10th September 2017

"Why worry? If you've done the very best you can, worrying won't make it any better" Walt Disney...
As I write this, hurricane Irma is heading towards Miami, soon followed by hurricane Jose. In Asia severe flooding is getting worse. And what does the world do?  They're still discussing how man can reduce greenhouse gasses. It's obvious our climate is changing but my view is it's far more likely to be caused by natural planetary shifts, not by man at all. Was the Ice Age then caused by man?  1950s Bham was full of yellow factory smog and we never talked about greenhouse gasses then. Today the air is so much cleaner and fresher. The UN needs to discuss urgently not the causes but how to deal with the effects of climate change - moving people away from current and future likely hot spots, building tide barrages, reinforcing surge areas, building stronger houses - on stilts in flood areas etc.
.....The US is a capitalist society and Walt knew very well....if Disneyworld in Florida has closed its doors today, things must be bad. Stay safe everyone.

3rd September 2017

The anniversary of the start of WW11. As a writer I do a lot of research. I am always fascinated - indeed horrified - by how major conflicts of the past were started, and then exacerbated by tricks of fate or the wrong word said by someone at the wrong time. Millions of lives can be affected by such things. I often talk about an unknown man called Arthur Greenwood, a drunkard member of Churchill's war Cabinet, always exuding a palpable whiff of alcohol. The times were grim. Those around the war table were set to vote with Lord Halifax and Chamberlain in signing an accord with Hitler. History often records that sometimes in the chaos theory of life the right thing is said at the right time. This was such a moment. The drunken Greenwood stumbles to his feet and says No, no. How can you even contemplate surrender or negotiation with such a man? Churchill, as Chairman, sighed with relief. The tide turned, culminating in Hitler's eventual defeat. But what if Greenwood had been sick that day and absent from the table? Has your life been affected by such tricks of fate?  Have a read of Vichyssoise - click on the image on the right - and leave your review on Amazon.

27th August 2017

Bank holiday tomorrow. Time to reflect. In the news yet another boatload of poor people desperately trying to get a new life. Understandable if they're running from a war-torn country (my own ancestors did the same), but if they're economic migrants? On TV on Wednesday a couple in their 40s left well-paid jobs in London to move to the Lake District to start a pizzaria. Seemed a wonderful idea, away from the rat-race, but in reality it was non-stop work, 7/7. Was it worth it? On Tuesday I'll be online all day until the following morning, taking you through the details of what happened to us in 2005. As with the TV couple it all seemed a wonderful idea, a refreshing change from the rat-race. But, for the rest of your life?  Doesn't there come a time say twenty years down the line when you start to feel you want to go 'home'? Culture clash. However hard you try. And those poor economic migrants? I still feel that the rich West should spend money not in moving people away from home but in improving the infrastructure of their own country - directly, not by giving sums to their dictator leaders. What about you? Do you want to get a new life? Join me online on Tuesday: www.facebook.com/events/158998377995657 and find out how to do it.

20th August 2017

Barcelona. Las Ramblas - such a lovely wide boulevard, thronged with laughing, joyful holidaymakers, all mingling with each other along its cobbled thoroughfare. And now this. People despair and ask why is this happening in the world. But it's always happened. Man feels threatened unless he can 'protect' himself amongst his very own group, fighting off all those 'others'. However, centuries ago man only fought those who lived in the next village, unaware of what was happening in the rest of the world. Ironically today technology is at fault, opening up global vistas, showing how green it is the other side of the fence. Well, that was ever the reasoning. The difference today is that one group is fighting not to try to achieve what others have but with one aim only - to proselytise the rest of the world to their own 'group'.  Pure tribalism but with a global, evil twist. Let us hope they are never successful.
Meantime, technology's better side:  today I'm on fellow author Vanessa Couchman's blog, talking about the lighter side of cultural exchanges in Europe. Do pop over to www.vanessafrance.wordpress.com and read about my forthcoming release, Pensioners in Paradis: French Notes From A Broad. Thank you Vanessa.

13th August 2017

Immigrants....Years ago we were used to Pakistani and Bangladeshi immigrants. In France we'd read about EU immigration but not experienced it. Back in the UK the builders sent several workers to our new house. Couldn't quite place the first one's accent. Russian? No. Polish? No. Bulgarian! And when another builder came round, he sounded a bit similar. You must be Bulgarian, I said. No. Albanian! Oh the changes here post-war. From '48 to '62 the UK saw a wave of immigrants from Britain's imperial family. 500,000 arrived, mainly from the Caribbean, India and Pakistan. In Mirpur you earned 50p per week, in Wolverhampton £33. A no-brainer. Everyone thought they were here just temporarily, but it eventually turned the UK multicultural. And now the latest EU wave. After 2004 it was impossible for the government to control numbers, so Brexit was born. My conclusion? We must all learn how to deal with neighbours of a different culture.
...Hence the new published edition of my non-fiction book Pensioners in Paradis: French Notes from a Broad. How did Him indoors cope with dealing with a different culture? And how did the French cope with him? Now available for pre-order: click on the image on the right.

6th August 2017

Now I'm back in England, my head's much clearer. Must be all that rain, washing away my confusion. 12 years ago I still viewed France in awe - full of sun, cobalt-blue skies and gourmet food. We all looked for the same thing: a natural-stone cottage in glorious countryside, surrounded by acres of your own land and perhaps metres from a shimmering lake. You're going to speak French and integrate. And all for a mere fraction of a UK house. But after say 10 years, reality sets in. You're not getting any younger and the essentials of life like supermarkets/banks/petrol stations/cash machines/doctors are miles away, so what to do if either your eyesight's failing or only one of you drives? Land maintenance is fine if you're fit, but will you still be in 10 years' time? And those living near a lake/river: wait for the flooding to start. French living costs, once cheap, are steadily rising. Ultimate question: do you want to die there? (I know, you don't want to die anywhere!). And me? TG back in reality land, no longer foreign (even though I speak good French), shops open 'til 11 pm, no lunchtime closing, everything easier, quicker and more friendly. I can tell you straight: the French do not like the English - they are 'ferme', closed to outsiders. TG I've at last come to my senses. The English living in France are still in a dream world, still in long-term HOLIDAY mode. England has its faults, but it's HOME.

30th July 2017

A whirlwind week! American daughter Julie and son-in-law Scott are now en route back to Maine after spending a lovely week with us in Birmingham.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Woulley/status/891398566400454656
We enjoyed a day out in Wales, wandering around the ruins of Raglan Castle. For the knitters amongst you, the shortened sleeve was named after the poor Duke who lost his arm in battle, necessitating the local women to devise a special raglan knitting pattern just for him. Nearer to home we tramped up nearby Lickey Hills nearly losing Bruno who, comme d'habitude, ignored completely our commands! But the highlight of the week was undoubtedly yesterday, where at the Joseph Cohen Hall we enjoyed a service in our honour followed by a fab party with our friends from the community and family. Wonderful food - including fried fish balls, fried aubergine salad, felafel, pickled herring, cheeses, fruit etc etc. We even had golden balloons.  David Beckham eat your heart out. A special surprise for us was the composite picture below, which Julie had secretly arranged from some of our old wedding pics plus bottom left a vintage photo from 1930 where my late mother (frontrow, 4th left) won 1st prize as Miss Aston Villa. Now that's something you don't see every day.  Thank you to all the lovely people who helped us celebrate our 50th in style. Here's to the next 50 years.