Tag Archives: Adventure

Arts, Culture, Homes, Magazines, Tourism, Travel

Country Life Magazine – March 5, 2025 Preview

March 4, 2025 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE (March 4, 2025): The latest issue features ‘The enfant terribile’ – Michelangelo; London’s best bakeries and why 1775 rocked; Charles Dance; Cheltenham and kitchen confidential…

The year the stars came out

A host of luminaries that were born in 1775 still shape British identity some 250 years on, as Matthew Dennison discovers

A horse walks into a bar…

Jack Watkins raises a glass to the Cheltenham superstars immortalised in the bars and restaurants at Prestbury Park

Interiors

Amelia Thorpe cooks up a real treat with the latest inspiration and innovations for the kitchen

London Life

– Amie Elizabeth White celebrates 100 years of the Dickens museum, plus Country Life’s guide to the best baked goods in the capital

Arts & antiques

Charles Dance talks to Carla Passino about Michelangelo, mentoring and why the Sistine chapel is like playing King Lear

The good, the bad and the ugly

Michael Hall delves into the genius of Michelangelo, at once the enfant prodige and enfant terribile of the Renaissance

Simon Martin’s favourite painting

The art-gallery director selects a beguiling 17th-century miniature revealing a connection to Nature

A regal renewal

John Goodall hails the revival of Restoration House in Kent, a magnificent property that welcomed Charles II in 1660

The legacy

Agnes Stamp hails the ‘British Barnum’ Charles Cruft, whose dog show is still best in class

Shiver me timbers

The once-popular black poplar could be our secret weapon in the battle against climate change, finds Vicky Liddell

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell’s top tips on what to wear to the Cheltenham Festival

And it was all yellow

Charles Quest-Ritson brightens his day with the cheerful flowers of the ever-dependable forsythia

Sharp practice

The thorny old issue of pruning roses, with Charles Quest-Ritson

Foraging

Is tapping birch-tree sap worth the bother, asks John Wright

Travel

Emma Love shares the latest cruise news, Imogen West-Knights finds everything shipshape in the South of France, John Niven follows in the wake of Mr Mississippi Mark Twain and Pamela Goodman’s birthday treats take on a life of their own

Magazines, Tours, Travel

Traveller Magazine — March 2025 Preview

February 6, 2025 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER MAGAZINE (February 6, 2025): The latest issue features ‘The World’s Best Train Trips’….

Also inside this issue:

Greenland: Meet the communities working to preserve Inuit culture for future generations
Portugal: Roman relics and pagan festivities on a road trip through the untamed north
Kerala: A photographer’s journey among the tranquil backwaters and perfumed spice farms of Kochi
Southern Mexico: A guide to the region’s immense jungles, ancient settlements and distinct cuisine
Hong Kong: Beyond the urban sprawl, adventures abound in the form of kayaking and intrepid hikes
Glasgow: Warm yourself in the Scottish city’s art galleries and era-defining music venues
Essaouira: Myriad cultures have made this Moroccan port city a hub for art and music
Cognac: A change is under way in the French region’s restaurants and distilleries
Salzburg: Fairytale stays for every taste, from lovers of old-school luxury to fans of TheSound of Music

Plus, new travel routes for spring; fresh hiking opportunities on Australia’s Whitsunday Islands; Bradford’s year as the UK City of Culture; a taste of Amorgos, Greece; a lighthouse retreat on Italy’s Tuscan coast; an insider’s guide to Ibiza Town; island adventures in Brač, Croatia; globetrotting books about love and obsession, running essentials to put a spring in your step; and a historical getaway in the Welsh Marches.

Culture, History, Homes, Magazines, Travel

Country Life Magazine – February 5, 2025 Preview

February 5, 2025 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE (February 5, 2025): The ‘Travel Issue’ features The Romance and Risk of a Big Adventure….

