A Disorderly Retirement
I can remember writing some time ago about what a perfect day would look like. I seem to recall that Italian piazzas, bruschetta and prosecco featured prominently*, but I have written so many blogs over the past few years that I couldn’t find it among all the files. I was curious to see what I’d…
The moon seems to be getting an awful lot of attention these days. You might say it was enjoying its moment in the sun, but the moon is inscrutable, so who’s to say? It’s definitely excelling itself this month, with a super moon on 1st August and a blue supermoon to look forward to on…
I think most people have a mental list of ambitious things they’d really like to achieve at some point in their lives, but just not yet. I’m not talking about home improvements or even the dreaded Bucket List, just vague thoughts lurking in the back of your mind about rather lovely, but somewhat challenging activities…
People travel with many different hopes and expectations, but if I find myself somewhere that looks like nothing I’ve seen before among people who behave in ways I don’t expect, then I am completely happy. Japan is one of those places. I think about it quite often, particularly when I see people around me who…
I have just got back from a wonderful adventure in Japan and South Korea, and although my mind is full of vibrant images, what I’m really thinking about is food. I don’t eat meat, which is very easy at home, but a bit harder in countries where you have no knowledge of the language beyond…
Well, it’s actually happening. We’re really leaving the house we’ve lived in for 30 years. So far it’s all felt a bit unreal, but now that we’re talking about moving dates, the reality has sunk in: we don’t know where we’re going. There’s not much on the market at the moment and we haven’t found…
I can’t believe that it’s nearly a month since I wrote my last blog. I had got into such good habits during lockdown. Back then, with oceans of time available, it was no problem finding a few hours a week in order to write a short piece based on whatever thoughts happened to be flitting…
We recently spent a few days in Buxton, Derbyshire, where we stayed in a wonderfully traditional English guesthouse and generally felt as though we’d travelled back in time. This very proper spa town has a long history of genteel people visiting to take the waters to ease their various ailments, including Mary Queen of Scots,…
We have just spent two wonderful weeks in Andalucía in southern Spain, largely because of my ambition to visit the most beautiful and iconic Islamic architecture in the world. (The delicious food and wine was just a bonus.) Iran has fabulous treasures and even though visiting the country is looking a little uncertain at the…
I rather like Instagram – photos of exotic places are my favourite – but even the hardened cynics and eye-rollers among us need to keep our wits about us. You never know what will trigger unexpected and possibly unwelcome emotions. I have to confess to a bit of travel/lifestyle envy of a couple who live…