Awesome: ‘something Americans use to describe everything.’ from the Urbandictionary.com I once knew a lady who scattered the word ‘awesome’ into conversation much as you might sprinkle sugar on your porridge and with almost equal abandon. She was as likely to use it in reference to a particularly delicious slice of cake as to a … More More Mountains
While showers are still possible at any time of the year, they are more likely and more widespread during the summer due to the local effects of the hills and valleys, land and sea and subtle variations in heat and moisture. – The UK Met office It’s safe to say that the English summer has … More 2024 Summer Review
‘May you live all the days of your life’ – Jonathan Swift (author) Twenty years ago I was madly raising sponsorship for a week long trek I was about to join along part of The Great Wall of China. This was undertaken in partnership with a charity I’ve supported for years and with a bunch … More Another Big One Soon!
‘It’s OK, I’m with the AA’ – tag line for The Automobile Association I had planned to write this blog about the wonderful writer’s retreat in Wales that I attended last week but it’s been somewhat eclipsed since then by the epic journey that finally brought me back to Surrey. Perhaps I’ll return to it … More Adventures with the AA – ‘the fourth emergency service’
“The British nation is unique in this respect: they are the only people who like to be told how bad things are, who like to be told the worst.” – Winston Churchill (speech 10th June 1941) So, while everyone was frantically casting their vote in South Africa, we left them to it and boarded a … More Ready for Lift Off
‘From one citizen you gather idea that Mauritius was made first, and then heaven, and that heaven was copied afterMauritius’ – Mark Twain; from ‘Following the Equator’ I am back, safe and sound from my two week holiday on the island where the last Dodos died. Mauritius has been a wonderful early celebration of a … More Island Life
‘Smell the sea and feel the sky. Let your soul and spirit fly.’ – Van Morrison It’s been a long time coming, but clear on the horizon I see the glimmer of a two-week holiday. I’m not complaining – trust me – I’m fully aware that we get to do great things, see fabulous places … More Leaving on a jet plane
‘Just like any other chaotic African country’ – a local So said our friend as we ground our tentative way over gravel roads, in and out of spine-jangling potholes, past the incongruously shiny Chinese and American embassies of the capital, Maseru, and back into South Africa from Lesotho. He’s travelled all over Africa, so he … More Lesotho
‘The mountains are calling and I must go’ – John Muir (1838-1914) naturalist and environmentalist This past week or so has seen us travelling to the Free State province of South Africa to visit friends who used to live in Cape Town. Flying into Bloemfontein we had a bird’s eye view of the vast spaces … More Mountains and scars
‘May you never be too grown up to search the skies on Christmas Eve.’ Anon I once had a group of eight-year-olds ask me if we had elephants in our garden in South Africa. It’s amazing which images persist and what impressions stick. I could have told them that Cape Town is actually a very … More Christmas Contrasts
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