The second part of my visit to family in England (part one here) was spent in the Peak District, with my folks, sister and her partner. In a short three day, four night visit we enjoyed an 8 mile hike from Edale to Chinley (blog post here), I ran my first fell run at Herod […]
Mid April I took off from Wellington, New Zealand, flying over the great Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, to visit my folks in England. I was keen to see my Mum, who’d turned seventy on the 2nd April, and to spend some precious time with her, my Dad, sister and partner. I flew solo, for […]
Staying on the shore of Lake Windermere, at the YHA Ambleside, we spent three nights, and a few wonderful days, soaking up the beautiful scenery. We enjoyed hiking the countryside, taking a boat across the lake and visiting Beatrix Potter‘s 17th-century farmhouse ‘Hill Top. Our hike took us about 6 miles, from Wray Castle to […]
On our drive up to Ludlow, Shropshire, from Hampshire, we stopped in at Berrington Hall, a National Trust Property. My folks are members, of the National Trust UK, and if I lived in the UK I would definitely be joining up too (it would be a dream to work for them!). Growing up in England […]
Driving up to Ludlow, from Hampshire, we made a stop at the spectacular Gloucester Cathedral. It is steeped in history, having been a place of worship, in some form or another, for close on 1,000 years! Gloucester’s great Cloister, over 650 years old, is famous for its breath-taking fan vaulting, the earliest of its kind […]
Whilst holiday in North Wales I was delighted to escape out for a couple of runs along the gorgeous coastline that borders the Hafan Y Mor Havan Caravan Holiday Park. If the pull of spending time with my family hadn’t been so strong I would have strapped on a backpack and disappeared for a whole […]
Weekends are my golden time with my youngest daughter. During the week, Monday to Friday, I have to please all three daughters single-handedly (and Miss 8 and 10 rarely have the same desire to do the same outdoor activities & excursions as their younger sister). So it was that Miss 3 and I awoke with […]
I’ve been reading a lovely book with Miss 3 about the way the Chumash Indian people used to live in Santa Barbara ‘The Chumash Through a Child’s Eyes‘. The book compares their life to our modern day life in a lovely way that young children can comprehend. On one page is a Chumash Indian child […]
The Goldfields Mining Centre, located on the banks of the spectacular Kawarau Gorge, treated us to a fascinating morning of history. We stepped back in time and walked paths to mine shafts and tunnels, where the land had been laid bare by ground slicing, and through the old Chinese Village. We learned about the life […]
I’m here in England after five years away – there is so much ‘old’ and I’m loving it! Old are the photographs in my parents house… Of generations before. Love this old photograph of my Grandma and her sisters (she was one of seven!). Old is the land and the marks of history left upon […]
It’s a historic Wardrobe Wednesday waking up to the news that Wills is finally to make an honest woman of Kate. Prince William is to marry Kate Middleton next year and I think it’s so touching that he gave her his mother’s engagement ring. “As you may have recognised it’s my mother’s engagement ring so […]
Tynley Hall – sweet memories from our Wedding night. Author Philippa Gregory has me caught in a deliriously whimsical state of mind with dreams of roaming the English countryside and visiting National Trust properties and other country homes. But this isn’t one of those ‘grass is greener’ / I’m feeling home-sick posts. I simply love […]
This morning I had the pleasure of meeting a blogger friend! The wonderful Hay of ‘Where Karma meets Camera‘. We serendipitously met at Stables on the Park a weekend or so back, after I’d been following her blog for a while. Her photographs (visit Hay’s Fauxtography), combined with witty, thoughtful prose keeps me wanting for […]
I was so fortunate to grow up in a lovely area of Hampshire, England, with rural villages aplenty. From an early age we felt safe to take off on our bicycles with friends along the country lanes and along the Basingstoke Canal. My father would take my sister and I on 16 mile bike rides […]