Category Archives: Local Culture

A Few of My Favourite Things

Posted on 27 May 2019 by sheg4184

It sometimes happens that the town child is more alive to the fresh beauty of the country than a child who is country born. ~ Beatrix Potter I first came across Hannah Dale’s designs in a National Trust shop and … Continue reading →

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The Glories of Garlic

Posted on 20 May 2019 by sheg4184

“Garlic used as it should be used is the soul, the divine essence, of cookery. The cook who can employ it successfully will be found to possess the delicacy of perception, the accuracy of judgment, and the dexterity of hand … Continue reading →

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Contemplating Island Life

Posted on 17 April 2019 by sheg4184

“Nights and days came and passed, and summer and winter and the rain. And it was good to be a little Island. A part of the world, and a world of its own, all surrounded by the bright blue sea.” ~ Margaret Wise Brown, The Little … Continue reading →

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Roma di Nuovo

Posted on 24 March 2019 by sheg4184

Rome again. While I have been lucky enough to visit the Eternal City several times, I always seem to land here in the heat of summer. And any city in the height of summer is hell. But this time it … Continue reading →

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Christmas Markets

Posted on 24 December 2018 by sheg4184

It is a Sunday morning in mid-December. We are in Köln (Cologne) in western Germany, wandering along the Rhine,  with our hands buried deep in pockets, and scarves wrapped almost up to our eyebrows as an icy wind whips around … Continue reading →

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Remembering the Armistice

Posted on 29 November 2018 by sheg4184

“They do not know that in this shadowed place It is your light they see upon my face” ~ Mary Borden There was no forward planning whatsoever, but by pure fluke we ended up in the UK for the centenary … Continue reading →

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Ibsen’s Norway

Posted on 24 July 2018 by sheg4184

‘The pillars of truth and the pillars of freedom – they are the pillars of society.’ ~ Henrik Ibsen Oslo in July. Boats and blue skies. A mad modern opera house, designed to look like it was rising from the … Continue reading →

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Wild Asparagus, Wild Strawberries

Posted on 9 July 2018 by sheg4184

‘England represented the safety and comfort of familiarity but France dared me with challenges and rewarded me with the thrill of new discoveries within myself.’ ~ Barbara Santich Remember what it is like to be a footloose student or a … Continue reading →

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Travelling North

Posted on 1 July 2018 by sheg4184

It was simply an overnight stop en route to the ferry port at Hertshals. We had spent the previous night at a Holiday Inn near Bremen Airport. The location, opposite a runway and a building site, was hardly salubrious, but … Continue reading →

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Happiness is Eating Together

Posted on 21 June 2018 by sheg4184

Mere moments after we landed in the Philippines, I was invited to join the Antipodean team for the International Food Fair held annually at the boys school. For several years we churned out pies and pasties, Vegemite sandwiches and lamingtons … Continue reading →

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