Holehird Gardens, the home of the Lakeland Horticultural Society, are only about four miles from our doorstep, and given that they’re completely outdoors they’d have been a wonderful place to visit during lockdown. Sadly, they took the decision to close. This week we noticed that they were open again to local visitors, so on Monday … More Two go to a frosty garden
Nope, still estuary! But at least the sun shone today. This time we were on the other side of Morecambe Bay, at Grange-over-Sands, looking south towards Arnside where we were about two weeks ago. Grange is known for its mild climate – there are palm trees growing along the promenade – and for its stunning … More Two go to the seaside – again
I’ve just finished watching the third episode of the recent series of The Great British Dig, which was filmed on location last autumn during the pandemic. Hats off to the production team and crew, because they’ve managed to make a remarkably seamless set of programmes featuring some fascinating subjects, while contending with social distancing regulations … More Great British Dig: lost priories
One of the nicest things about lockdown easing is that we can now get about locally rather than just staying in our town. We’ve made the most of it over Easter with several trips out, including a lovely one to Coniston on Saturday. We expected the area to be madly busy thanks to the sunshine … More Two go on a coppery trail
Our next door neighbour has been digging out a new flower bed in his very pretty cottage garden. His house used to be a warehouse and stables before it was converted to a dwelling, and it’s obvious that his garden must have been the junk heap judging by the things he’s been discovering. These included … More Buried treasure
Well, estuary-side would be closer to the mark. This morning we needed to collect something a friend had made for us. They live in a village that’s just the other side of Morecambe Bay, and now that the ‘stay local’ rule is no longer being fully enforced we decided to make a trip of it … More Two go to the seaside
The process of producing a book from start (first words on screen or page) to finish (the published book, hopefully!) can be long, arduous, and emotionally draining. The sheer hard work has often struck me before: long hours spent typing or chewing the end of a pen when the words won’t come, frustration, sudden spurts … More The emotion of writing
You’ll have noticed I haven’t been posting much about trips out lately. There’s a good reason for that – thanks to the latest lockdown, we haven’t been allowed to make any. However, yesterday we had an errand to run in the neighbouring town of Ambleside, and while we were there it made sense to combine … More Watery Reward
The twin evils of lockdown and bad weather come with one silver lining – lots of time to sit at the computer and write. This is probably bad for my overall fitness levels, but good for producing new stuff. And the good news is that after a couple of months of hard graft, I’ve just … More New book on the horizon?
Both my grandfathers were heavily involved in the Second World War and I grew up listening to their stories, so I’ve always had a fascination with the period and with books set at the time. Step forward my friend Anne Barwell, whose latest m/m romance Winter Duet falls into that exact category. The book is … More Taking the scenic route…
