The Ailing Tradition of Christmas Cards- Blessing or Loss
It’s not really news that the art of sending Christmas cards is an ailing one. I still like to send Christmas cards, indeed to me it is part of...
Karl’s Chronicles Article 52 Benchmark
Two steps up through an open painted door lead one into a garage that has long been overtaken, like the ivy spreading across the outer walls, by the...
Jeni on Drawing 5 – Drawing and Sketching
The differences between ‘drawing’ and ‘painting’ are not always easy to define. Drawings are generally personal, intimate things, often made quickly to capture a fleeting moment in time. Paintings...
Welsh Witterings: The Art of Making Flower Essences
When the sun is shining there is little dispute that being outdoors in a beautiful garden makes us feel happy, but it seems that it is not just from...
SHELLY BEACH SNIPPETS No 128, NOVEMBER, 2020.
Patricia Newell-Dunkley – Photographs Reginald J. Dunkley www: Greetings from down under with glorious sunshine and summer fast approaching. Travel is rather tricky at the moment with...
Jeni on Drawing 4 – Drawing Around
When you think about it, drawing lines around things is really trying to capture an illusion. There are no lines around anything we see, only edges where one ‘thing’...
Karl’s Chronicles Article 51 The Wicked Burning
‘Remember, Remember, the fifth of November, Gunpowder, Treason and Plot!’ Well, there is still plot in the nights terrifying logistics, plenty of gunpowder rammed into those exploding rockets, and...
Jeni On Drawing – 2. More on Drawing
All of us are born with an urge to make marks, to sing, dance and generally express ourselves individually. If you ask any small child if they can draw...
Massenez’s eau-de-vie and liqueurs, trendier than ever – Meanderings through France n° 223
By Annick Dournes & Frédéric de Poligny Since 1870 Massenez is the gold standard in the world of spirits and liqueurs. For 150 years and through four...
Karl’s Chronicles. Article 50 Marrakesh – The Maze of Shadows
Pummelled and bruised like a failed fighter, the glum wasp-yellow taxi coughed its way down Rue Mohamed V. The broad artery named after the first King at Independence from...
Jeni on Drawing – 1
I can’t remember not drawing. Over the years I have put a lot of thought into the whys and wherefores of this delicious activity, especially when I started...
Malta Diary Intricate, precious and a labour of love – but very sadly dying out The art and skill of hand-woven Malta and Gozo cotton lace
ALBERT FENECH e/mail – Facebook: In Maltese, the word “bizilla” primarily means an intricate handmade lace weave in a significant pattern. However, the word...
Art In The Savill Garden
Colour, shape, form and composition, ever-changing, ever growing. Nature is art. It surprises us every hour, every day. A flower opening its petals, droplets of water balancing on leafy...
Malta Diary Valletta’s St John’s Co-Cathedral – one of the most renowned and beautiful in the world
Baroque art and history at its best ALBERT FENECH e/mail: salina46af@gmail,com Facebook: There were two aspects to the Knight Hospitaliers of the Order of St John of Jerusalem;...
Welsh Witterings: 5 GOLDEN RULES TO SETTING UP AN ARTISAN DRINKS COMPANY – TIPS AND ADVICE TO MAKE IT PAY
Thinking of Setting Up An Artisan Drinks Company? Here Are Some Tips And Advice The artisan or craft drinks market today has grown. There was a time when the...
SHELLY BEACH SNIPPETS No. 125 August, 2020.
Patricia Newell-Dunkley – Photographs Reginald J. Dunkley Greetings from down under where the weather has turned arctic for the last month. Heavy snow has been falling and Tasmania has...
Have a MAD Weekend!
Photos courtesy of Rob Tysall and the MAD Museum. Ann Evans shares the great news that Stratford-upon-Avon’s award-winning MAD Museum is once again open to the public. The...
Karl’s Chronicles Article 45 Titian: Love, Desire, Death.
Centring around Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid, Titian, under commission from Prince Philip of Spain, created a set of paintings based on classical myths, developed between 1551...
Pilsen, the city where beer flows like water – World Meanderings (n°97)
By Annick Dournes & Frédéric de Poligny Beer has been brewed in Pilsen ever since the town was founded in 1295. It also is the city where the...
Welsh Witterings: Great British Food Award Finalist
This year all the food awards have been a little strange as a result of the Covid19. The dates for entries to be sent for judging have been all...
