Cosmeston lakes: April 2023
After weeks, and weeks, and weeks of rain, the sun finally shone. Just in time for the Easter weekend – hurrah! So off we stroll/rolled down to the lakes to get some sun, Spring air, and increase in our allergies …
There’s life beyond 1660 (reviews of a book The Unrespectable Woman, and podcast My Love Letter Time Machine)
If you’ve ever checked my bio on social media, it usually includes the sentence “…also loves pre-1660 British history…”. I love medieval and early modern British history (my degree was in the latter), and these days I’m particularly interested in …
Oh so sweet: the sweet box fragrance in winter
One of the great delights of winter and early spring, come from a rather small, almost insignificant, white flower, of sweet box. You don’t really notice the flowers. It’s the fragrance you’ll notice. You’ll be walking down the street and …
Growing through phases: phase 1 complete
The first phase of the landscaping was finished last week! It looks bare now, but it is ready for planting. To remind you what it looked like previously: And now: The empty paved area will be for the chairs, table …
Update 2: Using a heart rate monitor to better manage MECFS (finding my baseline, halting decline)
Um, it’s taken me a bit a time to get around to writing a follow up post to that written in August 2021. Somehow life, moving from South Yorkshire to South Wales, and more life, well, it got in the …
Growing through phases (phase 1)
The last few months I’ve been thinking a lot about how to design my new back garden. With the past couple of gardens, I confess, my plans were based on hope. I mean, all garden plans are, but mine were …
Postcards from Penarth: Cosmeston Lakes, August – December 2022
This, is one of the reasons we chose to live in this part of Penarth. Cosmeston Lakes, the path to which is about 5 minutes from our new home. As you can see, there are plenty of paths I can …
First glimpse of the new garden
As you can imagine, a combination of moving from Sheffield to Penarth, along with managing my health, has meant blogging has been low down on the list of things to do. I’m going to focus on short and sweet blogs …
Garlic harvest 2022, and news
On the weekend we harvested my garlic crop, and as the weather is so dry (hot!) at the moment, I’m letting them cure in the sun for a few days. The bulbs are smaller this year. This may be a …
Carrot, parsnip and red lentil soup
Serves 4-6 The sweetness of the carrot and parsnip is complimented by the tang of cumin and garlic. A great way to use up a glut of parsnips in winter. 1-2 tbsp olive oil 4 cloves garlic (more if small …