Wednesday 31 January 2024

Blog Update Notifications

Apologies to my subscribers for duplicate notification emails last night and the night before. I have had to migrate between versions of Mailerlite, the email platform I use and created the new 'campaign' before I'd deactivated the old one. If you are not already a subscriber and would like to be, please sign up via the "Subscribe to Email Updates" box in the sidebar or send me a message.

Friday 26 January 2024

Bacton Walk

Today we walked some new paths for me in a circular walk from Bacton via Finningham and Gislingham. 

Weekend Quick Cryptic 95 - Solution

Although The Times has bowed to pressure and started providing a Saturday Quick Cryptic crossword, my fellow TimesforTheTimes contributors Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce Quick Cryptic crosswords to fill the gap left by the Sunday Times not having one. The plan is for us to take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it's Phil's turn. 

You can find a link to this week's crossword here and the answers below. Feel free to leave any comments or questions here as you would do on TfTTYou can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here. 

Weekend Quick Cryptic 95 - by Phil Jordan

Click here to read about the origin of this series of crosswords.

A brief history of the origins of these crosswords for those who are new to them. As a blogger of the Times Quick Cryptic Crossword on Times for The Times every other Friday, I often had comments on the blog bemoaning that The Times only provides a Quick Cryptic on Mondays to Fridays. When I finally gave up work at the end of February 2020, I decided that I would try my hand at compiling crosswords. It was with some trepidation that I published, in May 2020, the first of these Weekend Quick Cryptics to fill the gap. Well it seemed to go down well so I did another. And then my fellow crossword solver and commenter on Times for the Times, Phil Jordan, volunteered to produce some too. And then, more recently, so did Sawbill. So now the three of us take turns, publishing each new crossword via my Friday Quick Crossword blog. The popularity of these has been such that The Times has now bowed to pressure and started publishing a Saturday Quick Cryptic (albeit online only). But there is still no Sunday Times Quick Cryptic so we will continue with these as long as there is sufficient interest.

This time it is Phil's turn to provide the fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic crossword, Number 95 in the series. You can try and solve the crossword interactively here on MyCrossword or here on crossword.info.  As usual you can download a PDF to print which you can find here. Alternatively you can copy and print the image below. Comments and queries are welcome with the solution post (which also gives tips on some of the clues).  I will react to any comments or queries there as soon as I can. You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here. 

Thursday 25 January 2024

Jigsaw of Northumberland


On our holiday in Northumberland last year, I bought a 1000 piece souvenir jigsaw of a map of the county.

Wednesday 24 January 2024

Wortham Walk

Today's Walk was on the Suffolk/Norfolk border - a circular walk from Wortham via Diss.

Monday 22 January 2024

Coffee


 At home I hardly ever drink instant coffee, but this morning I had to.

Saturday 20 January 2024

Friday 19 January 2024

Tattingstone Walk

It was a lovely sunny but frosty wintery day again today so Dawn and I thought we'd get out and enjoy it before the weather turned. I thought it would be a good opportunity to do a recce for the walk I am leading for Joyce's Weekly Walks on Tues 5th February; so that's what we did.

Wednesday 17 January 2024

Wells-next-the-Sea Walk

Today we took a trip to the North Norfolk coast to meet up with Joyce and Nick for a wintery walk.

Tuesday 16 January 2024

Monday 15 January 2024

Ginger Marmalade and Cordial - 2024 edition

At the market on Saturday I found among the "Any bowl for £1" offers a container of about 500g of root ginger.

Friday 12 January 2024

Mayday Hide Walk

Today we had another walk in the Brandon area with stops at Brandon Country Park, Santon Downham and High Lodge.

Weekend Quick Cryptic 94 - Solution

Although The Times has bowed to pressure and started providing a Saturday Quick Cryptic crossword, my fellow TimesforTheTimes contributors Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce Quick Cryptic crosswords to fill the gap left by the Sunday Times not having one. The plan is for us to take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it's my turn. 

You can find a link to the crossword here and the answers below. Feel free to leave any comments or questions here as you would do on TfTTYou can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here. 

Weekend Quick Cryptic 94 - We're happy...

Click here to read about the origin of this series of crosswords.

A brief history of the origins of these crosswords for those who are new to them. As a blogger of the Times Quick Cryptic Crossword on Times for The Times every other Friday, I often had comments on the blog bemoaning that The Times only provides a Quick Cryptic on Mondays to Fridays. When I finally gave up work at the end of February 2020, I decided that I would try my hand at compiling crosswords. It was with some trepidation that I published, in May 2020, the first of these Weekend Quick Cryptics to fill the gap. Well it seemed to go down well so I did another. And then my fellow crossword solver and commenter on Times for the Times, Phil Jordan, volunteered to produce some too. And then, more recently, so did Sawbill. So now the three of us take turns, publishing each new crossword via my Friday Quick Crossword blog. The popularity of these has been such that The Times has now bowed to pressure and started publishing a Saturday Quick Cryptic (albeit online only). But there is still no Sunday Times Quick Cryptic so we will continue with these as long as there is sufficent interest.

This time it is my turn to provide the fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic crossword, Number 94 in the series, entitled "We're happy...". As usual, there is a bit of a hint in the title to some thematic answers. Today's is a well known seasonal song and the ellipsis in the title is followed in the grid by the remaining 8 words to complete the first verse.

You can try and solve the crossword interactively here on MyCrossword or here on crossword.info.  As usual you can download a PDF to print which you can find here. Alternatively you can copy and print the image below. Comments and queries are welcome with the solution post (which also gives tips on some of the clues).  I will react to any comments or queries there as soon as I can. You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here. 

Thursday 11 January 2024

Home-Made Sausage Rolls

After Christmas I made a turkey and ham pie, but I had too much filling so I got some more pastry to make another smaller pie. So then I had some left over pastry!

Wednesday 10 January 2024

Seville Orange Marmalade 2024

After the popularity of the marmalade I made last year... now all eaten, I've been on the lookout for the Seville oranges appearing at the market.

Monday 8 January 2024

John's Walks 2023 Completed

The blog page John's Walks 2023 (see menu) is now complete, providing links to 84 walks, their routes and albums of photos. As usual, if you find any broken links please let me know. Thanks to all the walk leaders and fellow walkers. And now walks for 2024 have begun I'll have to start a page for John's Walks 2024 soon!

Thursday 4 January 2024

U3A Weeting Walk

It was the first Thursday of the month today, so time for a walk with the Bury St. Edmunds U3A Longer Walks Group. Rosalind was our leader today and, for the first time since I joined the group, we had a linear walk.

Wednesday 3 January 2024

Thurston Walk

Today we had an entertaining walk from Thurston which didn't quite go to plan.