Of course, I sound like a grumpy old man. I am a grumpy old man. But I’m very seriously considering abandoning one of my favorite podcasts, to which I’ve been listening for a very long time. The presenter has possibly the most mellifluous voice of any I listen to, maybe even of all those I don’t l...

Yesterday’s graph from USDA is really interesting. It shows that the February 2022 recall of formula milk in the US, which compounded the supply chain difficulties of Covid, was associated with a striking increase in the number of infants fully and partially breastfed (and a drop in the number f...

Yesterday was a perfect early spring day; clear blue skies, warm sunshine. Off to the countryside to visit my friend Bill and help him with his vegetable garden, and while I was doing that I had ample time to think once again about the differences between Italian and British approaches to gardens and, especially, growing food.

At the end of October last year I adopted a version of the six box to-do list.¹ The idea is to create five and only five “focus areas” and to place all tasks into one of them, with a sixth for “the other 5%”. It seemed useful at the start, but less so now. I am officially returning to my version of eat-the-frog-to-get-things-done.

Here’s the thing: I honestly can remember only a single bad event during the entire year. It was very bad, and entirely personal, so I’m going to say no more. Even the medical procedures I underwent had happy outcomes, compared to what I was dreading. So, another great year.