Bleats and Blogs

On 22nd December my landline died. I tried to report the fault online but when the system of the telecoms company, who shall remain nameless, informed me it couldn't recognise my number, alarm bells stared to ring. After spending ages on their website hunting for a...

A common denominator among the wide variety of species living on my farm is that we are all creatures of habit. Consider the bedtime ritual. I switch off all lights downstairs, collect my glass of water and my mobile before pottering upstairs to run my bath. By the...

I maintain that the creation of the Internet and ability to share information electronically, was an innovation of importance on a par with the invention of the engine and industrial revolution. I also believe that it was created with good in mind and the vast...

Penguin Books published Matthew Walker’s tome 'Why We Sleep' in 2017 and when I read it, it terrified me. Eat your heart out Stephen King! In answering the question why we sleep, Walker reveals the long term, irreversible physical and mental damage done to our bodies...

Recently, I came across Joe Navarro, a former FBI Agent and expert on body language. His YouTube videos are fascinating, revealing how humans really communicate. This got me thinking about two things. Firstly, how subtle non-verbal communication is and miraculously,...

I have just finished reading Lindsey Fitzharris’ book ‘The Butchering Art’ (Penguin, 2018). And fascinating it was too, but not for the feint-hearted. It’s a compelling read about the life and medical career of Joseph Lister whose indomitable interest in sepsis...

As I write this my house is filled with the most wonderful aroma – a glorious combination of brandy, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and dried fruit. Yes you have guessed it – my Christmas puddings are delightfully on the boil, giving off a scent so evocative of this time of...

I am not quite sure how I do it but I manage to convince all the animals here at Primrose Farm of three rules by which they must live harmoniously together. These rules are: Love is unconditional Respect is mutual and We don’t eat family members This is no mean feat...

One of my fondest memories as a child was, very occasionally and as a big treat, my mother would allow my two sisters and I to pop some corn in a pot. I loved the dull thud, thud, thud of the kernels exploding in the hot oil as the kitchen filled with that...

I discovered today that if you mislay something and need to report it, you have to do it online via a website called “Report My Loss”. No longer can you walk into a police station (Honiton’s doesn’t have a reception anymore), nor can you call anyone to report the loss...