Life

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
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
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
From Snowdrops to Snow!

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
Snowdrops in the Village Churchyard

Snowdrops in the Village Churchyard

Life
It’s been a mild February so far, but there was a slight chill in the air earlier in the week as Mum & I took a walk to the postbox ... Read more
2022 – A Review

2022 – A Review

Etc, Life
Guess what I got for Christmas this year… Covid! Having successfully dodged the dreaded virus for two and a half years, it finally caught up with me in August this ... Read more
Liverpool’s River of Light

Liverpool’s River of Light

Life, Travel
On a wet early November evening, my niece and I braved the rain and the wind coming off the Mersey to take in the delights of the River of Light ... Read more
St Anno’s Church, Llananno

St Anno’s Church, Llananno

Life, Travel
The church of St Anno might seem like an unassuming church beside the A483 between the Radnorshire villages of Llanbadarn Fynydd and Llanbister, but treasure lies within! Parking in the ... Read more
Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway

Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway

Life, Travel
Nearly 120 years ago, steam trains began rattling their way between the Montgomeryshire towns of Welshpool and Llanfair Caereinion carrying passengers and freight. Due to its tight curves and steep ... Read more
Gardenwatch: September

Gardenwatch: September

Life
Typical weather has returned to Mid Wales with cooler temperatures, wind, rain, sun and the occasional all-four-seasons-in-one-day kind of weather. Autumn is fast approaching, but the garden is nevertheless in ... Read more
Llyn Clywedog – Summer 2022

Llyn Clywedog – Summer 2022

Life, Travel
Having been stuck indoors for the past couple of weeks due to covid, I was itching to go somewhere… anywhere! On Saturday, I decided to take Mum for a drive ... Read more