Year: 2019

This is where Charles Darwin and Melissa were born – some centuries apart – and this is where we came to celebrate a wedding and explore the area. Shrewsbury has some similarities with Brisbane. It is also on a river, this one is called the Severn and there are beautiful paths by the river that you can stroll on.…

On the sunniest of days in Shropshire looking out over hills Charles and Nancy make their way down the carefully manicured lawn of Mulberry House towards the wedding venue. At the bottom of the field, the pond where the wedding took place and over to the side the marquees where we danced the night away.…

The Future is bright or at least literate. This was the scene opposite me on the Tube today. I took the photo with the kind permission of their carer.

Exploring this little corner of France has been an absolute delight and has made me realise how little I know about this country.The lovely countryside, the rich chestnut forests, the delicious food and the artisanal shops. Not to mention the rich and varied history as a short visit to Nimes revealed.The magnificent Roman amphitheatre, built…

The Knights Hospitaller lived here. In the 17th century it remained a local centre of French protestants – also known as the Huguenots. Pont-de-Montvert is a pleasant little village we strolled through, with traditional granite buildings and a central stone bridge over the Tarn River. A tall and once defensive tower now serves as the village clock.…

On a splendid sunny day we headed off in a green Landrover along windy mountain roads to the Mas Camargue Trail. An agricultural estate which prospered in the 17th century and which has a lot to show for it.  There was a Unesco Heritage Farmhouse and Mill carefully restored, which now serves as an accommodation…

Nestled in the hills near a National Park we arrive at our friends’ house.  The views from the house are long and deep.  The trees of beech, conifer and chestnut paint the landscape with shades of uninterrupted green. The vines drape the terraces and the geraniums, so reminiscent of my mother’s garden, colour the stairs up…

The London skyline was dawning and awakening, like the Night Manager at our hotel, on our arrival.Not quite a Tom Hiddleston and I suspect his job was less dangerous!Rain and puddle jumping. Granny’s apples fallen over the lawn, no apple pies to feed growing boys anymore. Wind swirling through the Tube. People tightly packed in…

I almost choke writing this but I am one such – well, lets just say in that ball park of over 60 but under 70. Perhaps that makes me a young senior. I know I feel younger than my years and of course the magic is in maintaining that sprightliness and not allowing yourself to…

Some blogs ago I spoke about the David Hinchcliffe’s idea to produce a work of art by artist Mark Andrews which showed, in a playful and yet meaningful way, the importance of wool to Queensland.  The project was started in 2010 and it has finally been completed. The naming of the two woolly people as…