Denim – are you a fan? I must admit that I am. I have several pairs of denim jeans, in a range of shades and styles. I also have a denim jacket, a denim skirt and a denim dress! I can remembe…

August for me means blog housekeeping — QR codes, tag audits, a new theme polish, and finally tackling that neglected About page. What's on your blogging to-do list?

I love the quote from Lao Tzu, and some of our best travel adventures have been when we’ve gone with the flow! However, on this occasion we had already planned and booked our return journey t…

They say the door was not built, but fallen…fallen from a realm above the sky.

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I knew nothing about these creatures until we bought our house in France. I can't remember when we first became aware of their existence, probably after the arrival of Zeph. Neither can I remember exactly when we spotted their nests in two of our large pine trees. I've searched through our many photos of the garden, but can't find any images of the nests.

Not a lot in my tiny part of the world, but globally is another story, which I won't delve into here, as this blog is my happy place. March wasn't an 'exciting' month for me, but nowadays that's just how I like it. When I was younger, I craved excitement, but now calm and contentment do me very nicely, thank you.

French? Yes! A spy? No! If you already know who I’m talking about, I’m both surprised and impressed. Read on to learn the story behind the name. The closest theatre to us is The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford. We’ve visited many times over the years. When our boys were little, going to the Christmas pantomime was an annual tradition. These days, we don’t go as often, but when Mr.

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How long have you blogged for? A brief and honest look at the world of blogging over the last 12 years.

Fascinating facts about France: the tooth mouse. Have you heard of the 'Tooth Mouse'? If your answer is 'yes', I'm impressed. If you haven't, welcome to the club! I can't believe that I didn't know that in France, instead of a tooth fairy, there is 'la petite souris'. The French "tooth fairy" is a mouse who collects baby teeth from under pillows at night, and replaces them with money or sweets.

I have come across this phrase a few times recently and wondered where it originated. It has been attributed to Søren Kierkegaard (1813 - 1855), a Danish philosopher. He believed that life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards. If we were having coffee, I’m sure we could have an entertaining, philosophical discussion around this topic. However, I’m thinking simply in terms of my blog!

Did your blog do as well as you thought it would in 2025? What were your most inspiring posts of 2025? Share the details with us.

Image by Tanja – Pixabay A quick note to all my lovely readers! No matter where you are in the world, and whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I send you my warmest wishes for the festive …

If we were having coffee, I'd talk to you, rather belatedly, about what we did in November. That was the month when we closed up the house in Castelnaudary for the winter and returned to the UK. I love autumn in France, and we had enjoyed our stay, since September as much as ever - if not more! Castelnaudary has changed in the ten years we have been here.

This post outlines various scams affecting bloggers, including voicemail scams and email phishing claims that appear to come from WordPress. Don't become a victim of a scam or fined for downloading c...

I'm referring specifically to the beautiful plane trees that line the Canal du Midi. They have had to be felled over the last few years due to an incurable disease - more of that later! The Canal du Midi, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was one of the main reasons we chose this area to buy our house. We had enjoyed several marvellous family holidays by the Canal, and eventually narrowed our search to the area around Castelnaudary.

This is why you should never forget to put the clocks back before going to bed.

Banksy is an anonymous street artist who, in the early 1990s, began spray-painting his trademark stencil designs around Bristol, SW England. He is an anti-establishment figure whose works encompass, among other topics, politics, war, and consumerism. I have long been a fan of Banksy's work, so I was delighted to discover that there would be an exhibition of his art in…

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Where do the images and photos in your blog posts originate? Are you certain you're not infringing the law by using copyrighted images?

If we were having coffee, I’d hope for a sunny day. Then we’d be able to sit out on the terrace at our house in Castelnaudary. I’d like to tell you about my recent trip to the UK …

September signals a return to France, and this year we decided to alter our usual routine. A change is as good as a rest, after all! Instead of taking two days to drive down to Castelnaudary with a…

The Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden is a hidden gem, nestling in a wooded valley within the Surrey Hills. It is a twenty-minute drive from our house, and I can't believe that I haven't visited it sooner. The garden was opened forty years ago and is home to an ever-changing display of modern sculptures. The Sculpture Garden was the brainchild of Hannah Peschar and her husband, Anthony Paul, a celebrated landscape gardener, over 40 years ago.

It’s a little nod to Wayne’s World, but instead of ‘party time, excellent’ (if you are aware of the cult nineties classic) I will be diving into one WORD each day. It could be something I learned, something bizarre that happened, a favourite word that I have rediscovered or just a thought that won’t leave me alone. If you’re joining in on today’s word, feel free to use this tag to connect your post to the series: …

How easy do you make it for visitors to your blog to contact you without attracting the spammers and spambots?

Today is National Red Wine Day - apparently. As I had no idea, I decided to conduct some research, and discovered that National Red Wine Day originated in the United States. It was created in 2014 by the American "Queen of Holidays," Jace Shoemaker-Galloway. Who knew? Not me, obviously, but I wonder if any of my lovely American readers are familiar with this event.

I came across this prompt on some of the blogs I follow, and enjoyed reading the choices of other bloggers. I overthink my blog content occasionally, so I decided to write down the first 30 things that came to mind! Here's my list: Family Friends Zeph Travel France Sunshine The sea Dogs Tea Reading Almond croissants Walks Baking Open-top buses…

Happy Friday everyone! Today I am showing the Aloe Vera flower, spotted in the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney. This flower is pretty special as it only appears once a year, in late winter to early spring, right about now in the southern hemisphere. Aloe Vera -

Meet Hugh W. Roberts - the man behind the popular blog Hugh's Views And News.

I'm so behind with my blog writing - and reading - that we're now halfway through July. Never mind, life does have a habit of getting in the way! And, to clarify, I'm talking about what happened in my small corner of the universe, not the world! As always, when in France, we had some delicious food! I love fruit salad, and the one pictured below was a standout.