Toi Toi

Last of the summer grasses… taken last month. It’s called toi toi here, but back when I lived in the States I’m pretty sure we called it pampas grass. I love how it towers and sway and whispers in the evening breeze. Not much of that these days with winter setting in. Heading down to

Feeding the Gods

Taoist temple on my first trip to Asia – Hong Kong. Hard to imagine that we were a bit nervous, language, culture, what if we couldn’t cope? We needed a ‘safe’ place to start… Hell – that was my husband, not me… I had plans to do a lot of travel in Asia and I

Burano Magic

If an inquisitive and clever eleven year old were to design and build a perfect village/island, they would come up with Burano, an island in the Venetian Lagoon, about 45 minutes ride on the vaporetto from Venice. It’s small population is mostly retirees now, though once it was a bustling fishing centre – thankfully just

Summer at the beach

Since we all seem to love boats so much… just a pretty picture of a picture perfect holiday village on the beach with a beautiful boat just waiting for the tide to come in and sweep it off for an adventure…

Indonesian Monkey Business

Surprise, surprise! My Indonesian jungle photos are not as bad as I thought. Sure, it would be nice if this were crisp and clean, but I think this world-weary Thomas Leaf monkey comes across quite well, don’t you think? Considering I walked a couple of hours into the jungle to find him, this makes me

Through the Light

Just before Christmas, brutally cold in Manhattan, wind whipping like a lash, dashing from shop to shop, warmth to warmth. Mostly laughing but also freezing. And wishing. Then we stepped in Henri Bendel where we were given cider and macadamia chocolate cookies and stopped and stared in awe. And while my frugal nature would never

A Delicate Moment

I love Vanuatu – 83 islands in the South Pacific, a tropical blend of Melanesian, Europeans and Asian cultures. I’ve visited twice and would do so again in a heartbeat. The people are friendly and generous and open and you feel very much that you are in a different world that runs at an entirely

Sunset at Sea

I think this was the most perfect sunset I have ever seen, travelling around the northeastern coast of Australia.  I stood out there admiring it until the last smudge of fire had left the sky.

As the day goes by…

This one is worth clicking to see full-size – I promise! OK, I admit I am particularly fond of this one.  If you don’t like it – let me know…

Keeping Track of History in St Petersburg

We’d driven past the Church of the Spilled Blood en route to everywhere and by the time we arrived, it was the end of the day. My head was full of art and culture and history and numb from the hard-sell at the ‘quality’ gift shop we were taken to and held hostage for nearly