Fornham All Saints Snowdrop Walk

Joyce is away at the moment and this week it was my turn to lead a walk for the group.

Weekend Quick Cryptic 149 - Solution

Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce our series of Weekend Quick Cryptic crosswords. We take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it's Phil 's 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  TfTT .  You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here. 

Weekend Quick Cryptic 149 - by Phil Jordan

Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce our series of Weekend Quick Cryptic crosswords. We take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it is Phil's turn, Number 149 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.  

Homemade Pastis #3

Today I distilled my pastis brew.

Seedlings

Dawn has been planting some seeds of tomato, chilli pepper and sweet pepper.

Homemade Pastis Stage #2

Today I reached stage #2 of making my homenade pastis.

Homemade Pastis - Stage #1

I started on a new distilling experiment yesterday - to make some Pastis.

The 16th Elysian Winter Beer Festival

It was a bit of a spur-of-the-moment thing as I decided to go only last night, but today I had a trip to Ely for my second (and last) Winter Beer Festival of this winter.

Weekend Quick Cryptic 148 - Solution

Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce our series of Weekend Quick Cryptic crosswords. We 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  TfTT .  You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here. 

Weekend Quick Cryptic 148 - The Kitchen Garden by Johninterred

Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce our series of Weekend Quick Cryptic crosswords. We take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it is my turn, Number 148 in the series. The title "The Kitchen Garden" is hint to the theme. Can you find all the thematic references and identify the song and children's TV series that 9 of them relate to?

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.  

U3A Linton Walk

It was the first Thursday of the month today and time for the second Bury St. Edmunds U3A Longer Walks Group walk of 2026.

Felixstowe Sunrise Walk

A regular for this time of year, today was the day for our Felixstowe Sunrise Walk. It was led by Roland and he picked the date well, as we got excellent weather.

Ickworth Estate Walk and House Tour

Today's day out was close to home and very familiar territory - The  Ickworth Estate.

Colchester Winter Beer Festival

Today I took a train ride to Colchester for the Colchester Winter Beer Festival.

Starling Murmuration at Lackford Lakes

It was a lovely afternoon for it so today we took a short trip to Lackford Lakes to see if we could see the murmuration of starlings that has been said to be so good this year.

Oxburgh Hall - Snowdrop Time

This morning we took a trip to the Oxburgh Estate near Swaffham in Norfolk as it is renowned for its display of snowdrops. We last visited it in the summer (see here).

Weekend Quick Cryptic 147 - Solution

Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce our series of Weekend Quick Cryptic crosswords. We take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it's Sawbill 's 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  TfTT .  You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here. 

Weekend Quick Cryptic 147 - by Sawbill

Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce our series of Weekend Quick Cryptic crosswords. We take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it is Sawbill's turn, Number 147 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.  

Wells-Next-the-Sea Day Out

Today we had a day trip to the North Norfolk coast.

Spanish Style Goat's Cheese

Yesterday I had a go at making some more cheese - some Spanish style goat's cheese this time.

When Numbers Turn Nasty

Yesterday I joined a U3A Online talk entitled "When numbers turn nasty" - an intriguing title and I wasn't disappointed.

John's Walks 2025 Updated

 

I've  done a final update to the page John's Walks 2025, which you can access via the menu bar at the top of the page or the "John's Walks" section in the sidebar to include all walks this year so far. John's Walks 2025 provides an index to all the walk blog posts last year. 

Tattingstone Walk

Today we had a sunny walk around Alton Water from Tattingstone.

Creamy Cheshire Cheese

Yesterday I dug out my Cheese Monkey Artisan Cheesemaking Kit to make some Cheshire Cheese.

Tassel Provender Seville Marmalade - 2026 Edition

It's that time of year again.

Weekend Quick Cryptic 146 - Solution

Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce our series of Weekend Quick Cryptic crosswords. We take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it's Phil's turn. As an added bonus for the first of our puzzles of the year, Phil has provided a 15x15 grid, but don't worry - it is no more difficult than the usual 13x13s.

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  TfTT .  You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here. 

Weekend Quick Cryptic 146 - by Phil Jordan

Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce our series of Weekend Quick Cryptic crosswords. We take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it is Phil's turn, Number 146 in the series. As an added bonus for the first of our puzzles of the year, Phil has provided a 15x15 grid, but don't worry - it is no more difficult than the usual 13x13s.

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.  

U3A Mundford Walk

Although not the furst Thursday of the month (that was New Year's Day), today we had our first U3A Longer Walks Group walk of 2026.

Snow Day

Today we woke to snow lying!

West Stow Walk

Today we had our first group walk of 2026 - from West Stow Country Park.