Jane Dallaway

Today’s walk: Sovereign Park, Princes Park and the prom

Sun, 08 Mar 2026 19:22:00 +0000

We fancied a walk somewhere different today, and ideally somewhere not muddy, so after consulting some of my usual inspiration sites I came upon this route.

I’ve never been to this bit of Eastbourne before, so it was well worth an explore. Fortunately, we didn’t head out until the early afternoon. It looked like the Eastbourne Half Marathon had made use of the area earlier in the day, so we timed it just right to miss the crowds.

The landscape at Sovereign Park felt familiar. The shingle plants there reminded me so much of the ones growing in the new vegetated shingle area near Black Rock in Brighton. It gave me a lovely glimpse of what the Brighton site might look like once it’s fully established.

I also loved seeing the trees with their little care labels. I scanned a couple of the QR codes and found out a little about the Russian Olive and the Four-stamen tamarisk.

We finished off with a drink at the cafe. Overall, it was a fun walk linking two parks together. It completely hit the “mud-free” brief, even if it’s more of a pleasant local stroll than a major destination walk.

eReaderIQ and my digital tsundoku

Sun, 08 Mar 2026 10:51:00 +0000

I’ve started using a site called eReaderIQ as part of my book selection process. It actually reminds me a bit of how LoveFilm (and later Cinema Paradiso) used to fit into my movie watching.

Here is how it usually works:

I come across a book somehow, maybe through a friend’s recommendation, a newsletter, or a podcast.

First, I look it up on Goodreads. If it scores more than 4, or if I really trust the person who mentioned it, I send a sample to my Kindle. Every now and again, usually when I’m on holiday or have some downtime, I read through those samples to decide if I actually want to read the full book. If the answer is yes, I head over to eReaderIQ. I find the book on there and set up tracking for it at a level of £1. That way, if it ever drops to a 99p offer, I get a notification.

Then, every so often, an email pops up to tell me an alert has been triggered. I just buy the book automatically. There is no further thought required because “past me” already decided this was a book worth tracking. All “current me” has to do is press buy and commit to spending 99p.

The result is that I now have a tsundoku on my Kindle to match the one on my physical shelf.

I quite like this balance. The physical books on my shelf are mainly non-fiction or episodic. These are my “read to learn” choices. The books on my Kindle are mainly novels or memoirs, which are my day to day reads.

It means I have more choice available to me immediately. I’m relying less on the Amazon Prime lending library or tailoring what I read around what happens to be available for free. For the moment, this is working nicely.

Textile designer William Morris

Sun, 08 Mar 2026 08:25:00 +0000

When I saw this in The Knowledge, my first reaction was about the reductionist labelling. I suppose they couldn’t have a string of labels longer than the quote itself, but it didn’t quite sit right with me.

I know of William Morris as a textile designer, obviously, but also for so many other crafts and design principles. That is even before we get to the social reform element of his work. Maybe the label felt small because I am so used to seeing women reduced in this way. It was almost a change to see it happen to a man.

I do like this quote, though. I have it on a tote bag somewhere (talk about reductionist!).

The spine of the wall

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 17:31:00 +0000

I spotted this while walking down a twitten. It really made me think of a spine.

I like the idea that this might be the most important part of the wall, holding everything else together.

From Positive News: The British company taking many steps to produce power

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 10:08:00 +0000

This article gave me goosebumps while I was reading it.

It is such a fantastic idea. I particularly love the thought of these being used on sports tracks. Imagine generating power for the community just by completing your morning run.

A splashy Undercliff walk

Sat, 21 Feb 2026 17:15:00 +0000

Saturday's walk: Chartwell

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 09:10:00 +0000

With the car back and one stamp left to get in Breezy’s Pooch Passport, it felt right to stop at a National Trust site on our way to Margate. We were heading there to say a final farewell to my father-in-law.

It was a beautiful, chilly day. It was such a delight to see blue skies and sunshine. Breezy got her bag of treats as a reward for that final stamp, and we got a peaceful walk in the sun before a difficult few days.

Beautiful morning light

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 21:29:00 +0000

Today’s bake: Rye & Almond Cheese Scones

Sun, 08 Feb 2026 11:17:00 +0000

Last weekend, at a cafe in Rottingdean, I had a lovely cheese scone. It wasn’t exactly Zoe-friendly, but it was soft, moist, and delicious. I enjoyed every bit of it. It got me thinking, so I had a little chat with Claude to see if I could come up with a version that worked better for my scores.

After a few adjustments based on what I had in the cupboard (using rye flour instead of wheat) and some tweaks to boost the nutritional value (more ground almonds, less flour), I had a recipe that looked promising.

I gave it a try this morning. I wasn’t totally confident at first because the dough felt pretty sticky as it went into the oven, but they turned out to be a success. We ate a couple for breakfast and they were definitely a decent scone-style bake. They are a bit denser than the one I had last weekend, but a really good compromise.

I’m leaving the recipe here for the “future me” to bake again.

Makes 4 scones

Ingredients:
- 90g wholemeal rye flour
- 35g ground almonds
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Pinch of black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
- 40ml extra virgin olive oil
- 80 unsweetened soya milk
- 50g mature cheddar cheese, grated
- 1 tablespoon mixed seeds

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Line a baking tray with parchment.
2. Mix the rye flour, ground almonds, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, pepper, chilli flakes, and mustard powder.
3. Rub in the olive oil until it resembles breadcrumbs.
4. Stir in the seeds and about 40g of the cheese.
5. Add 80ml soya milk and mix gently. Add extra only if needed for a soft, slightly sticky dough.
6. Pat gently into a circle about 20-25mm thick.
7. Cut into 4 pieces, top with remaining cheese and chilli flakes if desired.
8. Bake for 18-20 minutes until firm and golden.

Today's walk: Sheffield Park in search of snowdrops

Sat, 07 Feb 2026 17:05:00 +0000

Having finally got our car back this week, we decided to head off in search of snowdrops.

We arrived at Sheffield Park about 40 minutes before dogs are allowed in on a Saturday. We initially tried the Estate walk but quickly realised how wet it was, so we walked down the lane instead. We eventually found some woodland at the back of one of the ponds which gave us a great view into the gardens.

After a pit stop for coffee and a cauliflower pastie in the cafe, we headed back to walk around the gardens proper. The snowdrops were lovely to see, and I really enjoyed spotting the peacock too.