Last year I took part in a clean water ‘paddle out’ organised by Surfers Against Sewage. Joining others on boats and kayaks, we swam to the diving board off the Hoe, having persuaded a friendly kayaker to transport our banner. The message was one that we’ve heard a lot recently; pollution is damaging our oceans. […]
Defending our right to protest and speak the truth
In 2011 we visited an journalist friend in Kyiv, who at the time was a reporter for Ukraine and Belarus. His stories of Belarus were fascinating. Ruled by the authoritarian dictator Alexander Lukashenko since 1994, Belarus has long been criticised for its record of human rights and the silencing of journalists and opposition political movements. […]
On a quest for the best recycled toilet paper
It’s extraordinary to think that four years ago we were in deep lockdown, and life was so radically different. One of the memorable incidents of early Covid was the sudden rush to stock up on essentials leading to empty shelves, and a toilet roll shortage. Of all the things we felt we couldn’t manage without, […]
The importance of acting now for a healthy future
A few weeks ago I went to a talk about climate change by the inspirational Hugh Montgomery. Hugh was a professor of intensive care medicine at University College London before he decided, for the sake of his children, to put all his energies into fighting climate change. Hugh’s talk was impressive in that the data […]
Second homes; an environmental and social problem.
I was recently incensed by an article in a mainstream paper. The columnist chose to use his piece to complain about how inconvenient and unpleasant it was to visit his father-in-law’s second home in Cornwall. He went on to say they used to go there for a week every summer with his family, but now […]
For Finn and Dean – a tribute to the lives of two much loved young men.
These last two weeks have been a particularly hard time for me. On Friday 16th February we said goodbye to Finn, the youngest son of one of our closest friends. Finn had taken his own life. His older brother Dean died by suicide two years ago on the 24th February, and life without Dean was […]
Say it with flowers? Fresh, local, home grown are the ones we love the best.
“Say it with flowers” goes the saying, and as today is Valentine’s Day, it seems an appropriate subject to mull over. We spend a lot on flowers. A quick scan of the internet suggests the spending on cut flowers nudges the one billion pound mark, with 86% of those flowers coming from abroad. A carbon […]
How to find joy and rainbows, when rain falls.
Sometimes I find myself craving good news, and this month more so than usual. It’s been a difficult start to the year; a dear friend’s child took his own life. It’s been a heartbreaking few weeks, and I’d like to make a plea to my readers; don’t suffer in silence. If you feel low, do […]
The joy of planting hedges. Birds will love you too.
The recent dry spell has been much appreciated, but the colder weather has turned my thoughts to birds. Bird numbers have been challenged over the last few decades, and they need our help. Feeding birds with bird feeders has become very popular. It is a great pleasure to see birds congregating outside the window. However […]
How to enrich the lives of children within our communities
The turning of the year always feels significant; we make promises we fully intend to keep, we think about the person we would like to be, which is usually a little less flawed than the person we actually are. Remembering Kim – a good friend who was always generous with her time My mind has […]