travel

Paris

One of my favourite Tv programmes of the moment is "Call my Agent!", set in a Parisian talent agency, it's our French fix now that we've finished Spiral . I've written about these programmes before, twice in the case of Spiral. But watching Call my Agent! has provoked my itchy feet. I've missed travelling. When…Read more Paris

Twelfth night

Not the Shakespeare play, though it was the first one I studied*. The festival of Twelfth nthefeastnot the ight. It's not really celebrated in Scotland, only seen as the day for packing away the Christmas decorations**. But in lots of countries it's a day of celebration. Three years ago we experienced the Arrival of the…Read more Twelfth night

Challenging myself again

Not anything new, in fact I'm looking back six months and reviving my "every day.." challenge. It's just a pity that "Every day in November" doesn't have quite the same ring to it. I didn't manage to keep up posting in between times. June was a time of hope, infection levels were dropping and lockdown…Read more Challenging myself again

baking some more

It doesn't look as if we'll be travelling abroad any time soon*, so I decided to partially make up for it by baking up another taste of Portugal. I found this recipe for Bola de Amendoa on the Great British Chefs site. It's a good resource for recipes and tips. Anyway, I'd planned to make it a couple of…Read more baking some more

Ile de Re

I must start with an apology, I'm getting a strong sense of Deja-vu with this post. I'm pretty sure I've written about Ile deRe before, but on a quick scan back through old posts couldn't find one. It's possibly on my old blog? If it does turn up it would be interesting to see if…Read more Ile de Re

Salamanca

I'd intended documenting my walk today, but the weather was against me. It's really wet and windy, more Autumn than Spring. So I've decided to focus on another city from our October trip. Salamanca in Spain's Castilla y Leon region. We treated ourselves in this city and stayed at the plush Hospes Palacio de San Esteban ,…Read more Salamanca

Stopping for lunch

These days I start thinking about lunch pretty much right after breakfast, certainly no later than mid morning. Who am I trying to kid? This is normal , not lockdown behaviour for me. I have to be very, very busy or ill, not to have at least part of my mind on my next meal.…Read more Stopping for lunch

Le Puy en Velay

I'm back with the armchair travel. In Le Puy. A stop on our return through France in October. And at first I wasn't sure whether I did like it. Actually it was strange and beautiful on first sight. Approaching from the hills we could see its stripy cathedral, and weird volcanic toadstools, those topped with…Read more Le Puy en Velay

A good cocktail

Carefully mixed and preferably served in a classic Martini glass, a good cocktail is my favourite indulgence. Although gin is my spirit of choice for a simple mixed drink it's not an ingredient in my favourite cocktail, the Manhattan. Three parts whisky and one sweet vermouth, mix over ice, strain and serve with a cocktail…Read more A good cocktail

Taking time to explore

Once upon a time we took a trip to Europe. MrS, DogS and me. Well it seems like a long time ago. Even at the time we felt it might be a kind of a "last hurrah". We didn't know how easy a trip like that would be after Brexit. To be able to pack…Read more Taking time to explore