Oulu Cathedral, Finland

Oulu Cathedral, Finland

Life, Travel
Oulu – The fourth northernmost city in the world with over 100,000 inhabitants, known as the “capital of Northern Finland” and, surprisingly, home to the Air Guitar World Championships! Oulu ... Read more
Gardenwatch: Hedgehog & Fox

Gardenwatch: Hedgehog & Fox

Life
With it being a very wet and very windy January, you’d think the back garden would be fairly quiet, apart from the little garden birds. Well, when I checked the ... Read more
Helsinki Cathedral

Helsinki Cathedral

Travel
Think of one landmark in Helsinki and it will most likely be Helsinki Cathedral. It sits proudly above Senate Square, but it is not Helsinki’s only cathedral. We’ll visit a ... Read more
2023 – A Review

2023 – A Review

Etc, Life
It’s that time of the year between Christmas and New Year when my energy totally disappears! However, at least this year I have dodged the old C.O.V.I.D. Thankfully! Travel After ... Read more
Helsinki Christmas Market

Helsinki Christmas Market

Life, Travel
Beneath the snowy steps of the city’s great white cathedral sits Senate Square, the location for Helsinki’s Christmas Market (locally known as “Tuomaan Markkinat”). This year the market runs from ... Read more
Valkohieta Beach, Finland

Valkohieta Beach, Finland

Life, Travel
Have you ever had a whole beach to yourself? On a hot day back in June, during my visit to Finland, my friend and I discovered we had an entire ... Read more
Jessie Wills Anderson

Jessie Wills Anderson

Etc
An unassuming gravestone sits in the village cemetery, no different to those surrounding it. It gives no indication of the lives led by those it immortalises. You would never know ... Read more
Gardenwatch: Misfit Dahlias

Gardenwatch: Misfit Dahlias

Life
Hello from a wet and windy Mid Wales! Long-term readers will know that I’m a bit obsessed when it comes to dahlias. I can’t pass one on a plant stall, ... Read more
Manchester Street Art – August 2023

Manchester Street Art – August 2023

Travel
Last week I treated my niece to a trip to Manchester for a few days. I knew the trip would mostly be about shopping, but I also wanted to show ... Read more
Tankar Island, Finland

Tankar Island, Finland

Life, Travel
The small but beautiful island of Tankar can be found in the outer archipelago in the south of the Bay of Bothnia. The island was inhabited as early as the ... Read more
Gardenwatch: Dahlias, Bees and Butterflies

Gardenwatch: Dahlias, Bees and Butterflies

Life
While the rest of Europe basks in the heat, the population of Wales and the rest of the UK is currently sighing at the rather wet and windy weather we’ve ... Read more
Postcards from Kannus, Finland

Postcards from Kannus, Finland

Life, Travel
Alighting from the Helsinki to Oulu bound train at Kannus, I arrived at my base for most of my stay in Finland. This sleepy Finnish town can be found in ... Read more
Postcards from Finland

Postcards from Finland

Life, Travel
Day 1 – Manchester to Helsinki I hadn’t flown in over 22 years and I hadn’t been abroad in over 15 years, so when I reconnected with a friend who ... Read more
Supporting Small Businesses: Galen Leather Co (Ad)

Supporting Small Businesses: Galen Leather Co (Ad)

Etc, Stationery
I have looked longingly at the products on Galen Leather’s website for a long time, so when they contacted me and asked if I would like to review one of ... Read more
April 2023 in Books

April 2023 in Books

Books & Films
Oh dear! I promise to do better! I read just one book in April. ONE! I mean, it was a very good one, but still. Life got in the way. ... Read more