No-vember

The trees are all pretty much completely bare around here now (well, the deciduous ones, obviously), so I’m just in time for the obligatory “Isn’t autumn photogenic?” post. A recent family walk in a nearby park yielded plenty of “Oooh – pretty colours!” moments… as well as one “WTF?” At one point we sat under [...]

Sprung

Yes, I’ve changed my blog design/layout-thingy. I also plan to get my hair cut soon. It’s that time of year. Brussels is going through something of a…well, not a heatwave as such – more of a “springwave”.  I wasn’t quite ready for it – in fact I was more than a little resentful, and was [...]

Here comes the sun

It is a truth universally acknowledged that summers in Belgium are crap. And like most “universally acknowledged” truths, there’s not much truth in it at all. We have sun, we have temperatures ranging from the high 20s to the mid-30s (yes, celsius…), and these conditions can last for weeks, even months. Of course, this doesn’t [...]

One more change of season

I’ve just come back to work after two weeks’ holiday (including a brief trip to Italy for Easter) and it’s amazing how much things have changed. Firstly, my eldest daughter started pre-school today and secondly the temperature has shot up about 15 degrees Celsius in as many days. Before my break, I wore a coat [...]

Big Sky

Today’s sky is wide and blue and full of hope, and is especially welcome after a week of heavy greyness. A meteorology book I own (ok, the only meteorology book I own) starts with a quote from Emerson to the effect that “The sky is the daily bread for our eyes”. For me, as well as [...]

Getting Better

Brussels is wet ‘n’ wild today (no, not like that). Almost every bin I see on the streets is overflowing with discarded, fractured umbrellas, their skinny arms and flapping material looking like giant broken bat wings. As I walk down the street the wind keeps shoving me in the back as if to say “Come on! [...]

A hazy shade of winter

It’s dark now when I get up in the morning. Not that this stops me from getting up, but it’s a comforting sign of the time of year. I love autumn – it feels very cosy, especially if it’s cloudy, like today, and the overcast sky feels like a warm duvet. The only thing I [...]