There. I’ve said it. I don’t like Ikea. I have tried. Many times. I’ve bought my fair share of Billy Bookcases and Willie Wardrobes, and all the other weird and wonderful names they call their items. But I just can’t get enthusiastic about them. I can’t get into the groove…

Great idea, Shirley Thanks for your mention and your kind words. I've been absent from the word factory, but I hope to return soon. I'll be back !

I bought a book at a charity shop last week. “How interesting”, I hear you say. Actually, it was. A number of years ago I bought a book by an author called Marina Lewycka. It was a novel entitled “A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian”. …

I suspect your first ten guesses would be wrong. No, it’s not Russia, or America. Or UK, although you could be forgiven for ticking the UK box if you could have seen the rate at which the Christmas special offer booze boxes were disappearing through the doors at Tesco. The…

I mean what do you have to do? Services to Writing, services to Tuneless Whistling, services to Karaoke. You would think someone would have nominated me somewhere along the line. I’m in good company. I read where David Beckham’s bottom lip quivered when he read through the list and found…

So I get this Dentist appointment. It’s the first one for quite a while. At one time Dentists appeared hungry for your business. You were invited in regularly every six months, but now they have got lax. I get the feeling they are not bothered whether I come in or…

I have joined the Gym at our new Community Centre. The centre cost several million pounds to build, and I do live about 300 yards away. It seemed rude not to join. As well as the gym there is a swimming pool, library, meeting rooms and leisure areas. It is…

A long (long) time ago, my old Pappy played professional Rugby League. It was before I was even being considered, so I had no actual recollections of the games he played or physical punishment he received and dished out. Suffice to say that rugby was then a far more brutal…

It makes me smile when some people say, “Don’t forget to flush the chain.” You don’t flush the chain, of course. You can pull the chain or flush the toilet. Pulling the chain was how it used to be done before low-level, quiet-flush, push-button cisterns replaced the high-level, noisy-flush, yank-on-the-handle…