Violets (Viola Odorata) have long been associated with shrinking, shy types, but that’s so wrong. This little flower has much to say; So Plucky You’ll need to look hard for them but if you’re lucky you’ll find them peeking out of a woodland floor or the base of a thick hedge. Our native Violets may […]Read Post ›
IT’S A MOTHER OF A DAY. SO GIVE HER SOME MOSS. Mother – it’s a weighty word, there’s no doubt. As a noun it’s meaning is innocent enough – a female with offspring. But as a verb it’s much more complicated. To mother; to give birth to, to raise, to care for, to look […]Read Post ›
It’s March but not as we know it, it’s snowy and icy cold outside, minus minus minus. But there’s a reason to cheer, Spring will be here soon, it’s just a bit delayed. And how do we know? Because the garden centres are full of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Primroses. From the Latin, prima rosa, named as […]Read Post ›
It’s that time of year they call the awards season, from the Golden Globes, to the Baftas, all the way to the Oscars (4th March), big televised ceremonies celebrating the industry and the best work of the big screen. For some weeks now the “stars” have been out in force; dressed up to the nines, […]Read Post ›
The humble, little crocus, little cups of purple and orange and white, that this week have begun to bloom, in grass verges and parks, deserve a closer look. Associated with joy and youth and mirth, and perhaps unknown to you, with Valentine’s Day. Really, croci are the true cupids of the flower world. We […]Read Post ›
In the 1970s ITV made a documentary series about an “old” lady, with a shock of white hair, who farmed alone in the Yorkshire Dales. Living a life of frugality and hard labour, she carried haybales on her back, washed in a bucket, and repaired drystone walls. She fetched her bread deliveries, that were […]Read Post ›
This week the world’s leaders have congregated in Davos (a small alpine town in Switzerland) for the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) to consider what they say are the globe’s big issues (under the heading; “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World”) – radicalism, populism, isolationism. In other words the most pressing threats to their […]Read Post ›
Such sad news, the death of singer Dolores O’Riordan, earlier this week. The many tributes for the 47 year old, from fans and musos alike, were truly heartfelt. And for those who have not listened to the Cranberries for a while would without a doubt will remember Dolores’ haunting voice. Into her music she poured her […]Read Post ›
We Brits love Spain, 17.8 million of us holidayed there in 2016 (according to travel market analysts GfK) a record high. Fear as a result of terrorism, in France, Turkey, Egypt and North Africa, is most probably a factor behind this increased popularity. But not far behind the sun and sangria, Spain is in […]Read Post ›
May’s management skills are under huge scrutiny – again – as she faces another week of squabbling at her Cabinet table. Unruly, abrasive, and very shouty – like a brood of teenage children – there’s a heap of issues amongst her ministers for her to sort; the flagrant flouting of her authority, arrogant freelancing, […]Read Post ›
MUSINGLY 