Answer: When it’s a journey through time and space. Last week I visited a house that the Times described as ‘Britain’s most extraordinary home’. Talliston House is a three-bedroomed semi-detached house in Great Dunmow, Essex, which has so many histories attached to it, that it’s practically a GCSE subject in its own right. I didn’t… Continue reading When is a semi not a semi?
Category: England
I’m not a celebrity after all …
Keen to dip my toe into the new world of staycations, I went down to Cornwall for the first time since 1996, thanks to a very kind invitation from my sister-in-law, Hilarie. My first impression was that the weather has improved immeasurably in the past 25 years. My distant memories of sitting on a rain-swept… Continue reading I’m not a celebrity after all …
Bend me, shape me
Mindful of the need to keep fit even when life is very constricted, I’ve done a 30-minute yoga class from the Yoga Studio app almost every day since the beginning of the Pandemic. At around 6 o’clock every evening I roll my mat out on the sitting room carpet, and pull on a hairband so… Continue reading Bend me, shape me
This is a job for … Vegetable Rescue!
We all want to do our bit these days – save the planet, become an eco-warrior, be a responsible citizen – and I’m no different to everyone else. But I think we need to acknowledge that there’s a healthy dollop of self-interest in most people’s desire to be an environmental hero … it’s not enough… Continue reading This is a job for … Vegetable Rescue!
I know exactly what’s in store for us all in 2021 …
Has it occurred to anyone else that what we’re experiencing at the moment is a rerun of the Plagues of Egypt? Or, to be more precise, what we are experiencing is all the same plagues, but not necessarily in the same order. In Biblical times the plagues started small and built up in intensity –… Continue reading I know exactly what’s in store for us all in 2021 …
Wedding number one …
As I have recently learnt, having just the one wedding when you get married is SO last year – in fact a friend in KL is having three, so I wasn’t surprised when Sam and Alice announced that they would be having two weddings. Wedding number one was yesterday – a beautiful sunny autumn day… Continue reading Wedding number one …
Katy Perry warmed the seat for me
It’s a wonderful thing when your children become independent, start to lead more interesting lives than yours ever was, and then invite you to tag along from time to time. That’s how Anthony and I got ourselves invited to a wine-tasting at Berry Brothers and Rudd last Friday – to be tutored by Olivia –… Continue reading Katy Perry warmed the seat for me
You know you’re in England when …
… a story about criminal damage to an artichoke patch – – is not from a Wallace and Gromit film, but is actually on the BBC – I popped home to England for a brief visit last week for the first time in a year, and revelled in the things that are so different to… Continue reading You know you’re in England when …