autumn

Hotter Rapid – shoes for when you can no longer pretend it’s summer

September 25, 2019 By Ellen Leave a Comment

The theme of this post is speed. Haste, rush, hurry, zoom, or otherwise get about at speed. And, yes, we all know that ‘more haste, less speed’ thing – though I’ve never understood what it actually means. It’s one of those not very meaningful mysteries like where you’re supposed to stand in Pret while they […]

Hot air, cold air and cycling

September 2, 2019 By Ellen Leave a Comment

Maybe it’s been going on for years and I just didn’t know. But there’s a thing called a Balloon glow that happens after dark when a lot of hot air balloonists (is that the right word?) get together in a field. It’s dark so they can’t fly anywhere, instead, they full up their huge bags […]

Cold comfort: Ten ways I know it really is winter

November 5, 2018 By Ellen 2 Comments

It’s winter again. I love winter. A quick glance at the calendar tells me that it’s mid November and the fact we are at 55 degrees north mean that it’s winter. Autumn is over and spring is a very, very long way off. But if you need other clues, here are my top ten hints […]

Pumpkin festival at M&D’s – or something to do on a damp day in October

October 14, 2018 By Ellen Leave a Comment

Seriously scary! Obviously stair-rods style rain wasn’t ideal, but in the end, it didn’t make much difference. “Bad weather always looks worse through a window,” said Tom Lehrer (I could have sworn it was Baden Powell or Kipling, but there you go.) So we put our coats on and went to the pumpkin festival at […]

What did you do at the weekend?

September 24, 2018 By Ellen Leave a Comment

Anyone else over 50 find it takes considerable effort to answer this one? A grinding of gears and a cranking look round at the two days of domesticity and idleness peppered by parental duties. “Pretty quiet. Nice, though,” does the job. I suppose no one is really that interested in anyone’s weekend until the answer […]