Of course, at the moment (March 2020) a large swathe of the country is staying at home due to the Novel Coronavirus and many are completely self-isolating. If you are lucky enough to secure a home delivery slot from one of the major supermarkets (a reason for a mini-celebration in itself) then maybe you can include a couple of bottles of wine. If, up until now, you haven’t really paid much attention to the intricacies of what each wine really tastes like, but like me been swayed more by whether the label looks “classy”, then this might be an easy way into taking wine a touch (but only a to ..read more

We were lucky. In hindsight incredibly lucky. Since the late summer / autumn of last year (2019) we’d started planning a trip to see the Northern Lights, partly catalysed by my daughter’s love of the Philip Pullman books and TV adaptation into “His Dark Materials”. Our two main options seemed to be Iceland or Norway, and we plumped for Norway and therefore Tromsø. This was going to be expensive, particularly as we were only going to be there for four days, flying in around midnight on Monday 17th February and flying out early morning on Friday 21st February. Lots of reading suggested that ..read more

I’m writing this post on 26th March 2020, a time when the whole world is facing the Coronavirus pandemic. Many of us a in total, or almost total, lockdown, trying to “flatten the curve” and allow our health systems at least a chance of functioning without being completely overwhelmed. Many of us are hungry for information. There are of course trustworthy news and information sources and there is the Twittersphere which includes everything from trustworthy to the complete opposite. If you are interested in updates from a doctor who actually seems to know what he’s taking about (Dr Roger Seh ..read more

I’ve got to admit that I’ve not been a great reader. Most of what I’ve read since being forced to consume Corialanus at O level, has been firmly in the non-fiction category. Although in recent years I will admit to having discovered an enthusiasm for John le Carré, and have devoured most of his books in audio format via Audible. It was through Audible that I came across David Nicholls and in particular his book “Sweet Sorrow”.  Centring on Charlie (aged 16) and Fran with much of the plot played out against the backdrop of a Shakespeare play that a local amateur drama club is putting on. I ..read more

I like to think of myself as a scientist by inclination. Maths, Physics & Chemistry at A Level followed by Mechanical Engineering at Bristol University. In recent years I’ve taken various online (free) courses on astromomy, astrophysics, sub atomic physics etc and generally really enjoyed them, even if I can’t always follow all of the deep detail. So on my list of “to do’s” when the current pandemic has passed (writing at the time of Coronavirus / COVID-19, March 2020) is to get along to the Lincoln “Cafe Scientifique”. I haven’t been yet but it looks like a really interesting concept ..read more

I’m writing this post on 26th March 2020, a time when the whole world is facing the Coronavirus pandemic. Many of us a in total, or almost total, lockdown, trying to “flatten the curve” and allow our health systems at least a chance of functioning without being completely overwhelmed. Many of us are hungry for information. There are of course trustworthy news and information sources and there is the Twittersphere which includes everything from trustworthy to the complete opposite. If you are interested in updates from a doctor who actually seems to know what he’s taking about (Dr Roger Seh ..read more

I’ve got to admit that I’ve not been a great reader. Most of what I’ve read since being forced to consume Corialanus at O level, has been firmly in the non-fiction category. Although in recent years I will admit to having discovered an enthusiasm for John le Carré, and have devoured most of his books in audio format via Audible. It was through Audible that I came across David Nicholls and in particular his book “Sweet Sorrow”.  Centring on Charlie (aged 16) and Fran with much of the plot played out against the backdrop of a Shakespeare play that a local amateur drama club is putting on. I ..read more

I like to think of myself as a scientist by inclination. Maths, Physics & Chemistry at A Level followed by Mechanical Engineering at Bristol University. In recent years I’ve taken various online (free) courses on astromomy, astrophysics, sub atomic physics etc and generally really enjoyed them, even if I can’t always follow all of the deep detail. So on my list of “to do’s” when the current pandemic has passed (writing at the time of Coronavirus / COVID-19, March 2020) is to get along to the Lincoln “Cafe Scientifique”. I haven’t been yet but it looks like a really interesting concept ..read more

We arrived in style and in good time thanks to our trusty orange VW. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce at risus at lacus laoreet mollis sed id elit. Integer bibendum lobortis velit, eleifend commodo dui facilisis nec. Aliquam mi sapien, ultrices a ultrices non, sodales ut diam. Fusce semper risus eu magna placerat pulvinar. Nullam ac odio non ligula semper auctor. Fusce semper risus eu magna placerat pulvinar. “We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.” Nullam ac odio non ligula semper auctor. Fusce semper risus eu magna placer ..read more

Settled in to camp and the fire has been started! Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce at risus at lacus laoreet mollis sed id elit. Integer bibendum lobortis velit, eleifend commodo dui facilisis nec. Aliquam mi sapien, ultrices a ultrices non, sodales ut diam. Fusce semper risus eu magna placerat pulvinar. Nullam ac odio non ligula semper auctor. Fusce semper risus eu magna placerat pulvinar. “We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.” Nullam ac odio non ligula semper auctor. Fusce semper risus eu magna placerat pulvinar. Nullam ..read more