UK weather has been off this summer. We had a few weeks of good summer weather at the start of June and then it all got a bit sh!t. Canary Wharf pier But here we are in September and we are having a heatwave. In fact today, 7 September, may be the hottest day of… Continue reading Late summer
Author: Michelle Kn Stone
Australian-born London-dweller. I love books, travel, my garden, my husband and sunshine but not necessarily in that order.
When I was young: School Duties
My primary school duties didn't begin and end with singing at funerals. There were other tasks those of us in our final year did as a kind of community service for the school. Some were minor, like setting up the boom box and pressing play on the cassette with the marching music that signalled the… Continue reading When I was young: School Duties
When I was young: Singing at a Funeral
I went to a faith-based primary school. My school premises contained the school buildings, playgrounds, a pool, but also a church, a convent for the nuns, and a presbytery for the priests. Yes, it really was the school that had everything. The church was also my local church where I went most Sundays with my… Continue reading When I was young: Singing at a Funeral
When I was young: The Boat
The boat lived at the side of our house when I was young. I don’t know where The Boat came from, just that it was always there. When I say boat, I don’t mean a sailboat, I don’t mean motorboat. I mean some kind of wooden rowboat. The Boat lived on its trailer at the… Continue reading When I was young: The Boat
Mongering
Why do only certain types of things get mongered? Why is it that scandal, gossip, scare and rumour can be mongered but truth, bravery and facts are not mongered? You can be a Warmonger but not a peacemonger. And of course you can also be a whoremonger. But before you think it’s only negative things… Continue reading Mongering
The King is Dead
Last month we entered a period of mourning for the passing of the King of our household, our much beloved cat, Manny. Kingly There is a cat-shaped hole in the house, and every room is full of cat-shaped memories. He would sometimes sleep in the bed between us, his little furry body generating more heat… Continue reading The King is Dead
West Highland Way: Day 8
“The forecast isn’t great for today,” said our host, Jo, as we ate breakfast. That was a nice way of telling us it was going to be a long, wet walking day. From our table in the sitting room where we enjoyed a healthy breakfast (fruit! porridge! yoghurt!) we watched a steady trail of hikers… Continue reading West Highland Way: Day 8
Day 7: West Highland Way
Kingshouse to Kinlochleven We woke up in the Kingshouse Bunkhouse and looked out the window at a bright sunny day outside. It’s wrong to assume you have a right to sunny days while hiking in Scotland in April, but after two days of cold, overcast and only occasionally sunny weather, we felt this was a… Continue reading Day 7: West Highland Way
Day 6 West Highland Way
“Really, it’s a short, easy walk. It won’t take you more than a few hours. I’ve walked there and back in a day. Sometimes I don’t even take a water bottle.” The Lady Owner of the Inveroran Hotel had reassured us that today’s walk to Kingshouse was so unchallenging we should take our time in… Continue reading Day 6 West Highland Way
Day 5: West Highland Way
We had a good sleep a Tyndrum Lodges. Our room was cosy and comfortable and we would have loved to stay longer and avoid the trail that awaited us. But instead we ate our pastries, yoghurt, fruit and juice, packed our bags, put on our hiking clothes (now dried out after yesterday’s rain), laced up… Continue reading Day 5: West Highland Way
Tales from Tobhamhor 