Small Breeds Farm Park
Life, Travel
On a warm and sunny day in August, my friend Kim, her daughter M and I had a wonderful day out at the Small Breeds Farm Park at Kington, Herefordshire. ... Read more
Life
Gardenwatch: July 2024
Life
Summer is here at last! The year began wet. Spring arrived and the rain continued. It seemed never-ending. Mid-May, the thunderstorms arrived, bringing flash flooding to the back garden one ... Read more
Chetham’s Library After Hours
Life, Travel
In April, I made a return visit to Chetham’s Library in Manchester’s Medieval Quarter. This time my visit was for a self-guided tour through the medieval stone passages, secret staircases ... Read more
Uspenski Cathedral, Helsinki
Life, Travel
Sat on a hillside on the Katajanokka Peninsula, Uspenski Cathedral (‘Uspenskin Katedraali’ in Finnish) overlooks the city and harbour of Helsinki. This red-bricked cathedral with its 13 onion domes is ... Read more
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
From Snowdrops to Snow!
Life
It’s March and Mid Wales has finally got some snow! Luckily, I was able to work from home on Thursday and yesterday was my day off, so I didn’t have ... Read more