Quick, call the style police...

I have an uncle who lives in Canada, now the only surviving Grey on my Father's side. He is perpetually known as uncle Allen, even though he is 78.

I've been to Canada a few times on business, two of them for extended periods. I was based in a small town in Ontario called Belleville, whilst he lives in Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto. Being 125 miles, it is regarded as a short distance in North America.

Last time I visited his apartment, I took a(n anti-) shine to a really hideous piece of furniture, something to rival the Coronation Street duckworth's Bar in its kitsch naffness. It features an electric fire on a hearth and the surrounding mantlepiece is actually a Radiogram. I think the Canucks call this the "Colonial" style.

Anyway, I came across the photo recently and felt a bizarre urge to share it with the Interweb.

The clock, however, I like, for sentimental reasons. That was my Granddad's and I used to have one myself that I bought in an antique shop in Maidenhead. It chimes the hour and possibly the quarters as well.