Christmas 2022


We spent ten days over Christmas in Kleinbottwar – a pretty little wine village in the Württemburg region of Germany on the Murr river, around five kilometres northeast of its confluence with the Neckar river. Christmas Festivities started on the 23rd. Hot Glühwein was drunk with sausages in the evening with neighbours. There were heaps of…

Christmas 2019


  This year we celebrated  Christmas at Nick & Renu’s house in London. Rani & I  drove down from Harrogate on the 23rd and Dilu, Nadja, Alma & Lottie came over from Germany. It was three days of foodie fun   That evening, Renu cooked sausages in onion sauce and mash with lots of cream…

Summer In Menorca – Beaming Down


In the summer of 2019 we holidayed in Menorca for the first time   The morning Jet2 flight from Leeds/Bradford reached  Mahón, the capital of the tiny Balearic island of Menorca in two hours and fifteen minutes. Nick, Renu and Seren arrived fifteen minutes later on a flight from London. Nick drove the rented car…

Fathers Day Weekend – 2019


  The 2019 Fathers Day weekend was spent in London. On Friday, we took the A1 from Harrogate to London, stopping in Blythe for lunch. It was a warm and sunny  in London, a perfect evening to sit on the terrace and drink G&Ts (London No.1), munching long, thin Catalan sausages. Lamb chops, asparagus and…

Remembrance Sunday 2018


  It was a cold, crispy day in Harrogate and autumn leaves carpeted the Stray. One man’s greed engulfed Sri Lanka – the land of my birth, in the most serious constitutional crisis since independence from. British rule in 1948. It was also my birthday but there was no mood for celebrations. As tradition demands,…

Remembrance Sunday – 2017


It is a beautiful, sunny autumn’s day in Yorkshire. It is also Remembrance Day and a small group of us, old friends and colleagues, are having lunch together at the Golf Club.   We sip Louis Roederer Brut and talk about old times. The table was already laid and at twelve thirty, John serves lunch.…

In My Time – Week 28, 2015


It is already mid-summer but days with good summer weather have been few. Week 28 was no exception. Buying exciting new wines and walking in the Yorkshire Dales were the highlights of the week WINE The man from Enotria Wine Cellars popped in at the beginning of the week. He had driven all the way…

A Weekend In The Dales – Friday


 “Let’s spend the weekend in the Dales” Renu said. She travelled by train from London to Darlington with Bailey and took a taxi to Richmond. That afternoon Rani and I drove up from Harrogate. We met up at the Bishop Blaize pub in Richmond’s Market Square and drove to our rented cottage in the little…