[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 7 December 2025].
a wreath with all the trimmings
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 6 December 2025].
a light is from our household gone
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 3 December 2025].
lily of the incas
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 29 November 2025].
A cluster of Alstroemeria, commonly known as Peruvian lily or lily of the Incas, that I photographed at Helmingham Hall during a visit with my parents in summer 2017.
red roses and reindeer
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 1 December 2025].
It's that time again.
As has become something of a custom, life is "all change" again this December (well, at least on the work front).
Despite that, I'm aiming to share new images from my season's grievings series every couple of days between now and Christmas and make them public approximately two days later.
I hope you enjoy!
I photographed this grave in Abney Park Cemetery in February 2012. The inscription is hard to read through the plant life, but it could be for Thelma Marie Lucas. Alas, I haven't been able to find anything to confirm that or to inform me more about the interred.
I hope that those who love you miss you this much and more after you're gone.
(Though, without the requirement of it being so physically visible. I personally don't want to be buried, so there would be nowhere specific like this for those who love and miss me to show it in the same way.)
uplifting
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 25 November 2025].
grand entrances
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 19 November 2025].
I discovered some grand and ornate entrances whilst wandering the streets of Helsinki in September.
The first photograph is of the Pohjola Insurance building on Aleksanterinkatu. Pohjola translates to 'North' in English. The building also originally housed another insurance company, Kullervo, and is made of fire-resistant stone. Nordea has owned the building since 1972.
In researching the building, I learned that Kullervo was a hero in Finnish and Estonian mythology, said to be able to control fire.
My eye caught the following sentence in the Wikipedia article about Kullervo, and I chuckled at who it describes well in the world right now: "He showed great potential, but being raised badly, he became an ignorant, implacable, immoral and vengeful man."
The second photograph is of an entrance to the Lundqvist building, also on Aleksanterinkatu, a former department store that now houses a Lyonnaise restaurant, Bouchon Carême, on the first floor.
The figures flanking the entrance are of Spinning and Hunting, designed by the Finnish artist Robert Stigell. I believe the ground floor was occupied by an ecologically-minded fashion boutique, Glasshouse Helsinki, until about 2022 (based on their final Instagram posts). I didn't notice what occupied it now.
The third photograph is of Salama House, also on Aleksanterinkatu. From my quick research, it appears that the insurance company it was named after no longer exists, and Wörks Agency now occupies it. They commissioned photographer Angel Gil to document the building's interior.
pretty fly for a white guy
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 7 November 2025].
When I photographed these fun guys on a grave in Hietaniemen hautausmaa (Hietaniemi Cemetery) in Helsinki, I honestly thought they were artificial.
I probably couldn't have got much closer, as the graves were quite close together, but if I'd realised they were natural, I probably would have tried.
Having viewed them, zoomed in, I'm sure they're real. There's no artificial appearance to the stem of the mature fly agaric mushroom in the front.
So, perhaps not my most artistic photograph, but some pretty impressive specimens captured in pixels for a Fungi Friday.
angel, impatiens, elephant's ears
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 3 November 2025].
As mentioned in a previous post, the tammerkoski on a slow day, I developed large blisters on my pinky toes during my first day wandering around Tampere with Pia.
As a consequence of that and us indulging in a much-needed lie-in (well, not that late a lie-in for either of us, really!), we had to forego our planned walk in the forest by the lake with Max.
I had hoped to see some of the beautiful natural landscapes Tampere has to offer, which I'd seen from photos and videos Pia has shared from her walks. I guess that gives me a reason to return to Tampere ;)
So, on my third day in Finland (my second and last half day in Tampere before heading back to Helsinki), Pia took me to Kalevankankaan hautausmaa (Kalevankangas Cemetery) for a quick wander with my camera before my train departed, and she went to collect her children.
The cemetery is extremely well-maintained, as is Hietaniemen hautausmaa (Hietaniemi Cemetery), which I visited on my last day in Helsinki.
There's a lovely natural parkland feel to the cemetery, without it falling into the 'managed neglect' of many of London's cemeteries (which I also love), and all the colours were beautifully saturated after the morning's rain.
