Turkish Delight; full of Eastern Promise

I adore Turkish Delight. Not the synthetic, overly sweet impostors that can be bought from the confectionary counter in the newsagent but the light, subtly flavoured lokum that is flavoured with chopped pistachios or dates.  Although I admit to having a sweet tooth, I am not attracted to the sugar rush obtained by artificially sweetened products; I infinitely prefer the self indulgent but immensely satisfying experience of savouring the genuine article.  I’ve never visited Turkey but have friends who visit regularly.  If I’m lucky, I’m rewarded on their return with a small but welcome parcel that satisfies my craving for a while

Holiday - a cessation from work. A likely story

With the amount of exercise I’ve had recently, I should have enough endorphins coursing through my body to last at least a month.  And the reason for all this well being?  I had 3 days holiday, although I’m not sure that my action packed schedule fits the Oxford dictionary definition of “cessation from work”.   I went walking in the Lake District with a colleague, spent another day there with Molly dog for company, completed a 68 mile cycle ride with Andy and went walking in Scotland with Andy and friends at the weekend.  I’m back to work for a rest

Grey Mare's Tail

We explored a new place (to us) at the weekend.  It’s high above the Moffat Hills and one of the most stunning places we’ve visited.  We walked up past Grey Mare’s Tail to Loch Skeen and then onwards up to White Coomb.  The beauty of the area was enhanced by the total sense of isolation and wilderness for miles.  It’s no surprise that the area has long inspired many local artists, poets and writers. But what is a surprise is that it’s taken us, who pride ourselves on seeking out remote places, so long to discover. Thankfully, now we have.

Dr Who

The penultimate Dr Who episode of this series has left me breathless and wanting more.  Apart from the dodgy  (according to a local expert) Roman costuming it was an action packed episode with a huge number of loose ends to tie up (or not) next week .  I  worried that I wouldn’t take to the “new” Doctor, as both  David Tenant and Christopher Eccleston were such hard acts to follow but my concerns were needless. Matt Smith is a very engaging character with an equally appealing companion and has filled the shoes of the last Doctor with ease and humour

Home Alone

For the first time in “I can’t remember how many years”, I’m home alone (cats and dog excepted) for a couple of days.  Andy is in Bristol and Nerea is Glastonbury bound.  So what am I to do with my short lived freedom?  Well, I’ve planned to extend my usual cycle ride home today, make a fruitcake and go walking in the Lakes with a friend tomorrow.  I must also, albeit reluctantly, undertake some further wall paper stripping as until the decorating is finished, we can’t lay our new bamboo floorboards. Hmmm. How many hours in the day are there?

Rites of Passage; it's festival time!

Nerea is off to Glastonbury tomorrow.  It’s her first “festival” so it’s something of a rite of passage for us all although I expect I’d be rather more concerned if she wasn’t going with a friend and her parents. She’s fully equipped with all her essentials; “festival tent”, shorts, funky wellys and a home-customised vest top.  I’ve been checking the BBC Glastonbury weather forecast (yes, they really do have a specific page) and it seems to be set fair for the rest of the week.  My well-founded fears that she will be knee deep in mud may not be realised

The Howgills

Andy and I had a wonderful walk on Saturday.  The Howgills, rounded, smooth fells with steep sides and named “Sleeping Elephants” by Alfred Wainwright, nestle between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales.  Despite being close to two tourist honey pots it’s possible to be out all day and barely see anyone.  Our 15K walk, inevitably involving the odd geocache, took us from Sedbergh to the summit of the highest fell, The Calf, in windy but warm conditions.  That we were hungry on our return as we’d forgotten our sandwiches was a small price to pay for such spectacular solitude

World Cup Weary

The World Cup has now begun in earnest and I'm already feeling jaded; the endless predictions, analysis and punditry leaves me bored rigid. This year however, we also have to contend with the incessant buzzing of thousands of vuvuzela horns.  A swarm of angry wasps would make less noise.  Now I admit that I'm no football fan but the constant monotone drone that drowns out any crowd noise has done nothing to elevate my levels of enthusiasm.  I am longing for the final when all the speculation will be over and we can retune our radios back to The Archers

Strictly and Brian Fortuna

There’s been such a furore.  An unnecessary re-vamp of Strictly has resulted in hypnotically hipped Brian Fortuna leaving the show. Those of us who love his dancing, with both his professional partner, Kristina Rihanoff and his celebrity partners are devastated.  Brian’s reasons for leaving are entirely understandable: he turned his back on a nebulous role in a “pro” dance group, leaving him and girlfriend Ali able to concentrate on their July debut in the West End production, Burn the Floor.  But Brian’s departure is not just Strictly’s loss; sequins definitely won’t sparkle as brightly for the Fortuna’s Fantastics this winter

Morecambe Bay

Last Sunday, Team Bradbury achieved a lifetime’s ambition to walk across the treacherous, shifting sands of Morecambe Bay.  We were guided by Cedric Robinson, the official Queen’s Guide who’s been leading parties over the 8 mile route from Arnside for forty years.  As the safe passage across continually changes with the tide, Cedric “reads” the sands each day, identifying areas of dangerous sinking sand and marking the route with laurel branches. It was with a sense of achievement that we waded across the deep water of the Kent Channel before turning inland to complete our journey safely at Kents Bank

Terror on the byways of Cumbria

Last week, a seemingly well regarded member of the West Cumbrian community took the lives of 12 innocent people before killing himself during one of the most violent and random shooting incidents the country has ever experienced.  Like many others, I have friends living and working in the area and was unsettled until I knew they were safe.  Thankfully, the incident lasted for just a few hours but how utterly terrifying it must have been for those who experienced or witnessed the indiscriminate gunfire. For them and those whose loved ones never returned home, the impact will last a lifetime

Elephants Parade

I've spent a couple of days working in London and was delighted to see a sculpture in the elephant parade. It's a really cool art installation raising awareness of this endangered species. I remember seeing my first elephant at Regents Park Zoo in 1967 and having to choose between a ride on it or a camel. I chose the camel! But how times have changed. The elephants no longer reside in central London but have an amazing enclosure at Whipsnade. People have issues with zoos but they instilled in me a powerful and lasting consciousness of a wider, precious world.

Weather

Is it any wonder that we British are so fixated with the weather?  48 hours ago we were in shorts and tee shirts enjoying temperatures worthy of a Mediterranean resort and now it's back to woolly pullies.  It isn't the variety of weather that I find so frustrating but rather the unpredictability of it all. Oh to live in a country where cold days are restricted to the winter and it is hot, dry and sunny in summer. I'd even put up with rain everyday if it was predictable. Let's just hope that those 2 glorious days weren't "The Summer"