Friko's World

Those of you who have commented on my state of mind in the previous post are quite right. I do indeed sound sad and unhappy. Rereading the p...

 Is there any place on this, our one and only home planet, where the inhabitants are not dreading each new day's weather? And if you are...

I have only very recently discovered a new to me, very powerful, story teller: Elizabeth Strout.  "Olive Kitteridge" is a beautifu...

I've been struggling, the black dog came down for a visit and, as always when that happens, I felt unable to blog. You all appear so pos...

Just when I feel I have rediscovered my blogging mojo my internet connection gets dodgy. Three times in the last week my connection failed a...

 It’s only now, when midlife has long passed, that my midlife crisis is hitting me. ( Google says that  Midlife crisis” may be a nother name...

Whatever am I going to do about my resident fledgling blackbird? Or maybe blackbirds plural? About 8 to 10 days ago I first noticed t...

Fully autumn soon, the nights are drawing in, there’s a chill in the air and the leaves of the Japanese ornamental cherry show just t...

'There is no more ridiculous custom than the one that makes you express sympathy once and for all on a given day to a person whose sorro...

but it's not easy in the depths of winter, at this late stage in the season. I had a post planned about the turf wars breaking out among...

How do you read? Not so much which kind of books - although that comes into it - but how deeply and with how much concentration do you read?...

It’s really hard to come up with a worthwhile blog post when your mind is preoccupied. I may also be suffering from writer’s block, all my ...

The difference between these two pictures is 20 hours and an awful lot of rain. It’s the same stretch of river and the same willow ...

I really shouldn’t give this book free publicity. Rarely have I been more cross with myself for wasting hours and hours on a book. Another...

Sometimes, I just potter. Days without plan, without purpose, days when I can land on any activity I fancy, at any time, suit me well....

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

except me, that the grass in the lower field, where Millie and I walk daily, is finally being cut and I can actually see her again  r...