Notably, few (if any) plastic flowers adorned the graves. There were live plants in and around the graves, which I believe are predominantly maintained by the cemetery groundskeepers.
It was a lovely way to spend our morning together, except for the mild panic attack I had, which led us to scarper to the station without locating Pia's favourite grave. Though I guess that's yet another reason to return to Tampere!
a mushroom village near pauligin huvila
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 31 October 2025].
I found this mushroom village under a tree by Pauligin huvila (formerly known as Villa Humlevik), a grand house built for master baker Gustav Ulrik Sandberg and his wife Ulrika Charlotta, with construction beginning in 1873.
The building was undergoing further updates when I detoured to take a look at it between visits to Hietaniemen hautausmaa (Hietaniemi Cemetery) and the Sibelius-monumentti (Sibelius Monument) (and to rest my blistered feet).
I have photos to share of all three in future posts. I'll share more information about them then.
For now, here are some fun guys.
the tammerkoski on a slow day
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 16 October 2025].
My brain can barely process that it was already a month ago that I was in Finland.
Correction: it seems like it shouldn't be a month ago, but simultaneously, it already feels like a year.
A day before I returned, I started coming down with a head cold. By the time I boarded the plane in Helsinki to return to London, my nose was dripping like a tap.
I felt much worse than most colds would usually hit me the day after I returned, but we were migrating our CMS to a very tight deadline in my day job, and I had to battle through. So I did.
I ended up taking one sick day after the contract with our previous web agency ended, because I was still struggling, and I woke up with a fierce headache. I'm still a bit sniffly and coughing on and off, even now.
Alongside feeling poorly, my day job being hectic and putting out fires related to that, I've been working on a website for a former manager of mine, around my day job, pet-sitting and life.
I'm pleased to announce that it went live on Sunday evening!
It was a collaboration, with Julia bringing the logo she'd previously commissioned, drafting the content and providing an idea of the style, imagery and colour scheme she wanted. I worked with her to bring that vision to life, providing technical expertise and advice, and my design sensibilities. I also designed business cards and a service explainer for her (digital and print).
She was very patient with me, as I was working on the site around my day job, pet-sitting, and life. I would have liked to have published it earlier, but in any case, her overwhelming emotion when I finally hit publish was such a lovely thing to share.
If you follow me on Instagram, you'll have seen some (but not yet all!) of my mobile photos from Helsinki and Tampere. Life has delayed me from sharing all my pictures so far, with most of them shared as 'latergrams'.
I had a lovely time in Finland, despite developing blisters on my pinky toes from new trainers and falling ill towards the end.
I had wonderful hosts in Tampere with Pia and her four-legged friends. Pia performed exceptional tour guide duties, including taking me to a local cemetery and introducing me to leipäjuusto (bread cheese) and its delicious accompaniment, lakkahillo (cloudberry jam) (which I had unknowingly savoured the first night in Helsinki with my cheese board dessert). I might also have guzzled large quantities of blueberry juice alongside the cheese and jam.
I've just seen the additional methods of serving leipäjussto in the Wikipedia article, so you know I have to buy some to experiment further, barring the coffee options (I don't drink coffee).
We enjoyed the option in the third bullet point: served as diamond-shaped pieces, roughly 5 to 7 cm long and a little less wide, with cloudberry jelly, the cheese briefly heated in the microwave to make it slightly runny.
I found a jar of lakkahillo in a boutique market near my hotel in Helsinki on my last day, which I carefully wrapped and stowed in my suitcase for the journey home. I devoured it in two sittings with blue Stilton because I hadn't got around to seeking out bread cheese locally. I will have to source more, though it seems somewhat elusive. I really should have bought multiple jars in Helsinki!
I took these photos from Palatsinraitin silta (Palatsinraitti Bridge), which crosses the Tammerkoski (Tammer Rapids), during my walk with Pia. In the first, fourth and fifth photos, you can see the Museokeskus Vapriikki. We didn't visit the museum during my stay. However, when searching for information about the building and a link to the museum, I discovered they currently have an exhibition about Manserock.
In addition to asking Pia to introduce me to local (non-animal) delicacies during my stay, I enquired about bands she might recommend from the Manserock movement, as I read about it in the Tampere article on Wikipedia.
