Mam Tor

Mam Tor (meaning Mother Hill) at the Peak District is one of its most well know hiking spots. It’s also also known as the Shivering Mountain because its shale and gritstone layers are prone to landslips. Whilst in the area a few weeks ago my family and I decided to do the walk.

At the bottom there was a sign post telling you what was in each direction. We found the path for Mam Tor and started our steep hike up. Alongside the path I saw a few metal images placed in the ground. I assume this alludes to the history of England and the Iron Age.

As we got higher the winds got stronger but the views became more beautiful too.

Taking our time and putting in some effort we made it to the peak where there was a stone pillar marking the highest point. We all spent a bit of time looking around and taking in the magnificent view.

After taking in the views and some photos we then started our careful walk back down to the car park. I’d recommend this hike, it’s not too difficult to do and the views are amazing. They definitely helped soothe my soul.

Ladybower Reservoir

I spent a day at the Peak District National park at the weekend and decided to visit the Ladybower Reservoir. I specifically wanted to see the ‘plugholes’ that are part of it. These plugholes are spillways that allow overflow of water to drain away to the River Derwent.

There hasn’t been a lot of rain lately so the reservoir water levels were below the edge of the plugholes. It was still quit cool to have a look down them though.

I also spent a bit of time walking around the reservoir on what was a bright sunny day. The entire walk takes 2 hours so I just walked around part of it and back.

It was an interesting trip and great to see something different in a beautiful natural setting.

Eid-ul-Adha 2023/1444

large, laser-cut steel cube suspended from the gallery ceiling fills the space with elaborate floor-to-ceiling shadows

Eid Mubarak everyone. Taqabbal Allahu Minna Wa Minkum (May Allah accept it from you and us).

Happy Eid to all to Muslims around the world who are celebrating Eid-al-Adha which coincides with the pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia and honours Abraham’s promise to God. In these blessed days may all pilgrims’ prayers and ours be accepted.

This beautiful Islamic inspired cube radiating light is at Kew Gardens.

Norfolk Tulip Fields

I’ve always wanted to visit the tulips fields in the Netherlands (Holland), as these are some of my favourite flowers, but in it’s stead I was able to visit some tulip fields in Norfolk. They are only open to the public for a couple of weeks and my sister was lucky enough to get some tickets for us.

There were several fields full of tulips, with rows and rows of various colours. They really were beautiful to see.

I love how block colours had sprinklings of others. And I also like the ones that looked almost hybrid, colours varying and also shapes.

We spent a couple of hours walking among the rows taking in the sight and then relaxing on one of the nearby hay bales that were dotted about the field

It was a really lovely to take in the vibrant colours of the beautiful flowers and to visit a place that you wouldn’t imagine would exist in the UK.

Winter Lights 2023

With the winter days and nights being cold and dark there’s usually not a lot of motivation to do anything or go anywhere. To help with that Canary Wharf in London decided to hold a Winter Lights event, after a 2 years break due to the pandemic. I always enjoy art events so my sister and I decided to go take a look.

It was cold up so we wrapped up and went around to each of the 22 light installations. Some were really busy and it took us a couple of hours to get around to them all, but here are some of the ones I liked best.

My favourite was probably this giant floating Earth in the middle of water. I loved how it lit up in the dark.

I also really liked the glass elephants and the spinning top which reflected pretty lights around the room as it spun.

The coloured lights in the water creating shapes in the fog was fun to watch and the colourful benches were back too, always proving popular.

My sister and I enjoyed this event and it was a nice, free, family event that brought a bit of colour and creativity to winter.

Giant bubbles

Giant bubbles have appeared outside one of London’s famous landmarks – the Leadenhall building, also known as The Cheesegrater. The bubbles are an art piece called ‘Evanescent’ by design studio Atelier Sisu. The idea behind them is to entice people back into the city after the last few years and appeal to our childlike wonder and universal playfulness.

These bubble installations have been spotted in other major cities around the world too and I thought they were a lovely idea and were a pleasure to see.

Goodbye 2022

Today is the last day of 2022. Reflecting back across the year, I didn’t have any grand plans at the start but it feels like it’s been an eventful one. I was finally able to travel abroad after a very long time and I managed to gain some new qualifications after a lot of hard work. There was also an addition to the family in my new little nephew. I hope the year was a fulfilling one for all of you, whatever you did.

Here are some of my favourite photos from the year gone by and as we move into 2023, I hope it’s a year full of good health and happiness, and everything we all want it to be. Happy New Year.

Cold Snap

We’ve had an usually cold December in London. I woke up one morning to find everything covered in frost. It did make for some cool finds in the garden though.

I found white threads around the garden and upon closer inspection saw they were in fact spider webs!

And this poor rose looked quite beautiful but sad as it was covered in ice

It turned even colder in the following days and we had a good dousing of snow that was quite unusual. I didn’t venture out much but it does look so pretty and calm.

I hope everyone is staying warm and safe this Winter amidst any snow and blizzards that may arrive.