Shelley Dark
- Oct 4, 2018
#21 looking back at London
This morning at the hotel I sat in my preferred breakfast seat in front of the servery. The two tables there are outside the dining room...
Shelley Dark
- Sep 27, 2018
#20 final week at Kew
'When you buy or commission the work of a craftsman you buy more than just an item or service. You buy hundreds of hours of...
Shelley Dark
- Sep 25, 2018
#19 Richmond..
I loved seeing the very sophisticated Petersham Nurseries shop at Covent Garden - I tried to walk in before it even opened! But I was...
Shelley Dark
- Sep 24, 2018
#18 if you're tired of London, you're tired of life!
That's the gist of what Samuel Johnson said way back in 1777. I couldn't agree more! So when I woke on Saturday to grey skies and...
Shelley Dark
- Sep 23, 2018
#17 from Kew to the big smoke
Picture a chef standing in front of you shucking ice-cold Mersea Island oysters as fast as you can eat them. That was Thursday night,...
Shelley Dark
- Sep 19, 2018
#16 on the hunt
I've been looking forward to searching the archives at Kew for so long I could hardly believe that the day had finally arrived. I was so...
Shelley Dark
- Sep 17, 2018
#15 Kew
The weather in Cork was just brilliant the whole time I was there but today it dawned drizzly, windy and foggy! It wasn't a pea souper...
Shelley Dark
- Sep 16, 2018
#14 Draíocht = magic
If you've been following my research travels, you'll know there's been magic happening. When I told a man sitting next to me on a plane...
Shelley Dark
- Sep 13, 2018
#13 riding in my car, car
'I think Europcar is the best rental car company in the world,' I said seriously. 'That wasn't always the case,' said my helper at Cork...
Shelley Dark
- Sep 12, 2018
#12 the city of Cork
Get ready. This post's a marathon. I told you about my mate Tom on the aeroplane. The next Corkonian I met was the taxi-driver - I asked...
Shelley Dark
- Sep 11, 2018
#11 A quick Oirish story
On the way over in the plane, I was sitting in the window seat 1A, and in aisle seat 1C was a darling old fellow who said he was 87 but I...
Shelley Dark
- Sep 10, 2018
#10 London Biennale and Spring
I've heard so much about Petersham Nurseries that I was determined to see the shop in Covent Garden. These hydrangeas grandiflora were...
Shelley Dark
- Sep 10, 2018
#9 phone debacle and better things
Thursday was another miserably ghastly London day! -:) I took the circle line to Green Park, and on my way past, dropped in at the Ritz,...
Shelley Dark
- Sep 7, 2018
#8 day trip to Portsmouth
Like Frida I've had two significant events since I wrote last. On Wednesday I went to Portsmouth, and on Thursday I lost my phone at the...
Shelley Dark
- Sep 4, 2018
#7 Chelsea or bust
I almost burst but not quite - 22,000 steps and 16 kilometres. I know because I looked at my watch. It's not easy being a tourist. I...