Consequently, I listened to and enjoyed the sounds of Aknepop by Eppu Normaali and Raswaa Koneeseen by Popeda while researching things to see and do in Tampere on my first night in Helsinki.
bianca frangipani
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 17 August 2025].
Early in the new year, I received a message in my Instagram DMs from a woman in Massachusetts, Monica, who had seen photographs I'd taken at Pinner New Cemetery. I posted several photos I took in December 2023 as part of my annual season's grievings series in the lead-up to Christmas.
Monica's aunt, Bianca, passed away tragically at the age of 31 in 1962 and is buried in Pinner New Cemetery.
Bianca and Monica's mother had kept in touch over the years, but family circumstances had kept them apart. With Bianca in London and Monica's mother in the US, she (and Monica) had never seen the memorial laid on Bianca's grave in the cemetery.
My friend and former flatmate, Floriana, was the reason I visited Pinner New Cemetery in December 2023, as she works in Edgware on Saturdays and was attending a work Christmas lunch at a restaurant in Pinner. Consequently, we'd organised to meet at The Queen's Head before her lunch.
Monica asked me if I would be willing and able to revisit the cemetery to take photographs of the grave for her.
Coincidentally, I already had plans to meet Floriana again the following weekend. We had planned for Floriana to revisit my neck of the woods (our shared flat was in Wood Green, and I live in the adjacent suburb of Hornsey) to meet.
However, I contacted Floriana and suggested we meet in Edgware or Pinner instead, as that would allow me to revisit the cemetery and be more convenient for her. (As it turned out, there weren't many options for pubs near her work, so she drove me home from the cemetery, and we went to my local instead, as we'd originally planned).
When I agreed to look for Bianca's grave, Monica sent me further information, including the plot number, maps of the cemetery and the location of the grave.
Exploring Pinner New Cemetery
Looking at the map Monica had sent me, I was almost 100% certain I hadn't ventured into the section where her aunt had been laid to rest, but I looked through my existing photographs first to confirm my memory.
When I visited Pinner New Cemetery for the first time, I almost immediately came across a section dedicated to infants and children, which was towards the front of the cemetery. The section was simultaneously beautiful and heartbreaking, and I walked the full length of it to a corner of the cemetery, taking photos as I went.
Among other things, the child and infant section offered plenty of opportunities to capture season's grievings images, as so many of the graves were decorated for past Christmases (it was slightly early for decorations for the current year).
I explored other areas of the cemetery during my approximately 45-minute visit. However, as the days were short at that time of year, I stopped taking photographs at about 15:30 and started heading home, having only covered about half of the cemetery.
It was my second cemetery visit of the day - I visited Paines Lane Cemetery around midday before meeting Floriana - and ultimately, I had an even longer journey home afterwards than I'd expected. I don't recall the exact journey time, but it was substantially more than the already long 1.5-hour Tube journey it should have been due to train issues.
Seeking others' ancestors
A woman from Ontario contacted me in June 2023 via a comment on my photo of a grave in Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries. She approached me about locating and photographing the graves of two of her ancestors.
Knowing how vast and overgrown those two cemeteries are, that there's no clear demarcation between them and how old the graves she sought were, I hadn't been too hopeful of finding them.
On that occasion, I spent about 45 minutes searching for the graves with no luck, and I couldn't find any groundskeeping staff on site to ask for assistance.
I contacted the Friends of the Cemetery shortly after my visit to see if someone could point me in the right direction. I was cat-sitting for a friend nearby so I could return more easily than usual. However, without a section letter, they couldn't assist. I passed the information on to the woman who had contacted me, but she chose not to pay for access to records that might have provided her with the complete plot number for me to follow up further.
Finding Bianca
I was far more confident that I could locate Bianca's grave with the map and plot location provided.
Monica had mentioned in her messages that she feared the grave would be overgrown. I hadn't expressed my concern that it may be worse than that.
When I visited both Paines Lane Cemetery and Pinner New Cemetery, I recall being shocked at how poorly maintained the graves seemed. Admittedly, I was visiting during the depths of winter, and it had been raining much of the time while I wandered through Paines Lane Cemetery. And while the weather had cleared somewhat before I reached Pinner New Cemetery, the paths were still far from dry. But the drainage in Pinner New Cemetery seemed insufficient, especially in the sections I spent most time in, which were at the bottom of a gentle slope.
