Some of you find time to read these blatherings that some of the writing has been shaped up and published in a magazine that was called Fire & Knives. It was a food magazine with a difference in that there were no recipes and no adverts, just writing of one sort or other on and around the subject of food, cooking and eating.

Unfortunately, just over a week ago, I had an email to tell me the publication was no more. They were going to change the format to an annual event rather than a quarterly publication but unfortunately were not able to make it work.

In all I had four pieces in the magazine; two on mackerel, one on lobsters and one on shopping in Birkenhead. So a fair representation of some of the stuff I write about on here.

Apart from the odd bit in the legal press these were the first things I’ve had published. There are those who say I don’t smile often, well I smiled when the packages arrived with each of the magazines with my name in print. I even got round to smiling at the copies that arrived that did not have me in it.

Somewhere on this machine I have a couple of articles in half preparation for submission, including one going under the title Sharp knives, bleeding fingers and air guitars. I wrote down the title before writing the article but it was about the music I listen to when cooking and how to play air guitar with a very sharp knife without cutting your fingers. It can be done.

So this is by way of a small salute and thank you to Fire & Knives for being bonkers enough to put into print my musings on mackerel.