-
Gallery: a May selection (2023)
May is an especially lovely month in England. At the start of the month spring is at its height, while by the end there are hints of the summer to come. With spring being late this year, the early part of May felt more like April, with chilly winds and frequent showers. But the trees were green at last after the winter bareness, and there were flowers everywhere!
-
Gallery: London from the top of the Shard
When the Shard opened in London in 2012 it did so to quite a fanfare, and to a rather damp squib (in my view) of a laser show. But despite the laser show disappointing, the tower never has. Although not to everyone’s taste (the fractured ‘shards’ at the top that give it its name divide opinion), I have always found it striking.
-
Gallery: finding peace in the park
Like many Londoners (and indeed town dwellers worldwide) I discovered the pleasures of our local park during the pandemic lockdowns. Whether on our permitted visits to the shops or on the also permitted daily walks close to home, Walpole Park was our refuge and our delight.
-
Gallery: tulips from London, not Amsterdam
While many people head to Holland to see the tulips, we have London’s Holland Park. There the Dutch Gardens are planted with formal beds edged with low hedges and overflowing with tulips every spring.
Or what about ...?
Gallery: April in Ealing
Gallery: three flowers, three fruits
A stroll around Tavira
-
Gallery: a March selection (2023)
With a slow start to the spring this year it’s felt at times as if March was coming in more like a polar bear than a lion! We had sharp winds, frosts and even some snow as far south as London, although nothing like what they had further north. And even when the weather started to warm up, sunshine was in short supply.
-
Gallery: a January selection (2023)
Thankfully this January didn’t bring snow to London, but it was certainly more than cold enough to make any feet and fingers glow! Personally I can’t wait for the warmer days of spring, although we’re not hanging around here for that but are headed elsewhere in a hunt for heat!
-
A city stroll in London
The oft-quoted line, ‘when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life’ comes from a discussion between Johnson and James Boswell about whether or not Boswell's affection for London would wear thin should he be living there as Johnson did, rather than enjoying the city on occasional visits.
-
Gallery: a December selection
December in London this year has delivered frost, a touch of snow, but also mild and damp weather; a little bit of everything. Of course it has also brought Christmas lights and decorations.
-
Ealing, the Queen of the Suburbs?
In 1902 Charles Jones, Ealing’s borough surveyor, published a book. In it he referred to Ealing as the ‘Queen of Suburbs’. His aim of course was to promote the area as a place to live.
-
Gallery: a November (and October) selection
We often choose to go away at this time of year and this year was no exception. At the end of October and through the first part of this month we were travelling in Nepal.