I was nervous that I would visit Bianca's grave and find it waterlogged.
Thankfully, on the day I visited, it was a brisk three degrees, and the grass and flowers still held a light frost in the early afternoon, but there were blue skies and no rain to worry about. Bianca's plot is also at one of the higher points of the cemetery, so it's less affected by poor drainage.
The map Monica sent me proved very helpful in locating Bianca's grave, although I initially overshot into the furthest section of the cemetery.
Once I rechecked my location, I questioned what the map was showing me. Beyond the first row or two of graves near the path, a large part of the section seemed to be only lawn at first glance.
But then I realised there were flat headstones inlaid into the lawn that had become partially sunken. That made it hard to be 100% sure which plot was which, and I initially lifted away fallen leaves from a gravestone about two plots over from Bianca's.
I should have photographed each gravestone before I pulled away the leaves, in case I had found the correct grave. But I didn't think of that as I was more intent on discovering Bianca's final resting place than making aesthetic choices and capturing photographic 'reveals'.
When I found the right plot, I was pleased but simultaneously disappointed for Monica and her mother that the grass and soil had encroached so far across the inscription.
After removing all the leaves, I found that, short of asking a groundskeeper (none were in sight) or gently taking a trowel (that I didn't have) to the surrounding lawn, I would only be able to photograph about half to two-thirds of the gravestone for them.
But at least I could see enough of Bianca's name, month of death and age at passing that I could be sure I had found her.
I took photos of the gravestone and of it in the context of the surrounding graves to share with Monica. I placed some of the leaves I had removed from the marker back onto the grass by the grave.
Although I'm not particularly spiritual, I talked to Bianca while photographing her gravestone. Letting her know her niece had sent me to find her and that her family was thinking of her.
I took most of the photos of the grave with my D700, but I captured a couple with my iPhone and sent one to Monica before I left the cemetery to let her know I had found Bianca.
Monica hadn't told her mother about my mission until she sent her the photograph I had sent. It was lovely to hear about her emotional response to the photo.
It gave me a warm glow to have been able to go just a little out of my way to capture something so important to others, to be their eyes across the pond.
where the lilies bloom
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 22 July 2025].
I have a feeling of déjà vu, wondering where June went, just as I did in mid-May, wondering where April had gone.
I mean, I know where it went. I lived it. But life took me away from sharing work here.
Since my last "life" update, I've completed the two-week sitting with Chilli in Moulsecoomb, Brighton, that I mentioned in that post.
I have never been happier to travel during a heatwave because I learned from the Met Office app before heading away that Brighton was a good few degrees cooler than London for the following week. Not as good as Scott and Shirley's experience in Cornwall, where it was a case of "Heatwave? What heatwave?!" I think I only had to turn their fan on while I worked two to three times during the whole stay.
I arrived on Friday evening in the middle of a heatwave to find it was one of the select few nights within the past three years that the Bella Ciao pizza van wasn't in the vicinity. They were doing a roaring trade at a music festival, instead. I replaced my usual homemade pizzas (not every night!) with their tasty fare.
Chilli was such a lovely kitteh to hang out with, spending most of each morning into the early to mid-afternoon lazing on the dining table within arms' reach for comforting, sensory pets whenever I needed it (which was often; it was a stressful couple of weeks).
In the afternoon, he would wander off into the yard. Sometimes hanging out with other neighbourhood cats. Who I photographed, of course, where I could.
In the evening and breaks during my work day, he would settle on my lap or legs as I lounged on the sofa. Never settling for long, but purring with approval while I pet him.
I hibernated during the day after my arrival, as it was still about 30 degrees. But the following day, I set off with my camera across Bevendean Down Nature Reserve towards the village of Falmer.
Scott introduced me to the Outdoor Active app before I set out and shared a recent walk he'd taken across the downs, so I had some sense of where I was going. I tracked my walk so you can see it if you're interested.
