Tuesday 17th March

Wishing all people across the water a very happy St Patrick's Day.

On this day in history:

1649 - Oliver Cromwell abolished the House of Lords and the position of King of England

1919 - Nat "King" Cole was born

1951 - Dennis the Menace appeared in the Beano comic for the first time

1992 - Apartheid in South Africa comes to an end

1995 - Ronnie Kray died in Broadmoor hospital

Today - The sun came out!!

Hello, you lovely people. It is sooo good to see, and feel, the sun shining here today in deepest, dark Devon after what has seemed to be non-stop rain since the beginning of the year. The downside is that the garden is now beckoning for some serious attention!

I went to our local History club this morning in the village hall. Had a very interesting presentation from Rachel Goldsworthy about her relative, Judy Fryd, the founder of the charity MENCAP, an organisation that was originally named the National Association of Parents of Backward Children, a term that is wholly inappropriate in these better informed and more understanding times.

 Harvey, our slightly crazy Golden Doodle, is giving me the "Doodle stare" right now. I'm convinced he can tell the time! Off to the woods in a few minutes, then. Love him to bits! He's just about three and a half so, in human years, is just over twenty.

Then for dinner this evening I shall be cooking salmon, cooked in a sesame, soy and ginger sauce, served with potato wedges and a pot of Hollandaise sauce on the side, after which it will be off to the local pub for a quiz night.