MissElaineous

AS SEEN ON TV (PART 3)

AS SEEN ON TV (PART 3)

Croome Court: Expect the unexpected. As far as taglines go, this one is absolutely spot. This National Trust property offers a surprise around every corner with its modern take on a historic building and garden.

The first thing that caught my eye upon arriving at Croome was the property’s tagline: expect the unexpected.

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AS SEEN ON TV (PART 2)

AS SEEN ON TV (PART 2)
[ PART 1 ][ PART 2 ][ PART 3 ] From the 16th-century Tudor Brockhampton Manor we journeyed forward in time to the 18th-century Neo-classical Berrington Hall. One of the property’s claims to fame is being the last completed commission of “Capability” Brown. In a remarkable stroke of coincidence for someone who doesn’t watch a lot of television, a few… View Post

AS SEEN ON TV (PART 1)

AS SEEN ON TV (PART 1)
[ PART 1 ][ PART 2 ][ PART 3 ] I don’t watch a lot of television. I mean, besides the current series of Back to the Land with Kate Humble. And I just saw Alice Roberts’ Britain’s Most Historic Towns and was pleasantly surprised to discover I have actually been to many of them. And of course I catch… View Post

AN OPEN LETTER TO MEGHAN MARKLE FROM AN AMERICAN EXPAT

AN OPEN LETTER TO MEGHAN MARKLE FROM AN AMERICAN EXPAT
Dear Meghan, So you’re marrying a Brit and about to embark on the adventure of making a life for yourself in the UK. Congratulations! As a fellow American who fell for the charms of a subject of the British crown (although not quite so close to the crown as your bloke), allow me to share a few words of advice… View Post

FIRST!

FIRST!
I don’t know when or why the tradition began of gracing a website’s comment section with “First”. It’s something that I’ve always found it a bit silly. I mean, it’s not so much a comment as a territorial marker! However, I had my own first moment recently that, while it hasn’t convinced me of the merits of staking a digital… View Post

CARPE TEMPESTAS

CARPE TEMPESTAS
The stereotype of British weather goes something like this: it’s cold, it’s grey, and it rains a lot. There may or may not be fog. And I have to admit the last few weeks have fit that description to a T. Constant drizzle, thunderstorms, and the occasional hailstorm have served to keep me inside, daydreaming of warmer temperatures and drier days. Because of the… View Post

A LITTLE LIGHT READING

A LITTLE LIGHT READING
I have found myself thinking about the library of Alexandria lately. It’s usually when I hit the button on Amazon that says “Deliver to Elaine’s Kindle” and I marvel at the fact that the written word, which for thousands of years could only be accessed in certain places by a tiny fraction of the population, is now available on demand, anywhere,… View Post

ANTICIPATE, EXPERIENCE, REFLECT

ANTICIPATE, EXPERIENCE, REFLECT
If you follow me on Instagram you’ll have seen that I’ve been sharing photos from a trip I went on several years ago to Sri Lanka. I confess there was an ulterior motive to this: the plan was to use these photos to build up some followers, encourage them to visit the blog and then perhaps head over to my writing and design pages.… View Post

Glorious?

Glorious?
The British duo of Flanders and Swann are remembered for their comedic songs such as “The Gnu”, “The Sloth”, and, one of my personal favourites, “The Armadillo”.  Yes, they had a thing for songs about animals, and the best known is probably “The Hippopotamus”, in which the title character sings a chorus of “Mud, mud, glorious mud!”  From my recent experience in the town… View Post

REDUCE YOUR WASTELINE

REDUCE YOUR WASTELINE
I think everyone is familiar with the Sorcerer’sApprentice, if not from the original Goethe poem then the one with Mickey Mouse and the dancing brooms in Fantasia. The story is simple: an inexperienced magician tries to take a shortcut that will allow him to finish his work without lifting a finger, only to  discover that starting is one thing— you… View Post

RIGHT ON TRACK (PART 2)

RIGHT ON TRACK (PART 2)
Last week I wrote about the power of charting your progress, which is the perfect segue into the second part of my thoughts about the Fitbit (the first part can be found here). First of all, although it seems silly to state the obvious, I think it often gets lost in reviews: fitness trackers are not a silver bullet to getting in shape or losing weight.… View Post

GOLD STARS

GOLD STARS
I’ve found myself thinking of gold stars lately. This is partly due to a dear friend and co-worker going on to a better place: she’ll be moving to the seaside. While I am incredibly happy for her, she’ll be greatly missed around the office. She was known to give out gold stars to colleagues for a job well done, and it was amazing to see… View Post

OF LONGLEAT, LONDON, AND LIGHT

OF LONGLEAT, LONDON, AND LIGHT
If Christmas did not exist, I think modern Britons would have invented their own winter holiday. After all, the ancients had their own festivals to ensure the rebirth of the sun, and as the weather turns colder and days shorter, there needs to be something to look forward to and add a splash of warmth into the very heart of the dark… View Post

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TIME + TRAVEL

TIME + TRAVEL
I can’t remember what initially piqued my interest in Chester. It may have been word of mouth, or perhaps seeing it on Michael Portillo’s Great British Railway Journeys, but it sounded absolutely perfect for me as a recovering archaeologist. Its origins are Roman, it has a well-preserved medieval wall, and many of the buildings date from the 17th-19th centuries (or at least look like they do,… View Post

BIRTHDAVERSARY

BIRTHDAVERSARY
Forty years ago, my mother made the decision to get married on her birthday. Four years later, I decided that it would be a good date to make my own appearance into the world. When it came time for my fiancé and I to pick a day for our wedding, there was only one obvious choice. It means the chances of either of us… View Post

RIGHT ON TRACK (PART 1)

RIGHT ON TRACK (PART 1)
With Christmas on its way and the spectre of New Year’s resolutions beginning to take shape, I thought it time to publish a blog post I’ve been writing off and on since September: my foray into the world of fitness trackers. There were a few reasons for jumping on the bandwagon. First, after spending the past several years being the dictionary definition of couch potato… View Post

ENVIRONMENTAL GIFT GUIDE: MORE THOUGHT, LESS WASTE

ENVIRONMENTAL GIFT GUIDE: MORE THOUGHT, LESS WASTE
Halloween and Bonfire Night have come and gone. The nights are longer and temperatures colder. Shops have turned themselves over to gift wrap and bath sets, coloured lights and chocolate boxes, tinsel and trendy toys. Christmas is definitely on its way. If you’re concerned about reducing waste, how do you avoid adding to the tsunami of brightly coloured paper, plastic, and other bits and bobs… View Post

5 REASONS TO WRITE AN ENVIRONMENTAL BLOG

5 REASONS TO WRITE AN ENVIRONMENTAL BLOG
[This is a crossover with the Off the Ground blog, but with my recent Blogging Basics course I thought it was a good opportunity to share the message more widely.] If you’re reading this, I think I can safely wager that you care about the environment. Maybe your chief concern is climate change. Or deforestation. Or plastic pollution. Or perhaps, like me,… View Post
MissElaineous Travel Blog: Escape, Explore, Discover, Enjoy