If I opened the fridge door, all I’d probably see was an old lump of cheese with a fur coat that would have made Liberace proud. Mrs S, on the other hand, could open that same fridge door and produce a calorie-busting feast that would feed an army. Heaped platters of tasty treats would be […]
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When they’re fishing for business, website wonks love sending out colourful reports about how good or bad your website is performing. Page after page of impenetrable jargon that even Elon Musk wouldn’t understand. Such a report is sure to have you reaching for the painkillers before you even get to the end of page one. […]
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Yellow Peril is what hay fever sufferers call it and the UK’s crop of Oilseed Rape is almost in full flower. And it could be a bumper crop for farmers and … our honeybees. A wet March has left soil moisture levels high which is good because damp soil and warm weather mean lots of […]
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The city of San Sebastian lies on the shores of the Bay of Biscay. It’s famous as a foodie destination and the northern Spanish city boasts the second most Michelin stars per capita in the world. But to sample the gastronomic delights of its most famous eatery, hungry travellers must take a 16-minute car journey […]
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“Sex Therapists slug it out in £2m court battle”, screamed the headlines in last week’s papers. It’s a sensationalist headline and heaven knows what they were saying behind the doors of London’s High Court. If it was anything like the goings-on in the Gwyneth Paltrow (of Goop fame) trial, I’m sure it would be well […]
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For some mysterious reason, the tummy-gurgling glee of mid-week suppers outweighs weekend feasts by a country mile. Maybe it’s got something to do with only eating two dried dog biscuits between breakfast and supper. But I doubt it. Because rain or shine, my much better half never fails to put a delectable dish on the […]
Read moreThe email landed in my inbox in the early hours of Friday morning. “Could we print some Matt Laminated Business Cards – super urgently?” Nothing unusual in that apart from the fact that the message had been sent from a company in Sydney, Australia and the cards were needed for their UK Head of Sales. […]
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Last Sunday I promised my dearly beloved that I’d fix the lock on our front door. The door’s hinges have worn over the years which means that the latch didn’t fit into the receiver properly. A dead simple fix. Or so I thought. All I had to do was remove the receiver, nip over to […]
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The driver of the Gräf & Stift Double Phaeton turned onto Franz Josef Street and quickly realised his mistake. Reversing into a side street to perform a rapid U-turn, the 4-cylinder 32 horse-power engine stalled. Across the street, the episode was watched by an incredulous Gavrilo Princip, one of seven Bosnian-Serb assassins belonging to an […]
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Have you ever asked yourself the question, “What if …?” Who hasn’t, would probably be the answer. But instead of just rolling the question around in our minds until it drives us nuts (one of my most common failings, by the way), some surprising things happen when we actually do something about it. In fact, […]
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I’m writing this on the hottest day of the year so far. Eggs really could be fried on the pavement outside and we’re experiencing the sort of heat that would have Lawrence of Arabia reaching for a cold beer. Who, incidentally was born only 40 miles west of here in the village of Tremadog. But […]
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I was sat discussing the renovations to a large house outside the village where I live the other day while idly passing the time. Once upon a time it was a small pig farm, and latterly an agricultural machinery repairs business … But all the old buildings have recently been demolished and the ground extensively […]
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Jamie Oliver’s 30-minute first aired on UK TV back in 2010 – 12 long years ago. For those scared by long hours of toil just to get a meal on the table, it was a godsend. Sure, there was undoubtedly a great deal of selective post-production editing but he prepared a tasty-looking feast at the […]
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The parallels between sport and business aren’t always clear. But Netflix’s outstanding Drive to Survive offers more than its fair share. Now in its 4th series, the main characters are well established, and Red Bull’s Christian Horner is, without doubt, the documentary’s steely-eyed missile-man. Staring straight into the camera and with a menace that would […]
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Despite being released almost 50 years ago, the original Jaws movies still have the power to send a shiver down the spine. After all, who would decide to go for a spot of light surfing off Bondi Beach alone without saying a little prayer? Everything in the film is designed to create terror and suspense. […]
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Any of us can go out today and purchase an ink cartridge – pretty simple task, right? In fact, we use a dry toner that arrives following an automated alert from our presses, which is about as effortless as it can be. But it wasn’t always that easy. Centuries ago, it had to be made […]
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A wet shave is undoubtedly one of life’s great luxuries. And whilst we wouldn’t like to admit it, sourcing the right product is something which should never be rushed. Great time and attention are given over to this daily ritual without which we simply can’t face the day’s many trials and tribulations. After all, can […]
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The business pages in the Sunday newspapers don’t tend to be a barrel of laughs, do they? Let’s be honest, the articles as dry as chalk dust baked under the burning sun of the Kalahari Desert – I half expect to find tumbleweed rolling across the breakfast table. They are not the most uplifting of […]
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I just about remember doing an emergency stop in my driving test. It wasn’t much fun but, hey, I passed. What WAS fun, though, was learning to drive in an old Morris 8 out in the fields. The petrol tank had been removed for safety reasons, but we lashed a half-gallon mower fuel tank to […]
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For most of us, the holidays are over. Come rain or shine we’ve hit the road and explored the highways and byways of our beautiful countryside like we’ve never done before. The more intrepid have braved flights to foreign lands suffering the anguished 11th hour “will we”, “won’t we go”, verdicts determined by the travel […]
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If I’d have succumbed to every takeaway promotion during lockdown, I’d have a waistline something close to the circumference of the London Eye. Thankfully, I didn’t, and I don’t. But it’s been hard. Takeaway meals from local pubs and restaurants were one of the great success stories of the pandemic and showed how the more […]
Read moreA good racing camel can reach speeds of up to 40 miles per hour. And watching one close-up in full flight is an unnerving experience. Poetry in motion they are not. Sitting atop one of nature’s more ungainly creatures as it breaks the speed limit must be rather like a ride on Oblivion at Alton […]
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There are three types of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics – so said Benjamin Disraeli. But then, he hadn’t heard about Google Analytics. Packed full of stats and overflowing with real-world information your first dip into Analytics can be a bit daunting. But there’s no need to wrap a hot towel around your head […]
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