Tag Archives: British
Walking back to Happiness
I am about to head home again for a week of British autumn and, as I pack my suitcase full of thermal undies and attempt to zip it closed (having first removed the dozing cat from within), I am reminded of the last time I packed my bags for a flight – back home in …
Bog Blog: It’s a Matter of Convenience…
My mother’s favourite sayings about not doing housework went down rather well with readers last week (you’re clearly all just as slovenly as I am), so here’s another of her wonderful maxims that made me the woman I am today: “Never pass a toilet without using it.” Now, it’s probably sensible to take this one with a …
Opposite, Above and Beyond: Ponderments from a Balcony
From my fourth floor apartment’s balcony I have a spectacular view of… someone else’s balcony. In our particular part of town, the apartment blocks are packed together so snugly that, should one choose to sit on the balcony and soak up some sun (for the seventeen minutes a day when it isn’t eclipsed by other …
2013: Taking the Plunge
It was my intention to see the New Year in with an early morning swim in the sea. Considering my plans for a glamorous New Year’s Eve of drinking and dancing, this was of course ludicrously optimistic. My good intentions were abandoned at some point during the course of the night, though it’s hard to …
Global Village: The Answer to World Peace?
One of the happiest places out here (and possibly on the entire planet) is Global Village. I suppose one could describe it as a sort of cultural theme park (I know that doesn’t sound fun, but bear with me). Surrounded by desert, a twenty minute drive from the city, it consists of many brightly decorated …
The Mystery of Murder
Why on earth are murder mysteries so comforting? They shouldn’t be, really. Given the sinister plotting of so many psychotic villains (which our quaintest British villages appear to be riddled with) and the violent dispatching of all those country vicars, farmers and baronets, murder mysteries should leave us quaking in our beds at night, terrified …
Talk About the Weather
We don’t really have seasons out here. We have hot and hotter. At the moment we’re just emerging from the hotter part of the year, which means I still stay in the apartment most of the day and when I do go out I wear thin, loose clothes, walk very slowly, and use my favourite old Marks …
The World Wide Waitrose Web (or Why Globalisation is Sometimes a Nice Thing)
I have never taken Waitrose for granted. Even when I lived in the UK I always appreciated it. I was blissfully happy wandering up and down the well-stocked, bright, wide aisles, gazing dreamily at the tempting treats thronging the shelves. I have always considered it to be more sanctuary than supermarket. It comes as no …