I took a lot of photos with my D700 and some with my iPhone during the walk. It was a pleasant way to clear my head, passing by a mixture of overgrown paths, open fields, cows, sheep, woodland-type environments, a quaint village, a busy motorway and ending in a rabbit-warren of a pub (and somehow completely missing the model train above the bar - I blame my height).
The following weekend, I coaxed two friends down from London to visit Lewes. My primary knowledge of the town was from Scott's photos of their Bonfire Night parades, which I still haven't managed to experience firsthand.
We visited Lewes Castle and Museum, wandered the streets, traipsed across town to the former village of Cliffe and the Snowdrop Inn (named after a deadly 1836 avalanche, which was, unfortunately, shut for a private function), and wound up in the Beak Brewery, under the looming chalk cliff face of Cliffe Hill.
The following day, I climbed another hill (Brighton is not short on hills - Encyclopedia Britannica explains why hills are "downs" in that part of England, which I admit somewhat confusticated me until I read why) to visit some of Brighton's cemeteries. As Scott observed, almost all of Brighton's cemeteries are in his vicinity, the exceptions being Hove and Portslade Cemeteries.
Despite setting out late in the day, I visited the Brighton Jewish Cemetery, Woodvale Crematorium, Woodvale Cemetery and Extra Mural Cemetery before popping into The Gladstone pub and The Bear Inn to quench my thirst and get a reprieve from the sun on my way back to Scott's.
With Brighton's unofficial recognition as the LGBTQIA+ capital of Britain, I was disappointed that The Bear Inn wasn't full of bears. Maybe I was there at the wrong time of day.
Ironically, having spent two weeks there, I didn't manage to visit Brighton proper at all during my stay.
I had entertained the thought of attending a screening of the 1920s film version of Nosferatu with a live score at the Duke of York cinema. But life worked against me on that one.
I also thought I might have a chance to do some long-overdue clothes and shoe shopping, and perhaps even seek out some collage materials. But, alas, no luck.
In my week at home between sittings, I managed to catch up with the lovely Sarah Jansen for a sedate but verbose (on both sides!) evening in a couple of Camden pubs while she was briefly in town. It was lovely to see her on my side of the world for the first time since 2011, although we have managed to meet up twice in Australia in the interim.
As I write this, I recall that I have some charming portraits I took of her on her last visit to London that I haven't yet edited, for some inscrutable reason (well, mostly due to a lack of time).
Earlier in the month, I had my first sitting with my regulars since early May. It was lovely to have cuddles with Lily again while I rewatched season one of The Deuce before catching up on the second and third seasons (the third season is still in progress). The season one soundtrack is brilliant.
In addition to hanging out with Lily, Sammy, Poppy, Oscar (all cats) and Charlie (a hamster), I popped in to feed their neighbours, George and Lottie, for a few days. I fed Sabine's new fish in her pond, navigated Ollie's varying moods when he came to visit, and was hissed at by Ollie's sister, Lola (she was a showgirl... 🎶) when I dared say hello to her at the patio door.
I arrived home to a letter from the hospital that confirmed the probable diagnosis a registrar gave me in November for a health issue I've been dealing with for about three years. It's something of a relief to have a definitive answer, finally, but the psychological impact of living with the symptoms for such a long time will take more time to resolve.
And, in but a few days, I get to spend a couple of weeks with my favourite doggo, Frank! I can't wait to share in his excessive emotional response to my arrival (it's very much mutual), savour his cuddles, chuckle at him playing dead when I return to the bedroom after my shower, and share his contagious happiness with others.
The summer silly season of sittings is about to start. I'll have two nights at home between sitting Frank and my regulars and another two nights between my regulars and my excitable puppers in Bishop's Stortford, before the post-holiday lull.
I'm looking forward to the mental health benefits all the cuddles with my feline and canine pals bring. I'm not as keenly anticipating the potential heat the rest of summer will bring. But at least the homes I'll be staying in are better designed to handle said heat than my cosy loft studio.
And I have a five-night stay in Finland to plan, as a treat for myself at the end of my crazy summer of sittings.
In the meantime, I hope to get back into the swing of regular posting. Thank you for staying with me x
fortune's well
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 16 July 2025].
