Jane remembers…… Cosy & Warm In The Cotswolds House Hotel & Spa
One year on and the world seems a different place. Masks, hand gel and social distancing have become part of our everyday life yet the warm welcome from a...
Slow Down, Don’t Move Too Fast.
Getting to the airport on crowded coaches, packed trains, with minutes to spare. Long queues at a busy airport. Competing for space. Stressed faces, grimaces. Frantic last-minute duty-free shopping....
Discover the Best kept Secrets of the UK countryside
If anyone should know about country walks, it’s Clarkes Shoes who have been researching the secret gems of our countryside and coastal paths. Ann Evans has the details. ...
Eastbourne’s Sad Seafront
by Harry Pope First, a bit of basic history. The area was unwanted until the early 1850s, when the railway came to the town. It is between Hastings...
The Incredible Gardens at Cliveden
Photos: Rob Tysall, Tysall’s Photography If you are travelling to Buckinghamshire Ann Evans suggests you take time to visit Cliveden Gardens. There’s so much to say about...
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...
Karl’s Chronicles. Article 52 Le Jardin Majorelle – A Painters Triumph.
The fashionable came to see and be seen, almost as worthy as the official pieces of art that lay bold but simultaneously unassuming around them. Chic supercilious women strolling...
Malta Diary Touches of sanity in today’s eyesore concrete jungle -archaeological sites and buildings now Scheduled and cannot be destroyed or altered in any way
ALBERT FENECH e/mail – Facebook: I have written it before and repeat, if my great grandparents and grandparents were to be resurrected today and placed anywhere in...
Spooky Half Term at Stratford Butterfly Farm
For half-term and Halloween fun, head to Stratford-upon-Avon’s award-winning Butterfly Farm, Ann Evans has the details. Visitors can enjoy a spooky half term at Stratford’s Butterfly Farm from...
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...
A Visit to Allesley Park, Coventry
Ann Evans continues to explore Coventry’s parks. This week we visit Allesley Park. While many of us are not venturing much further than our own doorsteps at the...
Explore Coventry’s War Memorial Park
Ann Evans continues to explore Coventry’s parks, join her at the War Memorial Park. Coventry’s War Memorial Park has been a popular place to walk, relax, exercise...
Pedalo-ing in the Park
“Come in number 6” we heard from the banks of The Serpentine. Our hour of discovery was up. We pedalled fast and steered our bright blue floating fibreglass boat...
Green Tomato Glut. Some Delicious Recipes. Part 1.
Remember how I showed you to grow tomatoes from tomato slices when all the garden centres were closed? We got around 56 tomato plants from a few seeds,...
Caludon Castle Park
Photos by Rob Tysall and Ann Evans Ann Evans discovers the local parks in Coventry; this week it’s Caludon Castle Park. If nothing else, the restrictions imposed...
Beautiful Botanical Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a fascinating collection of living plants, trees and shrubs, either ‘growing out’ in the vast parklands or in the historic glasshouses and nurseries....
It’s All Happening at Hatton and Gaydon
Whilst things are changing on a daily basis due to Covid-19, three Covid – safe events are planned for the coming weekends around Warwick. Ann Evans has...
HELP FOR THE WARWICKSHIRE WILDLIFE TRUST
The Warwickshire Wildlife Trust gets a helping hand from the National Lottery. Ann Evans has the details. Since the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown began, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust has...
A Day Out At Wisley Gardens
It was like walking into a scene of a period drama. Maybe one of our beloved Jane Austen’s movie sets: expansive lawns, landscaped gardens, the sun casting shadows. Ladies...
Harry’s Ramblings. Back Gardens
by Harry Pope When I was ten my back garden had a WW2 air raid shelter. We lived in a place called Ewell, in Surrey, not far from Epsom...
BRANDON MARSH BOOST
It’s good news for nature lovers visiting Brandon Marsh near Coventry, Ann Evans reports. Visitors to Brandon Marsh near Coventry are set to get a new, accessible...
My Bottled Tomatoes’ Progress & Tumbet Recipe
Recently I showed you how to grow tomato plants from just four slices of tomato. This produced nearly 60 tomato plants! And then I told you how to...
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...
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...
Malta Diary The feast of Illuminations ‘L-Imnarja’ – but this time in a lesser light …
ALBERT FENECH e/mail – Facebook: The 29th of June, date of the feast commemorating Saints Peter and Paul, has been a major event in...
Gently Does It at Stratford Butterfly Farm
Ann Evans shares the good news of Stratford Butterfly Farm emerging from lockdown in all its splendour. As Covid restrictions are gradually eased and life takes on some...
A Stranger in America; Introduction to North Carolina
North Carolina is one of the few american states that people excessively move to according to statistics. Soon as I moved to that state, the world went chaotic and...
NGS Reopen Their Open Gardens!
Ann Evans brings great news for garden lovers! The great news for everyone who loves gardens and gardening, is that the National Garden Scheme’s open gardens are...
Coping with Coronavirus 22. Edwardian Parlour Games.
In the Victorian and Edwardian eras, people were a lot more trusting. Guests would arrive, armed with an introductory letter, or introduced by family or friends of their hosts,...
The Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Days Wild challenge starts today!
More people than ever are turning to nature during the pandemic, Ann Evans explains how you can get involved. 30 Days Wild is the UK’s biggest nature...
Go wild – it’s good for you!
Will you be taking part in 30 Days Wild with The Wildlife Trust in June? Ann Evans points out just how good it is for us. ...
Virtual English Gardens
A sprinkling of England’s horticulture hotspots Dusty pink geraniums, draping wisteria, beds and borders overflowing with floral displays and packed plant pots jammed full of colour, the English...
Coping With Coronavirus 20. Plants & Recipes
Remember how I told you how to grow tomatoes from tomato slices? Well, look at the results after another week. And remember how I told you about the...
Kent, A County Full of Surprises
The English county of Kent, known as The Garden of England, is as pretty and as charming as its name suggests. Rural Kent, with its gentle rolling hillsides, rich...
Coping With Coronavirus 19. Why are the Garden Centres Closed? + Growing Tomatoes From Seed
Why are all the garden centres closed when everyone wants to buy compost, seeds, and lots of garden plants; flowers, vegetables, salad plants and herbs? There’s a lot more...
A Walk on the Wild Side
Photos by Rob Tysall, Tysall’s Photography. Ann Evans asks how you are spending that precious hour out of lockdown. While life as we knew it has been...
NGS REAFFIRMS ITS SUPPORT FOR NURSING AND HEALTH CHARITIES
Ann Evans reports on the National Garden Scheme’s support for nursing and health charities in this time of crisis. In a new campaign led by Britain’s most famous...
Dream trip to Bomarzo, a fantastic Italian garden – World Meanderings (n°82)
By Annick Dournes & Frédéric de Poligny This incredible garden was created in the middle of the 16th century for Prince Vicino Orsini, It’s located in a...
Enjoy a Glorious Springtime in the Garden with the NGS
Photos courtesy of the National Garden Scheme. Forget your troubles and enjoy Spring now that it’s here. Ann Evans has news of the NGS Open Gardens Spring has...
Rachel’s Wanderings in Spain Small Critters, Big Problems
It’s animal life again that rules my life, not because the fibre cables have been chewed through, see Ups and Downs (and Ins and Outs) of (Animal) Life...