Spotting flowers growing wild in the South East
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…
Facing the Modern – The Portrait in Vienna 1900 Loving this art exhibition! I visited this exhibition at the National Gallery in London a few days ago. I was particularly drawn by the prospect of seeing a painting or two by Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), and seeing where his style may have originated. I particularly enjoy…
A lunchtime chat about buying logs My husband Mike and I like to do something different on a Friday for lunch, and last week we put a camembert cheese and some bread in the oven to bake. As we were eating, we had an interesting discussion about buying logs. We had just received a delivery…
Hi, I’m Ruth and here is a pic of me on the beach in the sunshine, having a picnic with my kids. The purpose of this blog is to celebrate all things leisure in my life. I run my own business so need to make the most of every moment away from the desk! It’s…