memories

Gardens

I'm not much of a gardener but love visiting and being in gardens. My mother filled her small terraced garden with blooms and my sister has inherited Mum's green fingers and has a lovely garden, but I'm usually having too much fun to take photos which do it justice. I'm lucky to have two beautiful open gardens right on…Read more Gardens

Beaches

I love going to the beach. It's top of my list of places to go once we can make non essential journeys. We live beside the sea and it's beautiful, but we don't have a typical sandy beach. We don't have to drive very far to find one, just the other side of our nearest…Read more Beaches

Having fun with my sister

I've been having fun with her all my life. It might have been less fun for her. After all I just appeared one day, a surprise when she got home from school. No careful preparation for new siblings back then. And I certainly didn't bring her a gift. I was more likely to trash her…Read more Having fun with my sister

Scents

Thinking about the town that smelled of chocolate has made me remember other scents. Childhood day trips to my favourite beaches on the Gower, holding my breath as we drove past the stinks of Llandarcy. No point really. I got a bumper dose of the stench once I gave up and breathed again. Nearer to…Read more Scents

Towns that smell of chocolate*

To be honest I think I've only ever been to the one, although both Edinburgh, my home of nearly thirty years, and Carlisle, smell of biscuits.** The chocolatey town? Oloron Ste Marie in the south of France, where we visited the Lindt factory. Actually that's a bit misleading, I don't think you can take factory tours.…Read more Towns that smell of chocolate*

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

Quizzes

Yes, I know I wrote that today would be armchair travel, but I'm short on the right inspiration. Instead my head is full of questions for a potential quiz. I like quizzes, mostly as a participant, but I have been known to make up my own. I like to have a theme. My best ever…Read more Quizzes

Stories

I really do love stories, "The Chalet School" and Bilbo Baggins when I was young, Slinky Malinky , Roald Dahl and Harry Potter (complete with voices) with MasterS when he was; MrS reading me Saki short stories. He felt kinship with Conradin from Srnedni Vashtar, even though his aunts were nothing but kindness. For me bounding spaniels…Read more Stories

Friday Night Dinner

Now I'm being a but naughty with this post. Am I talking about the TV show? Or my actual Friday night dinner. Actually a bit of both. If you're unfamiliar with the show then.. well, you'll need to hurry but you can find it here. So what's the connection? In the show the two grown up sons…Read more Friday Night Dinner