A post of few words today.Mr C and I spent a lovely weekend in Tallinn with his work colleagues. Most of our time was in or around the Old Town which is a fine example of a medieval town complete with fairy-tale towers and town walls. Strong Russian influences were also very prominent. This cathedral was built to remind Tallinn of the Tsarist rule from Russia in the early 1900s. As you can see though the weather didn't always oblige for my photographs. The journey up to the top of the Town Hall tower certainly made my legs burn, especially since the depth of some of the ... read more
Helsinki
As promised, a first instalment of our recent trip to Helsinki and Tallinn.The mysterious ways of airline costings meant that we actually flew from London to Helsinki first, before continuing to Tallinn 24 hours later by boat. So, a whole 24 hours in Helsinki in which to unwind from work, whilst also making sure that we got to see all the key sights. Helsinki is one of those cities that most people have heard of, but it isn't really a big tourist destination, and people don't instantly connect it with a specific site like they do the Eiffel Tower with Paris.A walk round on the ... read more
Did you miss me?
Sorry for the absence. This time it was somewhat more exciting that just life getting in the way of blogging. Mr C and I have been over to the Baltic and have visited Helsinki and Tallinn within the last week.As seems to be usual for us our return journey yesterday involved a cancelled connection, a six hour wait in Copenhagen, delays landing in London due to thunderstorms and a nearly lost bag! In total fifteen hours from leaving our hotel to arriving home. As you can imagine I'm a tad shattered (not helped by the fact that we both went back to work less than twelve hours after landing) ... read more
Hardwick Hall
Mr C was off on a stag do last Saturday, so I decided to head up north, meet up with my parents and explore somewhere where we used to go when I was a child.I have very fond memories of going for lunch in the Big Kitchen at Hardwick Hall. Now that I'm a bit larger myself, the kitchen didn't seem quite as big as I remembered, but the rest of the hall certainly didn't disappoint. Bess of Hardwick used to be the second most powerful woman in the country, following Queen Elizabeth I, and the house gives the visitor an insight as to just what that power brought in terms of a home. ... read more
Nella Last’s Peace: The Post-War Diaries Of Housewife 49
I seem to have been reading very slowly lately, but I can promise you that it is nothing to do with the quality of the last book I've finished. If you saw the TV adaptation of Housewife 49 or enjoyed the book version of Nella Last's War then you really must not miss Nella Last's Peace: The Post-War Diaries Of Housewife 49.After the war Nella Last continued writing her regular diary as part of the Mass Observation project and this second book covers the post war period, when Nella was trying to come to terms with her new peace time role. She ... read more
A wet weekend
After an incredibly wet Saturday we were woken in the early hours of Sunday morning by yet more rain. Looking out of the bedroom window the wind was raging, the road turned into a river and several rumbles of thunder passing overhead. We therefore headed down to the WWA this afternoon expecting to see some degree of damage from the weather. Luckily we were proved wrong. The butterfly garden seemed to have escaped the worst of the wind, and with only a couple of small exceptions, most of the plans were still standing proud. There weren't that many butterflies to be seen today, but the bees ... read more
The sun has got his hat on…
... hip-hip-hip-horray!The last few days have been absolutely glorious here. Hence the lack of blogging. When I haven't been at work I've been busy enjoying the sun. I'm not yet at a stage where I can multi-task enough to blog and enjoy the sun at the same time. Only just over seven weeks though until that becomes a possibility! ... read more
Heligan reminder
I'm delighted to be able to tell you that I've completed my little reminder of our anniversary trip to Heligan. It's simple, but I do like this mini-sampler and look forward to finding somewhere to hang it in our new house, hopefully near the garden. ... read more
Village cricket
One tradition Mr C and I have every summer is to pop down to Mr C's dad's local cricket club in Harpenden. It's a lovely way to spend a lazy summer Sunday afternoon, especially with a cold drink in hand.I wouldn't really call myself a cricket fan - I certainly couldn't even try to explain the rules - but any games that stops for afternoon tea has to be good in some way!Afternoon tea the last time we were there provided a great opportunity for a walk around the area and there can be nothing quite as nice as a field full of buttercups like this. Buttercups just ... read more
Dig In Seeds
I was delighted to see this message when I opened the front door this evening. It seems like an age ago that I ordered by seeds via the BBC Dig In website after hearing about it on Gardeners' World. A shame that it took them so long to arrive, but I'm just glad that they are here. There's a useful little booklet accompanying the seeds that tells you exactly what to do with them. Sadly I think that when we get our garden in July it will be a little late to plant anything this year (mainly as we'll have to actually dig the beds first) but fingers crossed ... read more