The inimitable Wodehouse

Roderick Easdale marvels at the ‘pure word music’ of P. G. Wodehouse, whose aristocratic comedies are still treasured as English-language classics

All I have to do is dream

Nod off with Tree Carr as she investigates what it means when our sleeping hours are filled with enchanting visions of wildlife and the natural world

London Life

· Giles Kime admires The Goring’s stylish new look

· All you need to know in the capital this month

· Arabella Youens visits the best second-hand markets

Travel

· Richard MacKichan dives into Canada

· Kate Eshelby treks across Pakistan

· Rosie Paterson takes a chance on Italy

· Adam Hay-Nicholls follows in Bond’s tyre tracks in the Swiss Alps

· Rosie Paterson ventures into the US wilderness

· Hetty Lintell selects top travel accessories

· Christopher Wallace relives a Cape Town-to-Cairo adventure

· Pamela Goodman visits a faithful old geyser

Jason Goodwin’s favourite painting

The writer and historian selects a pencil drawing alive with energy

Ruin and rebirth

In the second of three articles, John Goodall tells how Bramham Park in West Yorkshire rose from the ashes of an 1828 fire

The legacy

Octavia Pollock places David Garrick centre stage for his role in revolutionising the theatre

Interiors

The latest lamps and lighting options, with Amelia Thorpe

Pottery winners

Tiffany Daneff talks terracotta with Beth Tarling, a Cornish collector with a passion for flowerpots

Foraging

All flash and no flavour — John Wright pans the scarlet elfcup

Arts & antiques

Carla Passino reveals the tale of the Royal Academy’s Prince and ponders the identity of the sitter for a 16th-century Venus

Let there be light

Matthew Dennison enlightens us on the history of the chandelier from its origins as a candlelit ‘crown of shimmering gold’

Alright, petal

Catriona Gray meets the talented botanical illustrators celebrating 30 years of chronicling Chelsea Physic Garden’s plant collection

Architecture, Design, Home Design, Tours, Videos

Tours: ‘Te Arai Beach House’ In New Zealand

Video January 31, 2025 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

THE LOCAL PROJECT (January 31, 2025): Nestled between the forest and the ocean on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, Te Arai Beach House manifests as a contemporary cabin in the woods. “The power of the site when we first visited was in the ocean, the forest and the sand dunes.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the cabin in the woods 01:27 – The early design discussions 02:12 – Interior designers own home 03:27 – The layout of the home 04:30 – A warm material palette 06:56 – Collaborating with artists 07:38 – Rewarding Aspects 08:08 – Proud Moments

So we wanted to provide a building that doesn’t challenge or reduce the sense of beauty that’s already there,” says Tim Hay, design director and co-founder at Fearon Hay. “We instantly looked, in terms of the architecture, to references that related to those different thresholds – the ability to emerge from the forest, discover the ocean, but still have a sense of protection,” notes Hay. “So this idea of the cabin in the woods was an idea that stuck from very early on.”

From afar, Te Arai Beach House appears to be a series of simple, unambiguous silhouettes. However, as one moves closer, complexity is revealed through blurred thresholds, operable screens and considered openings. The first building is a cabin that contains a garage and guest occupation. “This sits between an open space that frames a courtyard and the main building, which is set to the ocean, and is fundamentally a pair of open suites that capture an open plan living space between them,” explains Hay.

Culture, History, Homes, Magazines, Reviews, Travel

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE – January 29, 2025 Issue

January 28, 2025 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE (January 28, 2025): The latest issue features ‘Ready, Steady, Go!’ – The wonderful thing about Springers…

Full of the joys of spring(ers)

The non-stop English springer is still our number one working spaniel, reveals Matthew Dennison, as he delves into this enthusiastic, energetic breed

Snake, rattle and roll

Rob Crossan investigates the deeply spiritual origins of that enduring family board-game favourite Snakes and Ladders

Heard it on the radio

The wireless broke new ground as the first form of home-based mass entertainment and is still going strong in the age of the smart speaker, finds Ben Lerwill

Friends with benefits

Nematodes are a natural way to halt the march of all manner of garden pests and Charles Quest-Ritson is a convert

Mould and behold

Josiah Wedgwood was a brilliant businessman with a remarkable social conscience. Tristram Hunt assesses his life and legacy

Catch us if you can

Owain Jones sizes up six of the best as he picks out the players to watch in this year’s Guinness Six Nations rugby extravaganza

Roger Morgan-Grenville’s favourite painting

The conservation campaigner selects a work that inspired his lifelong obsession with seabirds

A Palladian premonition

Richard Hewlings offers a fresh analysis of the architecture at Bramham Park, a highly original West Yorkshire country house

The legacy

Kate Green remembers Robert FitzRoy, the founder of the Met Office whose name lives on in the BBC’s Shipping Forecast

Dear country diary

Paul Fleckney flicks through The Guardian’s Country Diary, which has offered a snapshot of rural life for more than 120 years

Interiors

The best stoves and fireplaces picked by Amelia Thorpe, plus the alternatives to burning logs

Luxury

Hetty Lintell’s top timepieces and James Haskell’s favourite things

Magnificent mahonias

Charles Quest-Ritson makes the case for mahonias, arguing that their pleasantly scented flowers are a seasonal delight

Kitchen garden cook

Melanie Johnson pairs peppery horseradish with salmon fillets

Ring-dove beauteous!

