Friko's World

After all the raving and ranting I’ve done recently, not forgetting moaning and whining, perhaps it’s time I turned my attention to gentle...

the month of new life, is named after Mars, the Roman God of War. It’s only the fourth day today and already March has lived up to its ...

please. I understand you just had one of those annual events which change the history of your nation and put every citizen into a great ex...

Valley’s End is showing a last burst of colour before the dark days of winter. Keep up your spirits with healthy exercise: Leapi...

That crackle and crunch underfoot is beech mast. The big beech is aiming missiles at me from a great height, and when her aim is true...

Mediaeval Illustration They say you can tell you are getting old when you see policemen getting younger. You know you must be old whe...

 We knew it had to happen eventually. Being a careful sort of gardener, I won’t risk calling these days ‘spring days’, but the le...

A respite from the rain for most of the day, there was even enough sun to bathe the castle in a warm afternoon glow. Millie and I went ou...

My crabapple , Red Sentinel,  keeps on giving; it’s a medium sized deciduous tree with showy pinkish flowers in spring  and edible ...

Jan Jiri Heinsch 1647-1712 St. Nicholas giving alms to the poor and needy of his diocese. All good children in mid-European c...

that was scary! Just at the mirk and midnight hour The Fair Folk will ride They that would their true love win At Miles Cross the...

 A year of life with ' smelly Millie with the Ears ' already?  Twelve months gone? Never!  Throughout the year I said thi...

Now is the tolling time Between the falling and the buried leaf; A solitary bell Saddens the soft air with the last knell of ...

Having two gardeners is not necessarily a good thing. Although No. 2, Paul, knows that he is employed to take the weight off No.1 Gardener’s...

The time has come for swallows, martins and swifts to leave the UK and embark on their epic migration to South Africa, so make the most...

Beloved had another BCC*  removed this week. Gardener, Beloved and I are having a tea break, not one of us is feeling very active and a te...

photo Agustin Berocal Tess Kincaid’s Magpie 177 In the days when people undertook long journeys overland on foot a goldsmith and a ...

"Has there ever been a year for dandelions like this year?” Standing in the kitchen, after his walk with the dog, he looks wistf...

Giovanni Bellini, 1460-1464, Galleria Querini Stampalia, Venice February has been the month of purification since Roman times;   Febr...