more flora and fauna than I have noticed in previous years. In particular fruit & berries that could be foraged and turned into alcoholic beverages. So far I have experimented with cherries Next up, but a little tougher to harvest (and surprisingly early this year) blackberries. We have…