I try to make mincemeat in the middle of November. That gives it time to do its thing for a month or so before it’s needed. This year…somehow didn’t happen, which is why I’m making it now, less than a week before Christmas. Browsing the web for spice ratios, I came across a recipe for […]

Flying really late at night after everyone else has gone home has some advantages.. Mostly that everything is empty and none of the shops try to sell you things.

My brother and I wandered out of the shop and back to the car. I stand and wait for him to open it. My brother: *waiting for me to get in, looks round* Uh.. This one’s mine… *points* Me: … Turns out I’d been waiting to get into the driver’s door of the car next […]

It’s the last day of my holiday and I’m on a train back home. Just one (three counting the local trains at each end) with no changes between Düsseldorf and Berlin (which is a very good thing considering how much luggage I have* and how often the lifts are broken). Besides being tired and achy […]

My phone is striking. Apps stop working mid-process, the map doesn’t know where I am, messages don’t send, emails don’t load, the camera won’t take pictures. It’s a pain. Especially when I still have a weekend left on the road (/rails) and a million photo opportunities. The sun’s out, autumn is well and truly here […]

I moved to Germany to be an AuPair a couple of months over 13 years ago. I set out by myself with a suitcase and a backpack, flew a few hundred kilometres and got a bus and a train across Germany, in order to live with a family I hadn’t even heard of a week […]

There was an “antique” market held here today. When I think of antiques I usually think of expensive furniture. In this case the antiques were a mixture of things without any obvious age limit or theme. It was more like a sale of anything old enough and/or bizarre enough not to be wanted by the […]

I signed up for Ra’s nanopoblano gig and promptly missed the first day. (ironically because I was deeply involved in a conversation about being late until the early hours of today). Here’s to starting late and talking later 🙂

I’m taking my bike to France by train.. I thought I could spend the 15 hour journey writing and catching up with myself and re-working my website etcetcetc. Instead I’m looking out of the window and taking numerous blurry pictures of the rivers and mountains I’m going past. The writing will have to wait.

Train station, half past 6. Smallish kid: “Mum! Mum! Mum! Can we stop and buy vegetables?!” Kid’s brother: ” No!” Smallish kid: “Mum! Can we buy vegetables, please!” Kid’s mum: “No. We’re in a hurry to get to <Somewhere>. Wait, what?” Smallish kid: “Can we buy vegetables?” Kid’s mum: “What do you want to buy […]

Sometimes all you need is a sunny day off to fill with a 2 hour massage and a peanut butter and chocolate brownie ice cream.. A cycle ride through the autumn colours and along the canal into the sunset doesn’t hurt either. 🙂 Written yesterday but for some reason not posted properly.

Dear Internet, I currently think carriages are the best thing to turn pumpkins into. Lanterns come a close second. The last thing I think they’re good for is eating. On the other hand, a large population of the world goes wild about autumn because they can finally eat pumpkins again. I think I’m missing something […]

I’ve been meaning to write all summer. And yet I haven’t. I haven’t walked much either. Why walk if you can cycle? Besides, it’s been far too hot and too still to walk. The air at least feels like it’s moving when you cycle through it. The writing? Tja. Whatever it is that makes me […]

Once upon a time I bought a rocking stool at a jumble sale. That was 2 moves ago and it’s still doing well. I love it. I love the thick padding and I love that it rocks. I love that it’s the right height for me to work at and I love that I’m short […]

Someone, at some point, told me that it was a good idea to keep stamps in the house so you can post letters without having to plan a trip to the post office. (This is Germany. You can’t buy stamps just anywhere, where would we end up?! It’s a huge improvement that they introduced stamp […]