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A review of Comb Beck, a holiday cottage near Keswick in the Lake District; let by Sally’s Cottages

A little weekend break was planned as a surprise by Chris, but he knows how I like planning things, so he did actually tell me about it in advance and I helped find somewhere to stay. Sally’s Cottages seems to be the go-to agency if you’d like to book a holiday cottage in the Lake District and I was impressed with their easy-to-use website with plenty of options to tick included whether there’s wifi and if dogs are allowed – our major requirements. I liked the look of Comb Beck, along with its location, so we went ahead and booked it….

Muchelney Abbey, Somerset – the story of the photographs

February 26, 2017

Last July my parents came to stay for a few days and as they are recent members of English Heritage, we looked around for local attractions near me in Somerset. Muchleney Abbey is (unsurprisingly) in the village of Muchelney on the Somerset levels with the nearest town being Langport. It’s in a beautiful peaceful spot, and the perfect location for a picnic, but as we didn’t come prepared, we bought ice creams from the little shop there, and then found a cute place for afternoon tea further down the road afterwards. Although the south cloister is still intact, sadly as usual, Henry VIII is to blame for the ruined state of the rest of the abbey. It is the Tudor Abbott’s house that can be explored properly….

Kilver Court Christmas, Shepton Mallet, Somerset

December 3, 2016

There is one thing that I have really missed since moving from Tonbridge (apart from family of course) and that’s a decent place to visit that sells nice Christmas decorations! We used to go to all the nearby garden centres and they’d have masses of Christmas delights to tempt me, but here in the centre of Somerset, there really isn’t a lot to choose from apart from B&Q and B&Ms. So when I saw that Kilver Court were doing a Christmas evening last Thursday, along with mulled wine, mince pies and carol singing, I had to go! ….

Where to go for a unique enchanted Christmas experience – a review of Westonbirt Arboretum

November 29, 2016

On Saturday evening Jude and I drove up to Gloucestershire to see the Enchanted Christmas event at Westonbirt Arboretum. We’ve never been there before and weren’t quite sure what to expect other than the website describes an illuminated trail through the forest. It is actually quite difficult to explain how magical this actually is, so I took loads of photos to help…..

Mumsnet Blogfest review – an account of a nervous first-timer

November 16, 2016

I would have been altogether a lot less nervous about my first blogging event had I not signed up for Dragons’ Pen. They called it a Dragons’ Den style opportunity to pitch your book to an editor, and as places filled up extremely quickly, I was lucky to spot the e-mail in time to get a place with Sam Eades, senior commissioning editor of Trapeze, a new Orion imprint. I’ll be honest, I would have been a lot happier and relaxed that day if I hadn’t booked a place, but I’d also be kicking myself forevermore if I didn’t take a (very very) deep breath and go for it. I’d also for the rest of my life be wondering if I’d missed my chance to wow an editor in person. Would she snap up my work the second she heard it? Would she whip out a three book deal contract for me to sign?…..

3 Days in Oxford – Day 3. The story of the photographs

November 9, 2016

We’ve now come to my last day in Oxford and after breakfast, I sadly checked out of the hotel and drove to the park and ride. I bussed into the city where I was dropped off near the bottom of St Aldates and began walking all the way up to a lovely clothes shop called Olivia May on Little Clarendon Street where it snowed heavily for about half an hour. Then on route to the Natural History Museum, the sun came out and it was so hot, I took my coat off (bloody British weather). Of course, I took lots of photos on the way……

Oxford Botanic Gardens – The story of the photographs

October 25, 2016

This should really be part of my Three Days in Oxford series, but I took so many photos at the Oxford Botanic gardens, that I decided to give them a post of their own. Just to quickly fill you in, I had a lovely trip away on my own back in April, and I’m only just catching up on the blog about it now….

The delights of the Avalon Faery Fayre in Glastonbury

October 23, 2016

It’s that time of year again! On a spring and autumn weekend, Glastonbury Town Hall is host to one of the most creative and inspiring shopping experiences I ever go to! The term ‘craft fair’ doesn’t quite do it justice, even though most (if not all) of the items for sale are hand-crafted by the stall owner, they are of exceptional quality and never the sort of thing you can find on your usual High Street….

Visiting Bath Fashion Museum

October 21, 2016

The good thing about Blogtober is that I’m managing to fit in articles that I’ve had in mind to write for quite some time. This is about my visit to the Bath Fashion Museum, which although doesn’t feel like very long ago, was actually in April! It was during Bath Fashion Week and I wanted to make the most of my day-trip, and as I was going to a talk by Livia Firth in the same building, I thought I’d quite like to have a look round the new exhibition called A History of Fashion in 100 Objects….

3 Days in Oxford – Day 2. The story of the photographs

October 12, 2016

If you haven’t yet seen Day 1, then you might like to follow this link and come back here later. The morning of my second day in Oxford was mainly spent walking from the Four Pillars Hotel in Sandford-on-Thames along the Thames path into Oxford. I’ve already written a detailed blog with photos about the journey in this post, so I’ll begin here where I left off, entering the city by Christchurch College. I sort-of meandered my way through cobbled streets and past various ancient University buildings until I came out at a place I remembered….

Independent Fashion Focus – an alternative to Bristol Fashion Week

October 11, 2016

Every single thing I go to lately seems to have the advertised start time about three-quarters of an hour before it actually starts. It’s as if they know I’m coming and in anticipation of my lateness, give the wrong time. The problem is, I have been dead on time for a change! So; not having the courage to speak to strangers already chatting to each other, after spending as long as I politely could browsing the clothes rails at To The Moon, I walked up and down the road for while and moved my car to a less dodgy parking space until the first person was due to speak, according to the piece of paper sellotaped to the wall. I perched on a stool at the back of the room with my notebook at the ready, interested to hear what they had to say about ethical and sustainable fashion….

The Story Behind the Photographs – Morvah mine

October 8, 2016

Chris and I took two days off work before the bank holiday weekend, and drove the camper-van down to Cornwall. We had three nights and four days away altogether and in that time we saw Jeremy Loops play at Perranporth; met up with family; took several photos for Oshun and for the blog (such as the one at the top of this page); relaxed a bit, and even found time to take some photos just for the fun of it. The great thing about wild camping is that you can wake up right next to the most wonderful wild places, including this ruined tin mine. One of my favourite photos from the day I chose to have blown up and printed onto canvas for our living room. It was a beautiful morning and the pathway towards the sea was just magical….