If there wasn’t a plague on, I’d be in Iceland by now, or at least I’d have a flight booked and be pacing the floor waiting for it. You see, the Icelandic eruption finally started just before 9pm on Friday and it’s gorgeous! (If anyone can give me a valid reason I can present to … More The Icelandic eruption is happening
Today is the one year anniversary of the first day I didn’t get up and go to the office and so it seems fitting to write a blog about one year of working from home. Ok, technically today is not the first anniversary of my first day working from home. I was supposed to go … More One year of working from home
With a summer approaching that’s likely to feature more UK breaks than summer beach holidays in Spain, now seems a good time to talk about my night at Loch Spiggie. I was in Orkney for a few days and figured I’d pop over to Shetland because it’s right there and because it’s quite a trek … More A night at Loch Spiggie
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 Flåmsbana, down to Flåm on the end of the Aurlandsfjorden … More Flåmsbana: 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 Am A Polar Bear 