Life

I needed to buy a waterproof jacket for use when working. I also have a Gore-Tex jacket from Craghoppers, which is excellent, but I didn't want to ruin that jacket by using it for working every day. I have a few other Regatta products which are well made, so, for around £25 I thought this Matt Jacket from the same company would be a good buy.

I was without my vintage wooden Zassenhaus, so I rushed out and bought a new manual coffee grinder. The one I got is from Maison & White, and it is amazingly good. It is adjustable from very fine to coarse. Grinding is done with ceramic burrs, and the rest of the construction is made from solid glass, stainless steel, galvanised metal and silicon. They even provided an extra jar for bean storage. The best part is it only cost £10, including delivery.

Love in the Afternoon is a romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, starring Gary Cooper and Audrey Hepburn. The movie tells the story of Ariane, the daughter of a private investigator who specialises in cases of extra-marital affairs. Despite being discouraged by her father, Ariane always shows an interest in his cases. One day she sees photographs her father took of Mr. Flannagan, the subject of one of his investigations, and she is immediately smitten. Later the same day she overhears the enraged husband tell her father that he intends shooting Mr Flannagan for conducting a cladestine affair with his wife. Ariane decides she must do everything she can to save Flannagan.

Sometimes it is the wee details that matter. For years I had made do with various old safety helmets when cutting wood and strimming. However, last year when buying a new chainsaw I decided it also made sense to buy a new helmet kit. Buying replacement ear defenders and a visor, for one of my existing helmets, would have been more expensive than buying a whole new kit. I chose the Stihl Expert Helmet Set^[1] .

I am about half-way through reading David Attenborough's book on his Zoo Quest Expeditions during the 1950s, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Unlike his Life series books this one concentrates on the human adventures, and David's in particular, though the animals are still the focus of everyone's activities. Those activities included filming the wildlife and capturing animals to bring back to London Zoo. This latter activity is completely frowned upon today, which Mr. Attenborough admits in the opening section of the book, but sixty years ago attitudes were quite different.