Father's Day 2026!

UK: Father’s Day Cards! (21.6.2026)

With regards Mother’s Day – the UK has a different day to that recognised universally. Why this is I do not know. Apparently, the UK invented Mother’s Day – which was originally the “Mother of Christ” Day. I am told that “Father’s Day” is the same in and outside the UK. So, there you have it. Anyway, my two daughters are still children and tend to give me cards. Parenting is a difficult and demanding undertaking and certainly not the starry-eyed pastime popular literature likes to portray. It is not romantic to say the least. Of course, children never understand the burden parenthood – and as parents we would do well to remember that we were once children. Although there is no standard rule-book – there are rules. It is hoped that common decency and common-sense hold sway and all difficulties navigated. And on the journey goes!

A Summer's School Pick-Up!

Sutton: A Typical Summer School Pick-Up! (20.8.2026)

Of course, we live in South-West Greater London (Sutton & Cheam) – which used to be East Surrey until 1965. The place is countryfied and full of trees and parks – the trees are in the streets – planted down the side of the pavements (my dad said – when he visited in 2000 – that this is “posh”). Sutton used to be terribly wealthy in all areas, but now is just a place that well-off people like to live despite the economy completely collapsing). Obviously, I am here just by accident. I ended-up here more or less by accident due to a relationship, etc. Still, we are where we are and have to make the most of it. The schools are good and we are providing the best education we can for our two daughters. This is my partner “Gee” (left) walking with “Kai-Lin” (right) – I am the rear-guard holding the ‘phone. Earlier that day, me and Gee had attended a School Assembly – within which all the children demonstrated to their parents what they had laerned over the last academic year (September-July).

Conveyance Title - 71 Mount Pleasant Road, Brixhan

Brixham: Framed 1920 Conveyance Deed – Kai-Lin Helped Me Read It! (3.4.2026)

Today, such people are “preserved” as a “right” – as their presence helps us understand our own human history (the Celts – my ethnicity – used to strip naked, get drunk, and cover themselves in shit before a battle). But I digress. In the bedroom our two daughters are occupying – the above legal document has been “framed” and hung on the wall for all to see and admire. Indeed, until, this morning, none of us had actually noticed it. In 2026, this second-floor building (“71a” is beneath us) is termed “Rock Hopper” – and this is the name used in all the advertising literature. The back yard is a narrow strip of land – but I suspect that “71” and “71a” were originally one and the same dwelling. The steep rock-face at the end of the garden turns-out to be the edges of an old quarry – whatever that was used for – probably prior to these houses being built on a steep and narrow hill (incline).

17th Century Safe - Old Wooden Safe - Built In2o Bedroom Wall!

Market Overton: 17th Century Wooden Safe – Built into Bedroom Wall! (26.10.2025)

Anyway, I digress. This morning, and for the first-time in decades, I heard a local Parish Church ring the church-bells – summoning the faithful to worship on this crisp Sunday-morning! I am literally sat in the epicentre of history! Probably far more so than usual. As you can see above – in the bedroom I am frequenting – there is a wooden safe built into the wall. The wood does not seem that secure to me – and I know I could easily place my fist through the door – it seems that thin (not that I would do such a thing). Years ago (in Hong Kong) when I had to punch objects whilst holding an egg in the palm (which had to remain “unbroken”) – the objects I had to hit were far more “stout” than this structure. I cannot not discern any writing on the casing of the safe – but such a craftsman’s signature might be immediately adjacent to the inner wall structure.

A Saturday Morning Trip to the Honey-Shop!

The Galmpton “Honour System” – Walking to the Honey-Shop on a Saturday Morning! (30.8.2025)

Having stayed in Galampton a number of times now – my parent’s house is full of various medical paraphernalia – we noticed a sign (one of many) outside a beautiful brick-work #(chocolate-box) cottage – advertising local honey. Although this sign is a permanent fixture, we were never quite sure if the honey is available all year round – and we did not want to bother the owners. I could just imagine a startled villager as their sedate and isolated cottage is over-ran by a loud South London family – and their two-dogs!

Adrian the Monk - 2025

Report: Ghost Hunting in North Devon! (29.8.2025)

With most of the lights off by 11pm, I sat on my religious chair (the Church dates back to the 14th century – and so does the chair). I cleared my mind and immersed myself into the ancient nature of the stone-work. The stone was cool to the touch – I went bare-foot to ground myself – and felt the calm structure of the place. No fear, no deception, and nothing to worry about, Although I neither support or oppose theology – I sensed the spiritual feel that all the attendees developed and projected into rge physical structure of the place. In many places in the UK, the Christians deliberately built their Churches on already existing Pagan sites of ancient spirituality – with nothing to do with a Christian god. The mistake that Christians make is that their own mind creates the religion they believe in – but they mistakenly believe that their religion exists “outside” their heads, independent of the mind that generates it. The perception is inverted and the wrong way around.

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