It’s been a sunny weekend so I’ve been out in the garden getting my plants in order. I’ve already talked about what I learned from my garden last year so now I’m starting to put that into practice. Indoors First, my little hot plants. I planted my tomatoes, chillis and peppers in my windowsill propagators … More Spring 2022 in my garden
My county came up with a May lockdown challenge badge in 2020 which kept me nice and busy. In 2021 they did another: the Jurassic Plod badge. Yes, May 2021. I only finished it last week, in April 2022. The “plod” in question doesn’t have to be along the Jurassic Coast but I immediately decided … More Jurassic Plod challenge badge
Let’s talk about how I built up to solo female travel. My first real trip was five days in Helsinki in November 2008 but I’d had a lot of various practice over the years which meant it wasn’t quite such a shock to the system – or to my parents – when I first went … More How I built up to solo female travel
I didn’t exactly rave over my last Travel Library book, did I? And I’m afraid it’s pretty much more of the same today. This time I’m reading Helen Russell’s The Year of Living Danishly. Helen is a freelance writer and journalist whose husband unexpectedly got offered a job at Lego HQ. They took the plunge … More Travel Library: The Year of Living Danishly
It feels like a long time since I’ve done some Wessex Girl/local travel stuff so today we’re heading to Blandford Forum, a market town in North Dorset which I really should have written about years ago. Its interestingly Roman name just means it has a market. It’s not a Roman town, although I think it’s … More A day in Blandford Forum
As I start to write this post, I finished lesson eleven of my twelve-lesson Russian evening course last night and I have one more lot of homework and one more lesson left and then I’m done. I’m glad for two reasons. One is that this is hard – learning anything with a different alphabet is … More A review of my Russian evening course
If you want to follow the story so far, I’ve talked about: Anita’s B&B, Monday in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, Tuesday at Our Chalet, Wednesday in Neuchâtel and Thursday at Reichenbach Falls and on the Brienzersee. Friday was a light day for our driver. I’m still kind of bitter and bemused over how much we paid … More Switzerland 2014: St Beatus Caves, a boat trip and a rainstorm
I notice I write a little more about archery than fencing here but I teach both and my latest fencing session went well enough that I thought it deserved a post of its own. My first session back in the hall with my Brownies after two years and two weeks didn’t go great. By the … More Fencing with my Brownies
I bought How Iceland Changed the World by Egill Bjarnason months ago and I’ve been dipping in and out ever since without quite being able to bring myself to read it from start to finish. That I eventually achieved by literally scheduling a chapter a day in my calendar and now I’m certain it does … More Travel Library: How Iceland Changed the World by Egill Bjarnason
Third in my Iceland Itinerary series is a real one, the one I plan to use next month! I haven’t been to Iceland for nearly four years and I’m very excited, and a bit nervous (I’m going on a plane!). And so this itinerary is both a blog post and me making plans. This is a week-long … More A real Iceland itinerary
I Am A Polar Bear 