Spotting local flowers out walking on the South Coast
Britain has been beset by storms for what seems like weeks, and today was the first sunny day in a while. We live on the South Coast, and the world and his wife seemed to be on our local seafront today to catch some rays and assess the damage. The steps and breakwaters were covered…
Mike and I live in a spectacular spot and are aware that we don’t get enough exercise, hence Wednesday Walks! Last week, we were reluctant to go too far afield, because the weather was horrendous. Having just had a delivery from Riverford the day before including our favourite homity pies, we decided to take them…
Here is how Mike made the Moroccan lamb tagine He cooked it for our Foody Friday Valentine lunch, and it went down very well! I bought Mike’s tagine as a birthday present, so I was pleased to see him using it. Ingredients Serves 4 125g dried apricots 500g diced lamb 4 tsp Moroccan Ras-El-Harout spice…
Mike and I work mostly from home, so have tried to set out a routine to make the most of being our own bosses. After various conversations along the lines of “We really ought to do more fun stuff during the week”, we instituted Wednesday Walks and Foodie Fridays. You can see the results of…
Daisy flowers have many names This common white flower with an iconic yellow centre is known common daisy, lawn daisy, English daisy and bruisewort. I hear that historically it was traditional to mash up flowers & apply to broken veins in face to improve complexion. I have no idea whether this has any modern validity!…
Stitchwort – a tiny white flower This tiny white flower with pretty orange anthers is common in Sussex, to the extent that I wasn’t going to photograph it until my daughter insisted. The flowers are about 2cm across, and we found the one photographed below in an open area, growing alongside a concreted footpath. Stitchwort…
Walking in the South Downs National Park Here is an article I wrote last summer about a local walk. It is June and I am sitting at the top of Seaford Head I am perched above the 100ft white cliffs, about 15ft from the edge. I am not sitting on a bench, but straight on…
A painting of a walk Last week during the Christmas break, I went on a lovely walk with my family. I took this photograph of myself, surprised the shadow was so long (it was about 1pm when I took this). Looking for an activity on a wet afternoon the other day, I thought I’d copy…
Mike asked for a storm kettle for Christmas I must admit I didn’t know what one was. I did a little homework and found out it is a kettle small and handy enough to be taken on hikes. You light a fire at the bottom of a small metal chimney which is double-walled to contain…
Christmas at home Natural Christmas decorations I am not an eco freak but I love to do things the natural way wherever possible. Being the owner of a dried flower shop, my work quite often overflows into my home life: this year our tree was smothered in natural Christmas decorations. An open fire Another example…