A lifestyle blog
It has been a while since the last Window Wednesday but with me taking more photos now I thought it might be time to bring it back so I can share some of the pics I have taken recently. This is one of my faves from recently, from St Cross Hospital in Winchester St Cross isn’t a hospital in the way we think of them today. It was founded in
These days, I only do the school run occasionally, when it’s my granddaughter’s turn to be chauffeured home to help out when her parents are tied up with work. Or it’s been a while since I saw her little face and I need my fix of a five year old for a few hours. It’s a far cry from my old routine of juggling three different schools at once (yes,
Analogue Photography and the Joy of Imperfection For the past few months I’ve been carrying around a 50mm lens on a film camera, and it’s quietly changed the way I look at the world. At first it felt restrictive. No zooming in or out, no dramatic wide shots, just this very ordinary piece of glass on the front of my camera. But over time it has been teaching me to
This morning I ended up in a spat on Threads with a wedding photographer who declared that you aren’t a realphotographer unless you shoot on manual. I’m sorry, but who exactly makes these rules? Who decided that unless you’re fiddling with dials and settings like you’re cracking the Enigma code, you’re not allowed to call yourself a photographer? Because that’s utter nonsense. At the moment I am loving shooting on film
School holidays can sometimes feel like an Olympic sport, juggling childcare, entertainment and food without breaking the bank. Finding somewhere that keeps everyone happy can be a challenge, so when we spotted that Prezzo were running their children eat free offer, it felt like the perfect excuse to treat ourselves (and our granddaughter) to a proper sit-down lunch. The offer was simple. Buy an adult main and a child’s meal from the
Some people count sheep when they can’t sleep. We check how much film is in the camera and whether we are up for an adventure the next morning. At 3am, with sleep clearly off the table we decided to act on the throwaway linen from the night before and give up trying. Instead we got up, got dressed and put the coffee machine on reading to head into London. There
Let’s get one thing straight from the start. Cosmo is not fine dining, and that’s entirely the point. If you’re looking for candlelight, hushed voices, and tiny plates of food arranged with tweezers, this might not be the place for you. But if you’re out with friends or family and nobody can agree on what to eat — Chinese? Indian? Sushi? Roast dinner? — Cosmo swoops in like a superhero
I first signed up as a contributor to Unsplash nearly ten years ago. At the time, the platform was still in its early stages. It was a growing community of photographers sharing high-quality images, completely free to use. It was an exciting idea: a kind of creative commons for photography, where images could be downloaded and used without worrying about licensing fees or complicated terms and conditions. It felt like a generous
I’ve been sent a few knives over the years, but the Hatsukokoro Hayabusa Santoku from Cutting Edge Knives might just be the one that’s genuinely earned a permanent spot in our kitchen. When it arrived it was obviously pretty much straight away that this was a proper piece of Japanese craftsmanship. And hilariously, tucked in the box next to the knife was a blue plaster which made me properly laugh
I was recently sent a product to try that I hadn’t come across before. It’s called Aalgo, a powdered seaweed skincare treatment, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But it has turned out to be something quite special. Aalgo is a small, family-run Irish business that has been around for over 25 years. They harvest 100 percent organic seaweed by hand from the clean waters off
Over the past year or so, I’ve noticed a quiet shift. Or maybe it’s not so quiet anymore. It feels like there’s a growing unease — even judgment — around women saying they want to lose weight. Not because they hate their bodies. Not because they’re trying to squeeze into a certain dress size or please anyone else. But because they want to feel better. Stronger. Healthier. I know this,
The other morning I thought I’d found the bargain of the year — a Canon G7 X Mark III for under £50. If you know anything about cameras, you’ll know that model normally sells for around £700. So yes, my scam radar immediately started twitching. But curiosity got the better of me and I decided to dig a little deeper. I’d seen the deal on Instagram, served up as a
