Author Archives: Elaine Elkington

No two week holiday for us this year after the big flood in the kitchen, which set off waves of extra building works.  But finally we had new floors and the end of six months ‘camping’ in dusty chaos was in sight.  What about a few days deep in the countryside, exploring the Somerset Levels? […]

I took this photo as we were about to cross the road at South Kensington after an interesting lecture at the Science Museum. It seemed to me a little ‘cameo noir’ from which you could create an interesting story.  Even the shot is out of focus!

It’s quite difficult to dig John out of his chair in front of the computer to have a walk at the weekend.   I just felt I had to go out and walk up river but it was already twilight and darkness was rolling in.  I decided to go anyway and tempted John to come […]

We’ve had an ongoing water crisis. Huge water and heating bills didn’t make sense –  we finally tracked down the culprit.  An invisible leak from a corroded hot water pipe, lurking in concrete, deep under the maplewood floor.  All the pipes in the kitchen had to be replaced – we had to say farewell to […]

It all started with a business contact of John’s who invited him to dinner in Lewes one Friday evening.  It seemed a long way to go just for dinner and if he drove there and back he wouldn’t be able to drink wine.  If I had been him I would have suggested a lunch meeting […]

This was a day of domesticana  –  just as well I didn’t have to travel as Storm Doris was making herself felt with gusts of winds that made the house creak in its old joints and had the trees swaying wildly, which we don’t see often in London.  I kept hearing odd noises downstairs as […]

We have BREXIT ongoing, we have TRUMP taking centre stage.  I just thought I’d take a photo or two from each month in 2016 to show that all was not gloom and doom. I’m determined to ‘think positive’ because that carries weight, rather than being crushed and feeling disenfranchised. A physicist mooted that ‘dark matter’ […]

I hadn’t been to the north of England for a long time.  In this case it was ‘needs must’ and although my sister and I set off feeling anxious, it turned out to be more like a ‘weekend break’ –  but not at the weekend. Driving first along the M40 in the direction of Oxford, […]

Things – like a walk in the park, Things – like a walk in the dark … Suddenly,  the leaves are falling all at once.  It’s Autumn turning to Winter and time for the deer cull in Richmond Park.  Clouds  are gathering … Back in Barnes, we visit the bookshop, finding that it has a […]

My friend David is a whizz at finding good travel deals.  Who wouldn’t jump at the chance of a £39 return on the Eurostar? Bon, j’ai sauté à l’occasion… Getting up in the dark and cold is never the best thing but as soon as I was at St. Pancras International I could feel the […]