Friko's World

So, the Chinese have changed their mind on the legally allotted number of children a couple can have. After strictly no more than one for se...

It had to happen eventually, working like a madwoman in the garden had to lead to some injury or other. It did. Excessive sawing and secateu...

Opening the five-bar gate from the field into the castle ground to take Millie for a much truncated walk on one of these very cold afternoon...

15th November to 15th January - a long break from blogging. Only five followers have decided that this blog isn’t worth following now, so t...

The first thing I heard was a woman’s loud voice: “ Oh, he’s gorgeous. What a lovely boy.” She went on and on in the same vein. “What a d...

at reasonable prices. A colouring book, a packet of crayons and coloured pencils, a rubber and frequently licked forefinger, and a tongue ...

Children leave. it seems not long ago  they still ran in by the open door,  and, united in dispute, each took their chair aroun...

and guess what, you’ve got a China. When Kelly’s Georgie was six he had sex education lessons at school.  Nothing but the most basic facts...

At Grammar School my trials and tribulations hadn’t quite come to an end, but I learned to keep my head down and follow the rules. I was now...

Yes, there had indeed been a meeting, possibly the sort of thing that might be called an emergency council. We didn’t know about it at the t...

“You can’t just barge in here without an appointment”, he blustered. “This is my home and my family and I are about to eat our supper. If yo...

I caught a cold, a snot-rattling, throat-rasping, eye-watering, croaking-voiced cold. Fräulein Optenberg was certain the cold would be gon...

"I can’t stand a naked light bulb, amy more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action”, Tennessee Williams’ Blanche Dubois ...

Thanks Hilary The waiting room in the skin clinic was quiet; people were  reading, staring out of the window, occasionally shuffling ...

I wasn't planning to publish any of this but let me start with the definition of ‘dysfunctional families’ acc. to Wikipedia: A dysfu...

We had a whole day without rain yesterday; it blew and blustered, of course, but there were minutes when the sun pushed through a gap and...