Jill Sparrow

Just ask @benjamin1945To explain it to you. It would make his day!

Especially on a cold day like this!

Money has no attraction for me. It's just another problem.

Same here. Gourmet for breakfast. I make do with a boiled egg but then I'm a lesser being! Do keep us informed about any babies. Hedgehog population desperately needs to increase.

Such evangelical zeal! I'm sure you'll be rewarded, at some time, in some way. If it makes you happy and keeps you from robbing banks, where's the harm?

I am not saying anything of the sort. I do not presume to tell you, or anyone else, what to do; firstly because I have no right to do so and secondly because what you and other people do generally doesn't interest me one iota. However, trying to 'inform' people about the darker corners and off the beaten track areas of party politics, etc, is just another form of proselytizing, to me. No different from the Jehovah's Witnesses who stand for hours on street corners offering free bible courses and what they perceive as salvation. They, too want to open people's eyes to what they beli

You may have a pregnant female. Lucky you. Gourmet cat food, eh? If they were sociable creatures, she'd be inviting all her friends round. Fortunately for your pocket, they're even more antisocial than me!

I'm so glad your prickly friend is back. They know which side their bread is buttered, so to speak. Jemima turns up in my garden for her food every night around dusk and sometimes has company as it's the mating season. Lately, she's been leaving a sizeable tip for me. Lovely!

Why do you feel the need to influence others? What is your motivation for so doing? Is it because you think you know better than they? Is it because it feeds your ego if and when you succeed? Is it because you want everyone to think as you do? The world would be a wonderful place if everyone saw life through your eyes? People have their own eyes. Please grant others the courtesy of thinking for themselves. Their thoughts, ideas and beliefs are just as valid as yours, you know.

It's going to be a good year for medlars. My tree is covered in blossom.

I have a grapevine but the fruit is neither edible nor drinkable. Just for decoration, really. I suppose the leaves are edible but I've never tried them. When I was a child, my father made some marrow wine under instructions from Emily Ward who lived in Garden Street and could make wine out of most things. I recall it involved a lot of demerara sugar. The wine looked perfectly alright but it made dad ill , along with everyone else who tried it. I wasn't invited. Perhaps it was just as well.

Shrinkflation is, I believe, the term for the malady from which your teacakes are suffering, Plantfit. Who thinks up these banal and annoying terms? Have they nothing better to do? I'll bet they're not as yummy as those Belgian chocolate hot cross buns Tesco were flogging a couple of years ago. Had to keep out of there . Daren't go into Morrison's because I always get accosted by the custard doughnuts. There is only one thing to do, Plantfit. Get em down your neck, pronto.

Your friend is very sensible, Trogg. Parkinson's is not a pleasant condition and, at present, there is neither a cure nor an explanation of what causes it, in most cases. Therefore, as they say, what cannot be cured must be endured. A metaphor for life, really. All things are temporary, thankfully.

Some years ago, I worked with a woman who was a fairly senior manager. Nice enough person but she was obsessed by the possibility of war. Ten times a day she'd be heard asking people, "Do you think there'll be another war?" Worrying about the possibility totally undermined her ability to do her job and resulted in huge amounts of sick leave. She asked me her usual question one morning and I replied, quite honestly, that I didn't know but that if those in charge of the weapons decided to use them, there was nothing either she or I could do about it. This clearly upset her and I ask

I wouldn't want to go back (in time) Loppy. I do enjoy visiting such places, though, even if I didn't particularly appreciate being there as a child. I suppose I can reassure myself that I've done that and survived it.