Miniatura’s Autumn Disappointment
Photographs by Rob Tysall. Ann Evans brings the latest news for miniature fans. It’s another disappointment for dolls house fans as the UK’s top dolls house...
Bentley Blower ‘continuation’ is happening and why the hell not?!
IAIN ROBERTSON Almost a year ago, Iain Robertson received a whiff of a story about a short run of 12 handcrafted recreations of the original 1929 racing Bentleys that...
What’s in a name, Riley Kestrel?
IAIN ROBERTSON If you are the successful owner of a brewing company and you have a registered trade name that sparks a promotional opportunity, then, suggests Iain Robertson, why...
Malta Diary; Speak, see and hear no evil – but how superstitious are we really – is it inculcated in the Mediterranean character?ta Diary;
ALBERT FENECH e/mail – Facebook: My younger brother Edward was aged about four at the time. Unlike me, with my dark hair and...
Welsh Witterings. Eat up your Greens you’re in Wales – Exploring South Pembrokeshire and the Welsh Tradition of Seaweed
Wales is fast becoming a favourite destination for foodies in the British Isles and quite frankly this is not a surprise. Wales after all, is home to some of...
Karl’s Chronicles Article 40 Add To Cart
A sunken garden leads off sharply from a steep road, winding its way past a series of houses pushed into the hillside. Double sets of white spectacle windows all...
Malta Diary A pictorial panorama of the Maltese Islands over the last 200 years
ALBERT FENECH e/mail – Facebook: My four grandparents died 50, 40 and 30 years ago. I often muse that if they were resurrected today and...
Karl’s Chronicles Article 39 Cut to Service
“Very well-hewn churches excavated from the rock, the likes of which cannot be found anywhere else in the world… I weary of writing more about these buildings because it...
Coping with Coronavirus 25. Stinging Nettles, Wonderful Plants that are good for Breathing Problems.
Gardeners regard nettles as a nuisance. But they are the most valuable and useful plant in the garden, if not the world! The Romans introduced the stinging nettle, or Urtica...
Miniatura’s Little Peep into the Future
Photos by Rob Tysall. The UK’s top dolls house show is hoping their Autumn Show will be a huge success, Ann Evans reports. Like so many shows...
Karl’s Chronicles Article 38 Temples In Ten – Part II
A temple twisting like a helter-skelter while another takes you from debauchery to nirvana in five levels. The concept of religion, with its duties and rituals, has manifested some...
Sussex Snake more than Doubles in Size!
Crowborough in Sussex has the most amazing new Memorial to the Coronavirus and everything else that has been happening lately. It’s a huge snake made up of painted stones....
Welsh Witterings: Farewell to Laura Ashley – a Piece of Welsh History
The home and fashion retailer Laura Ashley collapsed into administration a few months ago after its attempts to raise capital to fund a restructure of the business failed,...
Five exclusive live readings of “The Little Prince” to cheer up dreamers throughout the world
By Annick Dournes & Frédéric de Poligny From 29 June to 3 July 2020 Michael Morpugo in collaboration with the “Institut Français du Royaume-Uni” and the “Antoine de Saint...
Welsh Witterings: The Pleasure of Preserving – making the most of seasonal fruits and vegetables
Culinary history has plenty to teach us especially when it comes to preserving food. Circumstances may differ, times undoubtedly change, but even in the age where most people own...
WELCOME BACK TO HATTON
Ann Evans reports that it’s good news all round as Hatton Shopping Village and Hatton Adventure World re-opens. It has been a deeply worrying time for the local independent...
Updated List of our Talented Writers’ Publications – great reads for everyone!
The B-C-ing-U! Writers are many-talented. A lot of them are published authors, so why not take a look at what they have for sale? There are some great...
Taxi Noir: Scraping the Barrel
Since the Covid-19 lockdown I’ve vowed to support local businesses wherever possible. In the semi-rural area around my home in Leighton Buzzard I can buy milk direct from the...
SHELLY BEACH SNIPPETS NO. 122 May, 2020
Patricia Newell-Dunkley – Photographs by Reginald Greetings from down under where conditions are improving slowly, day by day. We have had some good rain which is helping the...
Giant Snake Invades Sussex Town!
Secret Stones are very popular. People paint a small stone and hide it within view where someone is almost definitely going to find it. Then they take it and...