As Phil and I walked the streets of Fortuneswell last September on our way to The Merchant's Incline, I mused out loud about the name of the village on the Isle of Portland, clearly not registering that I'd only a little while earlier taken a photo that partially answered my question: "Had the village name always been one word, or was it originally Fortune's Well, Fortunes Well or Fortune Swell?"
The last option seemed the least likely, but being on an island surrounded by the English Channel, it was not entirely without logic.
Although the sign I photographed shows it as Fortune's Well, according to Wikipedia, the village name was first recorded as "Fortunes Well" in 1608. So, two out of three of my suggestions were correct names for the village at different stages.
bearded iris
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 27 May 2025].
I photographed this Iris × germanica at Knebworth House on Sunday while visiting as part of a day trip out of London for my good friend Sophie's birthday.
It may not be evident in the photos when saved for the web, but they shimmered like the frosted flowers you might find on a wedding cake. I thought perhaps I imagined it in the moment, but you can see it in the high-resolution photographs I took, and Wikipedia mentions 'sparkling whites' amongst the colours they may be.
Bearded irises are commonly grown in Muslim cemeteries, according to Wikipedia.
strangers' cemetery
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 19 May 2025].
I photographed the Strangers' Cemetery on the Isle of Portland as Phil and I walked past it on our way to The Merchant's Incline.
I had every intention of returning to photograph the graves more closely from inside the cemetery before we left the island, but we ran short on time, so all of my photographs are from beyond the stone wall.
There's very little information about the cemetery online. The Portland Town Council's entry is, literally, a blank page.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission's entry has only slightly more information, noting three Commonwealth War Graves from the First and Second World Wars, the cemetery's location, a photo and little else.
The only other interesting information I've found is that, apparently, the buildings surrounding the cemetery were built to house competitors, etc., for the sailing competition in the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Based on what I can find online regarding other cemeteries or burial grounds with similar names in the UK, Jersey and Guernsey, it seems likely the occupants were not local, possibly foreign nationals, paupers, or other folk without any known surviving relatives. However, as I didn't get close enough to read any inscriptions, I can't confirm the veracity of that assumption.
china rose (pink)
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 17 May 2025].
how come u don't call me anymore?
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 14 May 2025].
Egads! Where did April go?
I had a sitting with my regulars near the start of the month, then the ten-day sitting with Dudley and Betsy mentioned in my last post.
My birthday fell just before Easter this year. Usually, I spend it visiting a gallery and/or photo editing. I had thought it would be a sedate affair, editing photos with the doggos for company, as I was away from home.
However, two friends took up my invitation to visit me and the puppers on separate occasions over Easter. I also had an in-person catch-up with a client I'm designing a website for the day before my birthday, which I'd booked as annual leave.
So, I was spoilt for social engagements and spoiled myself with cheese from The Bishop's Cave (as you do). A Cornish Yarg wrapped in nettles (I decided to try the original version, as it had been recommended to me previously, but I'll indulge in the garlic version next time!), a truffle Brie, and a Scottish Blue Murder, formerly known as 'Blue Monday', for those who are wondering.
Since I returned from Bishop's Stortford, I visited The World of Tim Burton exhibition at the Design Museum with a friend. I had another sitting with my regulars, which included three more social engagements, two of which were a little last-minute (and one was virtual and lasted over five hours!)
Then last weekend, I travelled to Brighton to catch up with friends and meet a kitteh called Chilli, whom I'll be sitting for the second half of June.
I'm doing daily visits with a local senior kitteh this weekend, and planning to visit The Face Magazine: Culture Shift exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery with a friend. Otherwise, I'm at home for a stretch, which is nice.
Aside from cheese and socialising, I've been dealing with some health stuff (nothing major), including learning about predictive genetic testing, working my day job, completing over 365 days of learning Welsh on Duolingo, trying to get back up to date with my life admin (more sinking than swimming, it sometimes feels) and trying not to wear my fingertips to the bones with doom scrolling.
I already have photos edited for posts later in the week, but I hope to spend a large portion of this week/end editing more and creating other pieces to share with you.
Oh, and this photo is from my visit to the Isle of Portland in September last year. Nice light on that telephone box.
If you feel inclined, let me know how you're doing in the comments x
the river stort
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 20 March 2025].
