I am drawn back to one of North Yorkshire coast’s most scenic destinations time and time again – Runswick Bay with its wide sweeping bay...

Japanese Knot Bags are fabric bags which have a beautiful shape, due to the bag having only one main strap. It is looped through a short...

How often during your busy workday do you take a break (besides lunch)? For Swedes, the time-honoured ritual of fika—translating to...

I’m hoping things are beginning to make us feel better with the prospect of longer and lighter days ahead. Being able to see family and...

Olive and Auburn knitting project bags are designed to ultimately please the needs of both knitters and crafters. Elegant, stylish and...

It's really a gloomy time of year and going out to eat is not something we can do at the moment, being in the midst of Lockdown Number 3....

With the arrival of colder weather, I've been cosying up with my knitting. This December I have being knitting mittens and hopefully they...

After finding my knitting mojo and recovering from Covid, I thought it should be a good time to be a little reckless and ‘knit’ outside...

Using my brain to write a blog post has been outside of my capability for the last three weeks. Yes, I had a positive test and suffered...

Interchangeable, circulars, DPNs, straight, bamboo, steel?????? There are so many options when it comes to needles and as a beginner it...

We’ve all been there: you have five minutes to leave the house and you’re frantically scrabbling around for a knitting project you can...

What better time of the year to start a new hobby than right at the beginning of Autumn. We have darker evenings and I don't know about...

My great first staycation in 8 months! It was exciting to take a journey of a couple of hours over the Pennines to one of my favourite...

If you visited this field in 1998, you would have seen a bleak area of potatoes and barley fields that stretched for miles across the...

10 Things that have made me happy recently I just realized that I haven’t written one of these posts in over a year. I think it’s because...

Where the Rainbow Hit Earth - A most beautiful, colourful Norwegian garden, on an island with a white sandy beach and my ultimate garden...

Summer has arrived The anticipation in the lead up to summer has been building up for many months. And this year June has been so...

Midsommar 2020

And why, because its World Heart Rhythm Week 2020, an annual awareness week that focuses on detecting arrhythmias (irregular heart...

I do apologise for this rather late May update. I’m sorry that I don’t have an excuse, it’s just that I’ve been busy retreating to my...

If you are in the Conwy area of North Wales in the spring, lucky you! This time last year I was so lucky to spend a day strolling around...

This time last year, May 2019, I was here in Catalonia, Spain….Jardins de Cap Roig In the northwest corner of the Mediterranean is the...

April is almost over, the month of bluebells, it's the symbol of humility, everlasting love and constancy, and lockdown 2020. Well now,...

This blog post is oh so late! The month of April seems to be flying by in these very strange times. I feel very fortunate at the moment...

I’m very fortunate to have previously been able to work from home and have a home to work from. Unfortunately, my freelance work has...

January got no respect from me! I've been hating it this year. The damp, grey and eternally dark days made me so lethargic, together with...

Winter can be a wonderful time to visit France especially over the New Year period. January was mild, sunny, wide blue skies with a hint...

December 13th is Santa Lucia, one of the most cherished celebrations in Scandinavia. Sweden was the first country in the Nordic region to...

It’s interesting how certain smells or sounds remind us of specific things, a person, a place or an activity. Orange, for example, is one...

Whitby is a place for all seasons complete with dramatic, changing landscapes. It nestles in the iconic Yorkshire heritage coastline...

I’m a lover…. of food, cook books, and of the place where I grew up, the Lake District. I like a proper cook book as well as downloading...

June is a wonderful time to visit the Cumbrian Lake District, Kendal was my perfect place for a week long birthday celebration. About 10...

The Tiled Hall Café in the Leeds Art Gallery is the perfect setting for a lunch break, morning breakfast or just a quiet space to relax....

Today its Midsummer, the longest day of the year, and an especially magical time in the Nordic countries and cause for celebration. The...

You may have noticed something of a radio silence here in recent weeks. This was partly for some really nice reasons, and also there is...

Loving all foodie things Scandi, I’m excited to have found Lotte the Baker in York! Lotte has started a small batch organic Scandi bakery...

The owners of Billy Bob’s have created a 1950’s retro Americana magic place in the Yorkshire Dales. Not quite what you expect to find...

In a week of wind, drizzly rain and Brexit doom, I’m back to tell you about the things that made me smile this week. Ballet I’m always...

Prashad means blessed food; the Patel’s meaning is that their love passes to you through the offerings; I’ve rarely felt so beatified,...

Walmgate, one of the oldest streets in York is an interesting jumble of buildings from different periods and now home to innovative and...

My hands can certainly appreciate a little help at this time of year. They are always a concern for me in winter so I’ve tried and tested...

I must admit, before I revisited Scandinavia last year I had never heard of the Åland Islands. That is the wonderful thing about travel,...

I know that I am not alone in thinking that January is one of the hardest months of the year to get through. All the festive cheer of the...

We had the darkest day of the year on 21st December, with daylight lasting for just a few hours. This winter solstice marks the moment...

Stockholm is the city of fourteen islands, the so-called “Venice of the North,” and is the home to one of Europe’s best-preserved old...

It’s that time of year already! We are well into Winter now and almost the end of 2018. I want to make the most of the next couple of...

As the days have got shorter and colder, my life has moved indoors and away from the garden. We have had an amazingly long and colourful...

Here is yet another highlight of my cruise to the islands and cities of Scandinavia – Bornholm. The picturesque island of Bornholm is a...

Garden hydrangeas have been pretty special this year and they’re still going strong! I was in the Lake District last week and despite it...

The nights are drawing in, and October will see the clocks going back and the first frosts in colder parts of the country. Gardening time...