We’re going right back for this story. In September 2012, I went to Bergen (which is in itself a beautiful city, if not one I’ve managed to find much to say about) and while I was there, I did the round trip up to the FlÃ¥msbana, down to FlÃ¥m on the end of the Aurlandsfjorden … More FlÃ¥msbana: Europe’s most beautiful rail journey
Happy International Women’s Day! I’ve not really acknowledged the day before. I’ve enjoyed Richard Herring’s annual “it’s November 19th” in response to thousands upon thousands of men whining “but when’s International Men’s Day??” (he’s now retired from doing it) and I’ve felt a quiet sort of pleasure in the fact that I’m a Girlguiding volunteer but … More Happy International Women’s Day!
I don’t often do actual time-sensitive topical blog posts but it’s a Thursday, new blog day, and Iceland is threatening an eruption! Now, I wrote this at 11pm last night when it was still just a major earthquake swarm with no actual eruption but by the time this is published twelve hours later, who knows? … More What’s going on with the Iceland eruption?
Last lockdown I got quite into gardening, beginner-style, and as I’ve spent the weekend preparing and planning my updated garden, I thought I’d do a blog about how to grow vegetables for beginners. My baby lettuces and peppers brought me such joy last year and yet even this time last year I wouldn’t have cared. … More How to grow vegetables for beginners
Back in 2014, I finally did something I’d been wanting to do for a while. Given the lack of English-language information, putting it all together and figuring out how to do it was a bit tricky and so let me save you all that. This is how to climb Esja. Esja is Reykjavik’s mountain. If … More How to climb Esja
Today is Thinking Day, a kind of Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting birthday. I’ve spent Thinking Day at Pax Lodge three times now. I went for the day with another leader in 2020, where we could feel the pandemic drawing in around us. I went for the day on my own in 2019 but spent … More Thinking Day at Pax Lodge
Of all the stuff I did on my year abroad in Switzerland all those years ago, the Pilatus Golden Round Trip was probably my favourite. It’s Switzerland in microcosm, the best of the entire country all in one beautiful day. You start out in Luzern, which I’m obstinately spelling the German way, even though in … More The Pilatus Golden Round Trip
I had so much fun planning my Sparkle & Ice 2021 At Home that I’ve decided everyone should do their own at-home camp weekend at least once during these dire times when we can’t go and camp for real. Take a weekend out of your real life, when you don’t have to worry about responsibilities … More How to plan your own camp at home
I’ve done Sparkle & Ice every year since it began. There was muddy 2017, volunteering 2018, icy 2019 and stormy 2020 and now we’ve got at-home 2021. Just because Sparkle & Ice 2021 isn’t happening doesn’t mean I’m going to miss it. Last year, Girlguiding did an online version of Wellies & Wristbands because that’s … More Sparkle & Ice 2021: the at-home version
I thought I’d do a post about my Norwegian learning resources. I’ve been doing it on and off since about the end of 2016 but it’s only in Lockdown Three that I’ve really started taking it seriously. It’s been what, a month, and I’ve been introduced to three tenses already that I’d never even seen in … More My Norwegian Learning Resources
I Am A Polar Bear 