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Continue reading →: Christmas Under The PalmsI was up at 5 this morning, so the day that follows is not a strenuous one. It was by choice, indeed I would have been up other mornings at 5 in the last few weeks if the cricket from Australia had demanded it. By 7:30 England had won, their…
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Continue reading →: Settled at Ouijjane – under the palmsI’m settled in at campsite in the southwest of the Anti-Atlas mountains, where the mountains meet the desert, and will stay a while. There’s a pleasant atmosphere; with about ten other vans and motorhomes staying it’s almost full, but tranquil and civilised with a mixture of older people in retirement…
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Continue reading →: The Murderess by Alexandros Papadiamantis
translated from the Greek by Peter Levi – first published in 1903 Though at 144 pages, so it meets my definition of a novella (..less than 150..), there is so much packed into this, that on completing it, it feels like I’ve read something much longer. It’s an underrated gem,…
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Continue reading →: Movie Catch-up
Lurker Italy / USA – 2025 An arthouse thriller about infatuation and yearning for approval. It’s a common story these days, but it’s freshly done with good performances that can be seen as a character study of loneliness and depression. IMDb score 6.8 – My Score 7 / 10 Urchin…
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Continue reading →: The 4th Annual SRD International Film Festival
taking place in my van between 24th December and 4th January Frankenstein (Mexico / USA) Bugonia (Ireland / UK / Canada / South Korea / USA) Train Dreams (USA) No Other Choice (South Korea) Die My Love (USA / UK / Canada) Wake Up Dead Man (USA / UK) The…
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Continue reading →: Tigers Between Empires: The Improbable Return of Great Cats to the Forests of Russia and China by Jonathan C. Slaght
Non-fiction – Conservation – published November 2025 Slaght’s earlier book, Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World’s Largest Owl, was one of books of the year two years ago, and if anything, this is even better.The focus of both books is on conservation, and…
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Continue reading →: Reluctantly into the city..I’ve spent the last three days in a fairly uninspiring place while waiting to get the van fridge repaired. The campsite itself through, and the hospitality was excellent, and as a bonus also, I have met some interesting people. It was the Gite Souss, about 30 kilometres east of the…
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Continue reading →: Floods in the Sahara, and a Change in the ScheduleThe rain over the weekend caused many problems around the country. Nearer the coast 37 people were killed in a flash flood that devastated the town of Safi. Nearer to where I am there were several road accidents, some of them with fatalities. Many smaller roads were completely washed out,…
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Continue reading →: A Stranger Comes To Town by Lynne Sharon Schwartz
Contemporary American Literature- published October 2025 Though this seems a story of amnesia that has been told many times before, Schwartz adapts her stance to address the question of when this most clears and the memory begins to return, what if the person affected really doesn’t like what emerges. After…
To live more widely
supera superiora sequi
SafeReturnDoubtful is my alias.
Where is Andy?
I was so much older then…
Quote of the Week
Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting in a tree, ‘What road do I take?’ The cat asked, ‘Where do you want to go?’ ‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered. ‘Then,’ said the cat, ‘it really doesn’t matter, does it?’
Lewis Carroll
Safe Return Doubtful 