juliachalkley

Metal

Another good day with the Essex Book Festival. Today, a hotdesk at Chalkwell Hall, the Essex site of Metal – they describe themselves as setting up cultural community hubs. Sneer and jeer until you get here, it is a fabulous place in a lovely setting. Anybody can book a hotdesk – there are two, rightContinue reading “Metal”

Be more Cat

So, we had a pair of catloving friends over to stay recently. They were looking forward to meeting Max, and we wanted Max to become used to having new people in the house. They arrived and greeted him. He took to them. Boy did he take to them… We lost him there, for a while.Continue reading “Be more Cat”

Cressing Temple Barns

A good day out, and an amazing place. Cressing Temple Barns dates back to 1137, with the barns themselves built in the 13th century. The Tudor Knot garden is a reconstruction of a typical Tudor pleasure garden, and a real joy to walk in. We were given the tour by a volunteer guide and spentContinue reading “Cressing Temple Barns”

Essex, yeah

In all the excitement, I haven’t said much about what’s taking up my time at the moment. It’s the Essex Book Festival. This doesn’t feature much in the list of literary festivals, and I suspect there’s an element of snobbery involved. I mean, Essex – not exactly Hay on Wye, is it? Luckily, no, itContinue reading “Essex, yeah”

In Praise of Elderly Cats

He was a street cat, rescued as a kitten on his insistence and cared for all of his life. He was sixteen when his owner died, and unlikely to be at the top of the list in any rescue centre. People want kittens. I don’t blame them. Kittens are cute. Then again, Max is prettyContinue reading “In Praise of Elderly Cats”

Brancaster Beach

Before this pandemic hit, we made a habit of getting out of the house and going somewhere once a week, just to give ourselves a change of scenery. That all stopped when the first lockdown order came through, obviously, and we haven’t been out much since – we don’t go out to beaches or museumsContinue reading “Brancaster Beach”

Southwold

Today we went to Southwold. It’s a long journey from our home, so it would have been forbidden territory during lockdown, and like all forbidden things I couldn’t stop dreaming of it. For us, a trip to Southwold would be a sign of getting somewhere back to normal. Everyone else had the same idea… ifContinue reading “Southwold”

Putting the garden to rights

We arrived home from our visit to friends on Monday and unloaded the plants I’d bought on our nursery tour. There were – a lot of plants. I wanted to plant them all this week, but the weather’s playing jokes. From cold and dry in April to wet and mild in May to warm andContinue reading “Putting the garden to rights”

Plant Nursery Crawl

I spent today doing a plant crawl. SImilar to a pub crawl, it was a tour of plant nurseries in the company of a friend. I say friend, but her plants thrive and grow while mine totter and fail. I’ve had enough success growing plants from seed the last few years, but last year andContinue reading “Plant Nursery Crawl”

A Different Point of View

After I posted my thoughts on beach huts being an expensive and out-dated luxury, I had a response from a friend. She has hired beach huts before while on holiday with her family. I know the place she was telling me about; there’s a very steep climb from the beach to the town. So ifContinue reading “A Different Point of View”