House of Travel in Hastings have handed me a dream mission.  Plan a trip that includes a river cruise.  Spain, Portugal, and a dash of France, The perfect combination.of countries and culture (and food) that I love the most.  Tapas.  Paella.  Flamenco in Seville. Fado in Lisbon. Sailing up the Douro River from  Portowith a small group of like-minded people who are in search of an Iberian adventure....

I should be feeling very excited right now.  In an hour I should be boarding a plane bound for Amsterdam and tulips and flower markets and bicycles. I should be staying on a houseboat in the Jordaan with Annette and her cats, surrounded by a sea of blue and white tiled everything. Tomorrow morning I should be halfway there, alighting in Singapore for a day in the airport - a relaxing swim in the rooftop pool, a refreshing show...

Fourteen years have passed since I lost my best friend.  Suddenly. Like a wrecking ball.

She was only 53 when she died.  The same age as I am now.  Chilling thought.

I think of her so often, especially around this time of year.  She loved Art Deco Weekend and she would have loved what it has become.  The eccentric frivolity of the Gatsby Picnic.  The family-friendliness. The unpretentious fun.  

She truly was...

My love affair wth Bowie started in 1983.  I was 20.  He was 36.  In reality I had adored him long before this.  Loved his weirdness.  His originality.  His music.  David Bowie was so much a part of my teenage years.  I never quite knew how to pronounce his name properly but I thought he was the biz.

1983.  Under the moonlight, the serious moonlight.  The first time I saw Bowie live, in Well...

Some time ago, I annexed our two raised vegetable gardens, unused apart from random sprouts of self-sown potatoes. I planted flowers.  Cut flowers to be precise.  It felt so satisfying, digging over the soil and planting my little seeds in sort-of rows with their packets on skewers to denote each variety.  Then the winter rain came along and washed away the names on all the packets,  My flower garden became a place of deep, u...

Where there is a will, there is a way.

The Dunkirk spirit has prevailed and I'm beyond excited to let you know that a small but perfectly-

formed group of bravehearts WILL embark on a wonderful flowery foodie adventure in April 2016.  

While I completely understand  those who changed their minds about travelling after the terrible events of November 13,  I'm afraid I'm cut of a different cloth..

Y...

This post continues with the proposed itinerary of the foodie, flowery Tour de France, 2016.

After a wonderful week in Paris, we say au revoir and head down to the south of France to the simply glorious region of Provence...

Saturday May 5

PROVENCE

 We’ll take the TGV train down to Avignon – whizzing through France at 200+km an hour.  From there we’ll pick up our wheels for the next part of the tour and be transported to our cha...

The dream trip to Paris and Provence has already received such a warm and enthusiastic response, that I’ve put together a more detailed itinerary to whet those appetites a little more.  It’s designed for lovers of France, flowers and food – eleven nights in gorgeous own-room accommodation (sharing is possible – just ask) – everything is as organised or open as you’d like it to be, and because we’ll just be a small group of 9...

As well as creating flowery gorgeousness, I've been busy lately putting together an amazing escorted (by me) trip to France for April/May 2016 and I'm wondering if there's anyone who might be interested? I'd like to take a small group of like-minded people away on a magical trip to Paris and Provence.

Like-minded means you need a sense of fun and adventure, you probably have a passion for flowers and the delights of natu...

It's a funny thing, but I've come to rather like pink.  

In my art teacher life, I used to ban it as a colour. Kind of joking.  Kind of serious. Even so, there was always one student every year who followed their pink heart and defied me (I liked that) producung a portfolio in shades of Barbie.  Aaaargh...such an offence to my aesthetic senses!

And yet in the world of flowers, pink can be so beautiful.  Especially...