Video killed the radio star

I've been thinking a lot recently about what my world would be like without radio. A much quieter one certainly, but also a much less rich one. I LOVE my radio, I think it teaches me something new at least once a day. Radio means so much to people, all over the world. To me it is a great source of comfort and a quick route to total relaxation - to others it is a vital life-safer. Only recently I took part in Amnesty International's Radios for Burma campaign - this made me realise just how important simple modes of communication are to so many communities. I can only imagine the important role my radio would play if I were living in a remote, war-torn or politically unstable area... And as talk of switching from analogue to digital in the UK by 2015 increases, it makes me a bit sad. No more scratching and squawking as you go through the bands, no more twiddling and hissing - just a quick flick of a button. I hope radio won't lose its magic...

My breakfast heaven

Goodie goodie gumdrops

I was so busy yakking into my phone today that I took myself further along the high street than usual and stumbled across a new treasure... an old fashioned sweet shop! I'm not sure what it is about these places that makes me feel so at home - the sweet, delicious smell of buttery fudge and tangy sours or the neat rows of ordered and labelled jars lining every spare surface, from floor to ceiling. There is, I find, something deeply satisfying about walking in and having so much glorious stuff to choose from - perhaps it goes back to those childhood days when we first tasted the freedom of spending a 10p piece on whatever we chose. Today I returned to work, my brown paper bag sticky and gritty with sparkly sugar and sherbert, with a bounce - the best 90p I've spent in ages!



And, speaking of sweeties, here is a lovely birdie we rescued from the cat's jaws. Isn't she beautiful?