Last summer, I spent three weeks in Bishop's Stortford, sitting two cheeky puppers, Dudley and Betsy.
On the last Bank Holiday of the year, I popped out for a walk with my camera along the River Stort in the canalised section that runs through the town, known as the Stort Navigation.
I have a series of photos to edit and share with you from that day, but this one looks back along part of where I'd walked.
I'll be back in the town for ten nights next month, sitting those cheeky puppers again.
a cornish churchyard
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 17 March 2025].
So, in the end, I didn't manage more than the first day of this year's Februllage.
I didn't start the 100 Days Project, and though it's still within the 100 days, I'll be honest and say there's no way on Science's green earth I'll manage it this year.
I'm somewhat disappointed on both counts. Unfortunately, my art practice is the one area that has had to be deprioritised for a while. But, at the same time, I'm not giving myself a hard time about it because, sometimes, that's life.
I did get away for five nights to Cornwall with a friend and my "proper" camera, so I've not been idle with my art. I'm just a little restricted in editing and sharing my work because my day job, pet-sitting and life have left me exhausted a lot lately.
I also spent some time (finally!) cutting up magazines for future collages during February. And I have more to hand to cut up while I'm sitting my floofy friend, Jilly.
In Cornwall, visiting Tate St Ives, I discovered a selection of books explicitly designed to be cut up to create collages. So, I spent money on those instead of replacing my dilapidated trainers.
Towards the beginning of the year, I received an email about my Etihad Guest points expiring at the end of January. That prompted me to check my balance with Emirates Skywards (zero) and Qantas.
It turned out that I had a not insignificant number of Qantas Frequent Flyer (QFF) points that would expire at the end of February if I didn't use some or all of them or take a new flight. Not enough to get me even one way to Australia. Perhaps enough to get me one way to Singapore or the UAE. But enough to get me a return flight to a variety of places in mainland Europe I haven't previously visited or Iceland (which has long been high on my list of places to visit).
However, visiting Iceland solo is problematic, as I don't drive, and it's one of those places you seem to have to unless you know someone there who drives to act as a tour guide or you want to fork out money for tours.
But there were a couple of places on my list where I know people who live there. Or people who are from there and return to visit family semi-regularly.
Sicily was on my list, as I missed attending a former flatmate's wedding there in 2018, as I was broke after returning from being a bridesmaid in New Zealand. However, her next planned visit is in high summer, when I would die from the heat if I did not already have bookings for sittings in London and Bishop's Stortford.
On further investigation, visiting some of my other preferences in mainland Europe didn't make sense as neither Qantas nor their partner airlines fly direct, so I might spend 4+ hours in the air when I could pay for a cheap fare to be there in one to three hours.
But also on my list was Finland, where my lovely friend, Pia, lives. And Qantas fly directly to Helsinki, with reward flights within my QFF points balance.
So, the day before I travelled to Cornwall, I booked return flights from Heathrow to Helsinki in mid-September. I still have an itinerary to plan, but I'll spend some time in the capital and some in Tampere, where Pia lives.
I'm very excited to catch up with Pia in her homeland for once. We met virtually and in person when she was living in London and have caught up most times that she's been back since she returned to Finland.
I'm also excited to see a new country, visit mainland Europe for the first time since September 2014, and go over seas (excluding Australia via airports in other countries - my home country doesn't count as overseas travel) for the first time since 2018 (technically, I've been out of the country (England) at least three times since the pandemic, but not overseas).
I'm always nervous about making plans to visit friends in other countries. Many will enthusiastically invite when it's hypothetical but might not be so welcoming when you ask about suitable dates and discuss more solid travel plans.
It's unlikely that I'll stay with Pia for practical reasons (which I knew in advance and I didn't want to impose anyway), but she's happy to have someone follow through on their threat to visit her in her home country :)
Meanwhile, Phil and I visited the mermaid in St Senara's Church in Zennor, Cornwall, after walking from Sennen Cove to Land's End and back the day before we returned to London. We caught some lovely light in the churchyard (as you can see in the photo above) before venturing into The Tinner's Arms for some tea (for Phil) and a half pint of Cornish cider (for me).
More posts about my Cornwall wanderings are to come as soon as possible!