Tag Archives: Family life

… Does that seem better…or worse? : a trip to the optician.

“Can you read the top line for me?” “There are lines?” “On the chart in front of you.” “Chart, you say?” Yes, folks.  This month I’ve needed to visit the optician. And like the blind leading the blind, or at very least the highly myopic leading the partially sighted, I had to bring the boyContinue reading “… Does that seem better…or worse? : a trip to the optician.”

… Soggy Bottoms and Star Bakes: Behind the scenes at The Great British Bake Off

I Signature Bake The Great British Bake Off is back! I love the Bake Off.  I always have. Actually, that’s not quite true. In the first series I thought they were just taking a really long time to establish the suspects in a Miss Marple murder set in a village fête before I realised itContinue reading “… Soggy Bottoms and Star Bakes: Behind the scenes at The Great British Bake Off”

… Tortoise Wrangling for beginners

Folks who read this blog regularly are starting to complain. “It’s all, well and good hearing about you and your low level village idiocy. But we’re only putting up with you because we want to hear about Humphrey.” We decided a while ago we wanted a pet. Future-Mrs-Dr-Brown and I had a few criteria. NotContinue reading “… Tortoise Wrangling for beginners”

… The Search For the Authentic Dining Experience

They tell me that when you choose a Chinese restaurant, the trick is to pick one that Chinese people actually go to themselves.  That way you get a more authentic dining experience. It’s not a perfect theory. You get lots of Americans eating in McDonald’s.  That doesn’t exactly make a Happy Meal fine dining. ButContinue reading “… The Search For the Authentic Dining Experience”

… Washing My Dirty Laundry in Public.

I quite like laundry.  Laundry is the least worst of all the household tasks. Hoovering / pretending to be the Ghostbusters definitely has its place. But today the sky looks like the opening credits to the Simpsons and that makes it a day for laundry. But, not so fast! For the true expert, laundry doesn’tContinue reading “… Washing My Dirty Laundry in Public.”

… A Nice, Sensible Blog, without rude bits.

“We like your blogs, but we don’t think it needs the naughty talk.” Warns my father. My father doesn’t like “naughty talk”. We’ll be watching TV and he’ll tut to himself. “It’s not big and it’s not clever.” “Father, that’s Stephen Fry.  He’s both exceptionally big and enormously clever!” But, OK then. A wholesome, harmlessContinue reading “… A Nice, Sensible Blog, without rude bits.”

… Losing Weight

“Can I help you at all, sir?” “No thanks.  Just browsing.” “But Sir, this is a Greggs.” Much as I’m ashamed to admit it, the time has come for me to lose some weight. Mrs Dr Brown pointed this out a little while ago. “That’s a bit harsh.” I countered. “I weigh the same asContinue reading “… Losing Weight”

… Litter Picking: It’s not easy being green.

I’m rubbish at caring for the environment. Maybe not full-on plastic landfill rubbish, but still rubbish. But when the greenest thing about me is the sputum of my nine-year-old son as we walk along a busy road to school, I realise something needs to be done. I console myself that I’m not as bad asContinue reading “… Litter Picking: It’s not easy being green.”

… World Book Day and Dressing Up for School: or “What’ve we got that would do?”

“Night night, darling.” I whisper to my sleeping son on my way up to bed. He stirs. “Night, Dad” Awwww! “Dad?  I need to go to school dressed as a Roman tomorrow.”  He rolls over and with a snuggle into his quilt, he’s asleep again. I press the button which sets off the flashing redContinue reading “… World Book Day and Dressing Up for School: or “What’ve we got that would do?””

… Christmas Markets

I’m a sucker for Christmas.  Always have been. I like the lights.  I like the music.  I like the seasonal cheer and the peace on earth and goodwill to all men. I’m the sort of person who cries at the Muppets Christmas Carol and the Yogi Bear Christmas Special.   Or when the Snowman melts orContinue reading “… Christmas Markets”

… Birthday Presents

Let me first say that Mrs. Brown is magnificent.  I am very lucky.  Dolphins have swimming with her on their bucket list. It is no surprise to the casual observer that she agreed to marry me prior to her laser eye surgery.  And when we announced our engagement, my brother said he was “not soContinue reading “… Birthday Presents”

… My Street: the guided tour

I love the street I live on. I’m very lucky. But we have a dark secret.  And now it needs to come out. Our street is Slightly Posh. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but let me show you and you can decide for yourself. Mind the wobbly paving stones and the overhanging wetContinue reading “… My Street: the guided tour”

…The Last Day of School: A story of built-in osbsolescence.

Seven years ago I dropped my daughter off at primary school for her first day. This week I make the same trip for the final time. And manage very poorly. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

… Losing at Games

Is there a technique to rock, paper, scissors? Serious question. If there is a formula please feel free to leave it in the comments section below. It’s just that my daughter has started to beat me.  More than that in fact. I’m getting whooped.  Every…Single…Time. We recently played for about twenty minutes sitting on aContinue reading “… Losing at Games”

…Online Shopping

We’ve all been doing it since Covid-19 kicked in.

It’s a bit of a guilty pleasure.

Traffic on the biggest sites has gone up 300% over lockdown.

I’ve got to the point where I’m having to delete my internet search history several times a week, so Mrs. Brown doesn’t see what I’ve been up to.

Yes, that’s the one.

My name’s Rick and I’ve been buying rubbish online.

…The Nativity

“It’s not fair!” “It’s not fair!” rants the boy. “But it’s the best part!” I try to reassure. “It’s not. It’s boring. I wanted to be the donkey!” “But your part is better.” “The donkey has a song.” Yes, that’s right. This week they have been casting the school nativity and the boy doesn’t feelContinue reading “…The Nativity”