-
Join 187 other subscribers
-
Recent Posts
Follow me on Twitter
My TweetsBlogging Abroad

- Follow Amsterdam Oriole on WordPress.com
Blogroll
Author Archives: ASWilliams
In Praise of #Amsterdam Parks
Well designed and well-kept parks are good for people’s mental and physical health. In Amsterdam we have parks and green spaces in abundance. My favourite park, because it’s less than 100 metres walk away, is the Erasmuspark. When I moved … Continue reading
Posted in travel, Uncategorized
Tagged Amsterdam parks, Erasmuspark, Green spaces, Peter Eijking, Rembrandtpark, Taxi1108, Terrasmus, Vondelpark
3 Comments
Living the Dream Inside a Chocolate Box
Those of you who follow my blog will know that Frank and I enjoy house-sitting and caring for animals. Looking after pets is a big part of the reciprocal agreement between house-sitter and owner. Often feeding the garden birds is … Continue reading
Posted in travel, Uncategorized
Tagged Dachshund, Gordon Harker, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Highclere Castle, house-sitting, Labrador, Monxton, pet-sitting, Travel in UK, V&A, Wiltshire, Worcestershire
2 Comments
Nostalgia and Spitfires in Bewdley
GIs, Tommies, civilians, landgirls and glamorous ladies were out in their glad rags strutting their stuff up and down the platform at a 1940s-themed event. How wonderful to be transported back to a simpler time when we didn’t have omnipresent, tyrannical technology at our heels. Continue reading
Posted in travel, Uncategorized
Tagged 1940s style, Bewdley, day out Worcestershire, glamour, railway fans, Severn Valley Railway, travel, vintage fashion, WWII fashion
2 Comments
Sing for your supper, or is it dinner, or perhaps even tea?
A Dutch student learning English once asked me when British people have their supper. A deceptively-simple sounding question, isn’t it? One which I could have answered simply enough by telling him that supper is a simple snack of a sandwich … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Creative writing, Uncategorized
Tagged dinner, England, English class system, English tea time, English traditions, Food, mealtimes, Supper, Teaching English
4 Comments
Hair, it’s our Crowning Glory
Get a glimpse into the global human hair trade and ponder how the type and colour of hair defines or subverts our expectations of fictional characters. Continue reading
Tulips, skunk cabbage and the BFG meet in Yorkshire
On our second house-sit of the year looking after a cat and Koi fish in Yorkshire, the sun came out and because we probably won’t visit the Keukenhof this year (my husband isn’t a fan of the regimental neatness and … Continue reading
Posted in travel
Tagged Betty's Tea Rooms, Big Friendly Giant, Harlow Carr Gardens, house-sitting, spring, travel, Visiting England, Yorkshire
2 Comments
First House-sit of 2018!
Our first house-sit of the year looking after dogs; Lilly and Bertie; cats; Thomasina and Purdey, in Walmer, Kent. A few highlights; ‘Beast from the east’ weather meant hunkering down against the elements inside a very cosy house. Warming up … Continue reading
Posted in Art, poetry, travel
Tagged Beast from the east, Deal, Dover, house-sitting, Kent, Sandwich, T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land, Turner Contemporary, Walmer, Walmer Castle
2 Comments
Magical Objects and Hidden Shoes
During a visit to Yorkshire Sculpture Park last year a print by illustrator, Alice Pattullo caught my eye. The picture was entitled, ‘Apotropaic Devices For the Home.’ I wasn’t sure what apotropaic meant, but the mirror-image china dogs triggered a … Continue reading
Love-lock Bridges in Amsterdam
Amsterdam is a romantic city, full of canals and pretty bridges isn’t it? So you would expect to see many, many more of those love-lock bridges around town. But no, we have only two, de Magere Brug (Skinny Bridge) and … Continue reading
Posted in travel
Tagged Amsterdam, Love Bridge, Love-lock Bridges, Magere Brug, Most Ljubavi, Romantic weekend, Staalmeestersbrug, travel
7 Comments


