I went to Box Hill for a bit of a sunny Autumnal ramble.
Box Hill shot to international fame in the 2012 Olympics as it was the stage for the cycling event. It left something of a cycling legacy to Box Hill, with bike enthusiasts regularly making their way up and round the challenging circuit. Even Boris Johnson cycled through Box Hill for the Ride London event last year! Although sadly unicycle sightings are scarce.
I went to Winkworth Arboretum in Godalming for a jaunty jaunt to see the glorious changing colour of the pullulating trees in crisp Autumn sunshine (if you think that’s an exhausting sentence, then think of it as foreshadowing the photographic action in this blogpost). It’s an absolutely beautiful place to visit. At 110 acres, you will walk far amongst the trees that were thoughtfully planted to paint a nourishing vista, with vibrant ambers in between brilliant copper foliage.
I wrote this for Grazia magazine online for their Bloggers feature: ‘What To Do in the UK This Week’ and included the Hampton Court ghost tour in my blog post.
I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I didn’t mention Surrey’s most famous fireworks display: The Brockham Bonfire extravaganza.
Pumpkins have been scattered scatty like confetti at Garsons Farm in Esher, one of my favourite places to visit in Surrey.
I last visited Polesden Lacey in Surrey a couple of years ago in the middle of Summer, when the gardens were heaving with the smell of pink and white roses and the sky was a potent Azure blue.
I went to visit The Medicine Garden in Cobham for a bit of a rest and relaxation.
When I open my wardrobe I can feel a bit lost.
It’s organised into sections and subsections, but sometimes that’s not enough. Short of installing actual sartorial signposts (does & Other Stories have a homeware section?) I’m left gripped by indecision and amused by the narrative my fashion choices chronicle. Continue reading Preppy Fashion
My favourite word of the moment is ‘Mountweazel’. My curious fingertips stumbled across this short article in the New Yorker from 2005 which explains Mountweazels more succinctly than I ever could. Did you know that dictionaries often add in fictitious words as a copyright trap? The article states that the 2005 edition of the New Oxford American Dictionary contains a made-up word beginning with ‘E’ and a shortlist of six possible Mountweazels surfaced and the list was sent to various lexicography experts and they (correctly) agreed that the word ‘esquivalience’ was the imposter (I admit, of the list, that’s not the one I would have chosen!). I summoned my Dictionary programme that lies in the dock area of my Mac and typed in ‘esquivalience’ and there lies a definition consistent with the false entry from the NOAD:
Picture Credit: RHS/Helen Yates
I went to the first day of the RHS Wisley Flower Show and Mary Berry was embracing her new role as the latest RHS Ambassador by opening the show.