Christmas is coming and in these troubled times of travel restrictions you might be tempted to give a gift to a loved one where they can travel to far flung places in their minds. My most recent book, Stranger than Fiction, True Stories from around the World , does just that. It’ll take you on … Continue reading
Latest Entries
Sunflowers
I’ve just had another stay in hospital with acute back pain. Home now and have finally got round to posting this picture of our tallest sunflower. My daughter planted many different varieties but this is the highest, at least 2.5 metres, with our cat, Alex, and my grandson’s dinosaur to give an idea of the … Continue reading
The Good Food Revolution. 2) Bakeries, the Chorleywood Bread Process and the Real Bread Campaign.
Following on from my last blog about The Food Programme, one of the first and most controversial things that the U.K’s government of 2022 brought in was to ban the Chorleywood Bread Process: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorleywood_bread_process This process produces unhealthy bread with artificial additives which aren’t even on the label. See this link for more information: https://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/pappy_birthday/ … Continue reading
The Good Food Revolution. 1) Sitopia by Carolyn Steel
I recently listened to The Food Programme on BBC radio 4. It blew my mind! A lot of its content I was already aware of, especially through all my time as a WWOOFer, (WWOOF= worldwide workers on organic farms) but the way it was presented immediately caught my attention. It began by saying that the … Continue reading
Blackberries / Carrots / Cherry tomatoes / Cucumbers / French beans / Fruit / Garden / Leaf beet / Plum brandy / Plum cake / Plum jam / Plums / Potatoes / Strawberries
Garden produce
This has been a wonderfully productive year in the garden, what with our unseasonably warm spring, followed by a lot of summer rain. In the picture you can see a trug of plums and a cucumber, one of potatoes and carrots and one with deliciously sweet cherry tomatoes, French beans, courgettes, leaf beet, blackberries and … Continue reading
Cucumbers / French beans / Garden / Japanese maple / sunshine / Tomatoes
Japanese Maple
The Japanese Maple, or Acer palmatum, was one of my mum’s favourite plants. There’s a full description in: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_palmatum. In our garden there are 3 different varieties and I remember Mum whenever I look at them. They’re a fine sight in the evening sunshine as you can see in the picture. My daughter’s growing cucumbers and … Continue reading
Margaret reads from her new book….
In this video clip, Margaret reads a story about her time in Budapest, from her new book Stranger than Fiction, True Stories from around the World. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08BZTMHMK… Continue reading
Poppies
I am aware that the title of this blog, A Traveller’s Tales, is becoming less about world travel and more about my immediate surroundings. This is partly because of the COVID pandemic but mainly as a result of my deteriorating health. I now have carers 4x a day and am at home more often. I hope … Continue reading
Book cover / Book preview / Europe / India / new book / Stranger than Fiction / travel / Turkey / World travel / Writing
New Book: Stranger than Fiction: True Stories from around the World
Margaret Halliday’s fifth book, Stranger than Fiction: True Stories from around the World, transports the reader from Syria to Canada, Cuba to Bali and many places in between. Continue reading
My COVID Cut
About three weeks ago my daughter took the clippers to my hair, which was driving me mad. Our hairdressers are still closed but I don’t need one now! I guess I’ll colour it when it gets a bit longer but apparently silvery grey is all the rage. Watch this space for details of my latest … Continue reading
