Seasonal

Yet another rainy weekend on the horizon? It’s time to grab your waterproofs, gird your loins and venture outdoors regardless of the infamous British weather. Here are some ideas for free and cheap weekend entertainment, whatever the weather gods throw at us. 10 things to do on a rainy weekend How well do you know your…read more

When I was little we’d get chocolate Easter Eggs. But our mum would also boil a load of fresh eggs for us to decorate, then hide them in the garden or our local park and we’d have a traditional Easter Egg hunt. Happy memories. Last year, after thirty years, I caught up with my old…read more

Spring cleaning – Part 1 I thought I was the only person who felt an irresistible urge to spring clean at this time of year. Then I talked to my friend Claire at the weekend, who was knee deep in kipple, turfing out her cupboards in a nesting frenzy. So were Lavinia and Susanne.  Just…read more

It’s Valentine’s Day next week. Yay! One one hand it’s lovely to share the love and make the person you adore feel special. On the other hand it’s annoying feeling obliged to splash out on Valentine’s gifts instead of simply exchanging cards. Like so much of our lives it’s been hijacked by retailers and now…read more

When I look left, all I can see out of my studio window is grey cloud. Big, fat rain is battering the windows, the horizon has completely disappeared and there’s a howling gale. Nasty. We don’t have children but if we did, we’d have to get pretty creative to keep them occupied on days like…read more

Apparently today is Blue Monday, when more of us are more miserable than any other time of year. Thankfully the Blue Monday thing is a load of old guff, pseudo-science with no truth in it whatsoever, dreamed up by Sky Travel for an advertising campaign. Phew. That’s a relief. Having said that, the weather is pretty…read more

Here are some more recipes for using up leftover Christmas goodies! Creamy turkey and leek pasta cut your leftover turkey into cubes or tear it into strips bung some cream in a pan and add mixed herbs and seasoning steam a load of chopped leeks add the leeks and turkey to the cream mix heat…read more

In many ways, Christmas is ridiculous. Unless you’re a seriously rebellious type you’re forced by tradition, expectation and inertia to buy gifts you don’t want to buy and often can’t afford, for people who don’t really want them! Crazy. But millions of us slot into Christmas mode every year – we’re stuck with it. One…read more