SPENT MOST of the day Wednesday convalescing on the sofa by the fire, having fallen ill the night before with what is most likely the stomach flu, possibly brought on by food poisoning. It was most unpleasant, but given the current state of things in the world, could have been much, much worse, and for that I am grateful ...
WE HAVE BEEN a little light on the articles this last week as we're in the midst of a few (all-consuming) projects, one of which has been revealed in the links below, and another that will be soon but is still in the finishing up phase, which, as you know, can drag on a bit ...
AFTER STORM CIARA moved on, the news was filled with calls to “batten down the hatches” for Storm Dennis, which was to pass through this past weekend.
EVEN THOUGH WINTER comes every year, always forget what an ordeal it actually is. How early the days get dark. How overcast and blustery and how much all of this makes me never want to leave the house until spring. It feels like we're on the 174th day of January and there's still February ...
HERE WE ARE, on the very last day of the year (and the decade!) and there's a feeling of calm and thoughtfulness as there always is at this time of year. Having spent the past three New Year's Eves in Spain, we're back celebrating in the UK and it's a very different time than it was before we left ...
BECAUSE IT'S Thursday and these links are late (although who is really keeping track of time at the moment?), we'll begin these notes with a quote by Dale Carnegie: “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”
THE DAYS ARE really beginning to become brighter over the past week or so. It’s almost as if the last week of a rather dreary February finally threw open the heavy curtains of winter and let the sunshine, bright and warm, come streaming in.
STORM CIARA was in full force this past weekend with gale force winds, driving rain, and even hail. Needless to say, we spent most of the time indoors, keeping cosy by the fire, watching films and trying out new recipes (P made roasted cauliflower with creamy pesto risotto).
THERE IS A STORM on the way, very high winds, rain, and perhaps even snow tomorrow. At the moment, though, it is still up swirling about up north in Northern Ireland and Scotland and making its way down. Here, it feels as if we've been hibernating since the start of the new year, venturing out over the weekend only for a quick drink in the cosy pub ...
THIS WEEKEND WE watched two films: Knives Out (Rian Johnson, 2019) and Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach, 2019) and both were really good. Knives Out was fast-paced and funny and great fun to try to figure out, while Marriage Story was deeply moving and heartbreaking and made me cry several times.
THIS WEEKEND WE did not go to our favourite pub across the river for Sunday roast as we do every week, for we’ve begun social distancing, spending most of our time staying at home, with the exception of a countryside walk on Sunday, which happened to be sunny and beautiful.
ATE LAST WEEK we were back in Edinburgh to pick up the last of our things from the storage unit we’ve had there since our move from the city over four and a half years ago. After carting off bamboo chairs (once painstakingly hand-painted in eggshell Farrow & Ball and reupholstered in Sanderson chintz) ...
THIS WEEKEND, the weather warmed up enough to show us a glimpse of spring. All through the village, winter blossoms are blooming, a surprise to us, for we thought all the bright yellow petals on bushes nexts to garden paths and pink blossoms on the archways of trellises would wait for at least another few weeks.
HERE IN THE UK, TODAY IS considered the first day back to work after the holidays. We were away to visit family in Scotland late last week, and spent the weekend lingering over festive things for the last time, so it's back to work for us today as well. On Sunday the weather was beautiful and we spent most of our time outdoors in the beautiful English countryside ...
THERE ARE ONLY two days left until the General Election and for the past two weeks, flyers have been dropped through our mail slot and canvassers have been ringing the door bell.