Category: HOME & GARDEN
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Brightening things up a bit
Like everything else at my house, the garden is a perpetual work in progress — probably still a few years away from matching the picture in my head. The challenge is that every improvement comes with a trade-off. Prioritise one thing in 2026, and something else slips down the list until 2027. Two steps forward,…
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My “OG” house in a wonderfully green estate
I’ve lived in my house in Rugby for a year and a half now, and it’s slightly embarrassing to admit that in all that time I hadn’t properly explored the area on foot. The estate itself has grown in phases over the last twenty years, and my house is one of the “OG” properties, built…
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Office Week
A quote I commend is: “You don’t rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.” This week has been a systems week (see also Work Office: coming on like a slow chess match), induced by the begrudging acceptance that my old desktop is past its best and long…
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Geranium summer
I’m hardly in a position for the garden to be a hot priority, but I do try to ensure that the occupants of my pots are alive with some prospect of flowering. Many of my “OGs” didn’t survive their first cycle of seasons, so I decided to “go big” on geraniums to fill the gaps.…
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Light hearted room in a serious household
My home is my office, gym, workshop, private park (perhaps overstating its grandeur), gallery, library, storage unit, and much else besides. It’s serious business — partly because a fair portion of my wealth is tied up in its land, bricks, and mortar, and partly because it serves as the multifunctional centre of my universe. When…
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Back and At It
I took my site off-line for a while, partly because it’s been (pretty much) all work since January. In the last day or two I’ve started to make progress around the house. Specifically, I began the big job of painting the fence in my back garden. It will take about a week in all, but…
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Romcom Winter Weather
At the grand finale of Christmas romcoms set in the UK, you always get picture-postcard snow arriving right on cue. Unfortunately, we British know the reality: it rarely snows south of Edinburgh, and it pretty much never snows at Christmas. If it comes, it’s typically in January or February, although freak storms can happen as…
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One Year On: the Home Front
A year is a long time.Except it isn’t. With a demanding full-time job and a packed calendar (I flew 23 times in 2025 alone), a year can feel more like a month. It’s in my nature to feel frustrated by a lack of progress, even when—objectively—a fair amount has been achieved. What follows is a…
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Achievements as an amateur hour electrician
I’m no electrician—before moving into my house in Rugby, I hadn’t so much as changed a plug. But there was a lot to do, and over the past year, it’s been staggeringly expensive… without even paying for electricians! As is probably typical, the previous owners left behind all sorts of broken fixtures. Take the security…
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Pride (In the Name of Garage Doors)
I always assumed the U2 classic “Pride (In the Name of Love)” was just another love song. A damn good one, mind you—but still, an example of history’s most well-worn theme. But is it possible Bono was actually doing a bit of DIY and felt chuffed to bits? Maybe he was feeling both pride and…
Dr Martin James 