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 importance of acting now for a healthy future
Afew 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 he was […]
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 […]
The psychology of change – how to communicate with friends this Christmas
This month has been a very exciting one for me personally, because our business, Railholiday, had the great honour of winning the Most Sustainable Small Organisation at the Cornwall Sustainability Awards. As my husband Dave and I headed to the podium, I had to do some quick thinking as to what I would like to […]
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 […]
How to make Christmas a time of cheer
I have to confess, I have very mixed feelings about Christmas. I have always struggled with the spend-fest and waste element, which I think for many of us is stressful. The pressure for perfection, and having the best ever Christmas, only adds to the anxiety. It can also be a time when loved ones are most […]
Greening your job – how engagement in your workplace can have positive benefits
I read an interesting article recently that suggested that we should forget about our own carbon footprint and focus instead on the places we work. I don’t entirely agree with the statement; I think our carbon footprint is something we own and can do something about. By working on our personal footprint we can learn […]
The importance of protest
I’ve just come back from a weekend in London, where I, plus my husband and son, took part in a weekend of climate change action organised by Extinction Rebellion, raising the profile of the crisis and talking to people about what we can do. Because Saturday’s action included an Earth Day march, we chose to […]
Time to love where we live
Cornwall is a wonderful place; not only for the beautiful scenery and access to wildlife, but also for the people. I have often thought that although in Cornwall we tend to have low incomes, we have a better quality of life. Instead of expensive holidays, we have beaches at our doorstep to access at any […]