John Lewis-Stempel coos over the much-maligned wood pigeon, that canny, keen-eyed and fast-flying stalwart of our countryside

Culture, Magazines, Opinion, Politics, Previews, Reviews, Society

The New York Times Magazine – Dec. 22, 2024

December 21, 2024 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

In this issue, Nicholas Casey and Paolo Pellegrin on the journey to receive medical treatment for Palestinians in Gaza; Jason Diamond on the dancer and choreographer Mikhail Baryshnikov; Jenna (J) Wortham on the new social media platform Bluesky; and more.

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (December 21, 2024): The 12,22,24 issue features ‘Escape From Gaza’…

For a Desperate Few, a Hectic Escape From Gaza

The war is nearly impossible to flee — except for a small number of sick and wounded who are offered a dramatic path to safety. By Nicholas Casey

Is Mikhail Baryshnikov the Last of the Highbrow Superstars?

Fifty years since he left the Soviet Union, he insists on using his huge fame to bring attention to difficult, esoteric art. By Jason Diamond

Another New Twitter? Good Luck With That.

Users are now flocking to Bluesky. But every social media platform becomes a wasteland in the end. By J Wortham

News, Newspapers, Views

The New York Times — Sunday, December 15, 2024

December 15, 2024 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Syria Shudders as Assad’s Prison Atrocities Come Into the Light

At the country’s most notorious prison, Syrians confront their worst fears: that they will never know what happened to the loved ones who disappeared.

South Korea’s President Is Impeached After Martial Law Crisis

Some members of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s own party helped remove him from office. But the political uncertainty is far from over.

What Ever Happened to the Lady Jaguars?

When we met them a dozen years ago, they were teenagers in trouble, playing for a basketball team that always lost. Did they find a way to win at life?

Gas Could Mean Billions for Indigenous People in Canada. Some Fear a Cost.

New export terminals along the rugged Pacific coastline have reignited a generations-old debate over identity and environmental stewardship.

Culture, Magazines, Opinion, Politics, Previews, Reviews, Society

The New York Times Magazine – Dec. 8, 2024

December 14, 2024 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (December 14 2024): The 12.15.24 issue features ‘The Silence of Alice Munro’…

What Alice Munro Knew

The Nobel-winning author’s husband was a pedophile who targeted her daughter and other children. Why did she stay silent?

Opioids Ravaged a Kentucky Town. Then Rehab Became Its Business.

In Louisa, an unbearable social crisis has become the main source of economic opportunity.

Could This Tiny School Break Down the Wall Between Church and State?

Officials in Oklahoma are laying the groundwork to push Christianity into public schools.

News, Newspapers, Views

The New York Times — Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024

December 14, 2024 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

How U.S. Firms Battled a Government Crackdown to Keep Tech Sales to China

An intense struggle has unfolded in Washington between companies and officials over where to draw the line on selling technology to China.

Joy Buoys Syria’s First Friday Prayers Since Assad Ouster, but Hardships Loom

In an impoverished, war-ravaged country, the first prayers after the fall of a brutal regime drew jubilant crowds, even in areas seen as regime strongholds.

The Fall of al-Assad Quickly Infuses Europe’s Debate Over Asylum

Nearly a million Syrians in Germany alone have made new lives. But after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, some politicians across the continent have suggested that refugees could return home.

McKinsey to Pay $650 Million in Opioid Settlement With Justice Department

A former senior partner will also plead guilty to obstruction of justice after destroying company documents.

News, Newspapers, Views

The New York Times — Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024

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Syria’s New Leaders Balance Huge Struggles Amid Disorder

The rebels who seized control called for foreign help in prosecuting atrocities, while trying to restore order in a fractured country.

Power, Intimidation and the Resurrection of Trump’s Support for Hegseth

The president-elect became convinced that letting Pete Hegseth fail would set off a feeding frenzy among senators. What followed was a MAGA swarm that helped salvage his bid, at least for now.