MissElaineous

New Year, Re-Discovered You?

New Year, Re-Discovered You?
I learned to read in kindergarten. As soon as I could see how letters formed words and words formed sentences, I was off. I was that child who had her nose stuck in a book at recess rather than play. My parents were concerned that I would get lost because I always read in the car and, no, I couldn’t… View Post

The ABCs of Planning

The ABCs of Planning
Believe it or not, teaching academics how to plan their work is a big part of the training programmes I’ve been running over the past several months. There’s the importance of breaking a big project like writing a grant proposal into smaller steps and then using backwards planning to assign deadlines to each small task so that everything gets done… View Post

Shades of Autumn

Shades of Autumn
I sometimes feel like spring gets all of the attention. Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” puts the spotlight firmly on daffodils, those harbingers of better weather and brighter days. Spring Break shenanigans are practically a rite of passage in the US; who talks about going on Autumn Break? It can feel like lions and lambs, Easter holidays, and… View Post

My Year of Buying a Car: An Update

My Year of Buying a Car: An Update
Last year I wrote approximately 5000 words to describe the quest MrElaineous and I went on in our search for a new used car. I hope readers found it informing and entertaining; I certainly found the experience helpful as a form of therapy. Yesterday MrElaineous took CUU for its first service here in Chippenham, and I thought it might be… View Post

Sew What? Adventures in Research

Sew What? Adventures in Research
Every so often, MrElaineous and I decide to declutter. We get rid of DVDs that won’t be re-watched and books that won’t be re-read, sort through clothing that has seen better days, and downsize the number of knickknacks and dust-catchers scattered around the house. In general, we try to streamline our belongings to those that spark Kondian joy or which… View Post

Becoming Part of the Historic Record: Bristol City Centre

Becoming Part of the Historic Record: Bristol City Centre
This month marks twenty years since I arrived in the UK to study for a Masters degree in Archaeology for Screen Media at the University of Bristol. Running my business has kept me on my toes, so I hadn’t thought much about this anniversary until a headline on the BBC website stopped me in my tracks. “City Centre fountains to… View Post

Pootling around Paddington and Piccadilly

Pootling around Paddington and Piccadilly
Pootle. It’s a British word that should not be confused with a French canine, and it is a term I was introduced to via a German friend who picked it up during her decades of living in the UK. The definition is similar to the construction of the sentence above. It means to travel without any particular aim or hurry.… View Post

Every Business Has A Story

Every Business Has A Story
Over the past two years, my primary business of Academic Smartcuts has grown to the point where it now takes up the majority of my time. This is good news when you’re self-employed!  Although this means fewer MissElaineous blog posts, I am still writing A LOT. You can take a peek at what I get up to over on LinkedIn,… View Post

Going from A to D(urham)

Going from A to D(urham)
I’ve always found the term “travelling for work” to be a bit of an oxymoron, or at least a contradiction of sorts. Although there is literal travel involved, in regards to moving from one place to another, it’s not exactly the type of thing that one thinks about when saying “I love to travel!” After all, many people don’t love… View Post

My Year of Buying a Car

My Year of Buying a Car
[ This is not a standard blog post in that there is no travel, nature, history, or tea, unless you drink the latter while reading it (or count the cups I consumed while writing it). It was written partially as therapy to decompress after the experience and partially to inform. It is also long, so please buckle up and enjoy… View Post

Crocodiles in the Cotwolds

Crocodiles in the Cotwolds
If I asked someone to describe the Cotswolds, they might talk about thatched cottages and buildings constructed from the eponymous honey-coloured stone. Adjectives like “charming” and “quaint” would likely be used to refer to the villages and hamlets that dot the region, which is itself an official Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. They would perhaps mention that the Cotswolds has… View Post

Past Present

Past Present
Do you ever find yourself thinking about the seeming randomness of life? For example, maybe the first person you meet at school becomes one of your best friends. Would things have played out differently if you or they had arrived at a different time that day, or would you have bumped into each other at some point anyway and your… View Post

Lions and Tigers and Dragons, Oh My!

Lions and Tigers and Dragons, Oh My!
Despite living in the UK for nearly 20 years, there are still large swathes of the country I haven’t seen. I’ve been up to the Orkney Islands at the tip of Scotland but have never properly visited Cornwall. I attended a wedding in Norwich once, but much of the east coast—Essex, Kent, Sussex—remains an absolute mystery. Trips to London must… View Post

In Review

In Review
The past few weeks have seen me revisit some of my favourite stomping grounds, so this blog post is less about exploring new sites and more about the enjoyment of reconnecting with places you know well. Magical. Enchanting. Quirky. These words were used by a friend to describe her first visit to the Cotswold Sculpture Park, and she is spot… View Post

The Not-So-Hidden Treasure of the National Trust

The Not-So-Hidden Treasure of the National Trust
Throughout the past month, MrElaineous and I have watched the BBC television series Hidden Treasures of the National Trust. This documentary takes viewers into National Trust properties ranging from the huge and historic, such as Belton House and Hardwick Hall, to houses that are more on the human scale, like the Liverpool dwelling of photographer E.C. Hardman or the childhood… View Post

Save the Date

Save the Date
https://youtu.be/CnlIls5hzEI April 2024. This is the month that Bowood’s Woodland Gardens will again open to the public, and I encourage everyone reading this to pay a visit. MrElaineous and I have lived in Chippenham for over ten years now, and although we were aware of the Woodland Gardens, we had never managed to visit during its relatively brief opening season… View Post

Sacre Bleu!

Sacre Bleu!
This French expression of surprise or dismay seemed fitting when I realised it has been well over a year since I last shared a new blog post. It’s not due to a lack of travelling or a lack of desire: I have half-written articles and random paragraphs stashed all over my hard drive, as well as a mega-outline for last… View Post

Life Lessons from The Repair Shop

Life Lessons from The Repair Shop
In what I think is a first for the MissElaineous blog, MrElaineous and I have actually managed to produce joint content. Keep scrolling to read my ode to The Repair Shop or hit play to hear an original Jon Paget composition. https://youtu.be/TeOj_RhiGvc Just a warning, this is a long blog post and best paired with a cup of tea* or… View Post

The Off-Season

The Off-Season
The words “Westonbirt” and “autumn” are practically synonymous, at least to me. After all, this is the time of year when thousands of people from across the UK descend on this small patch of Gloucestershire for just one thing: the fantastic display of colours from the national arboretum’s collection of acers (Japanese maples). This is a seasonal spectacular that I’ve… View Post
MissElaineous Travel Blog: Escape, Explore, Discover, Enjoy