It's hard to believe that I came back from Peru over 3 months ago - a longer time than I was away.

All the positive feedback I received from blog-readers (thank you!) has encouraged me to write and to take more photographs. I've had an illustrated article entitled "Conch Shells in Cusco" published on-line (www.synergise.com/tales/tale1108-south-america-peru-cusco.php), but didn't get anywhere in a Guardian competition in which my daughter Madeline was a runner-up with a funny account of a weekend swimming down the River Wye.

Photography is my big thing, though, and I'm getting withdrawal symptoms if I go more than a few days without going out to take pictures, and I'm just going to upload a new album here. Since coming back, I've joined the Leicester and Leicestershire Photographic Society, which meets in Friends Meeting House, and I love going to the meetings and looking at other people's work.And I've recently joined Leicester U3A's very friendly and welcoming digital imaging group.

Aiming high, I entered 3 pics for the Derby City Open Exhibition and was as excited as a kid at Christmas when the judges selected one of the Waterlily House at Kew, that I took on a birthday trip in April this year. I aimed even higher with the Leicester City Gallery Open, where the judges rejected that one but caused me even more excitement by accepting one called "The Station Clock". I visit the exhibition every year and have always thought how good it would be to have something in it. Also, 8 of my photos (some "candid portraits" and some autumnal pics) will be on show at Fingerprints café on Queens Rd for a few weeks from 21 Dec.

I still have very itchy feet and hope to go off on another big trip, probably in the spring. In the meantime, Gary and I have been doing some mini-travelling in this country. We had a weekend in S. Yorks in September, when we stayed at Haworth Youth Hostel. We spent a day in Saltaire, where there was a festival going on, and loved Salts Mill, which has a big permanent exhibition of David Hockney's paintings (and it's free to get in!). The hostel warden told us about an award-winning veggie/vegan restaurant in Hebden Bridge, called Relish. We had a fantastic meal there, finished off with Booja Booja Ginger icecream. Relish is run by a very talented but laidback lady and the food is cooked in a tiny kitchen in full view of the customers. It would be worth going to Hebden Bridge just to eat there, but it's also a lovely village to visit.

On the way home the next day we went to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, which we've been meaning to visit for a long time. I'm a big fan of Henry Moore's sculptures, which seem especially well suited to living outdoors, but there's work by lots of other artists there and it was lovely to see children experiencing and enjoying sculpture.

Another weekend we went to Laxton in Notts, a village famous for continuing to use the old strip-field method of farming. It has a very good pub, where we had lunch. Afterwards we sat in the sun on the village green, talking to a lovely man called Les, on the eve of his 100th birthday.

Last weekend we had 4 nights in a little cottage in Wiltshire. We spent a lovely sunny day in Salisbury and Wilton; Salisbury Cathedral has Elizabeth Frink's statue "The Walking Madonna" and an extraordinary new font, a big attraction for photographers, and Wilton has an Italianate church with lovely lichen-encrusted tombstones. The Good Beer Guide took us to the National Trust village of Lacock, and we spent a long time wandering around Aveburystone circle on a cold, misty morning. We had to warm up in front of a log fire at another pub afterwards!

Nearer to home, we spent an afternoon in Derby before going to the preview evening of the open exhibition, and had a ride on the "Eye" which is there at the moment outside the Assembly Rooms. I thought it would be scary, but it was fine, and the views over the town are interesting.

And even closer to home, the Heritage Open Days in September were fascinating. I visited places in Leicester that I'd never been to before - the museum stores, with an eclectic collection of things that the museums don't room to display (including a depressing array of stuffed birds), and Secular Hall, which has a ballroom, all mirrors and red-and-gold chairs, used for dance classes, and a karate club in the rather grungy basement, once used as a skittles alley and which, for some reason, also has a huge mirror. I went back one evening to take photographs of karate practice, which was good fun.

I've been working for the last few weeks in a charity furniture and bric-a-brac shop. Unfortunately, I hadn't bargained for how physically demanding the work would be - all day sorting through bags and boxes of bric-a-brac and running up and down stairs at least 4 times an hour - and my arthritic joints just can't cope with it. I've had to give in my notice and will be finishing at the end of November. It's been interesting, though! I'm constantly amazed at the rubbish some people donate - filthy china, torn curtains, tatty books and broken bits and pieces. An awful lot has to be recycled at the tip, and at least one person has admitted to bringing things to the shop because it's nearer than the tip. Having said that, we are also given some beautiful and very saleable items, and I have to resist buying them! Charity shops have to rely heavily on volunteers, and their average age where I work is around u85. Some of them are really on the ball and make a very important contribution, while others see their time in the shop purely as an opportunity to socialise, and continue to talk among themselves about their illnesses and medication while they serve customers. Every Wednesday the till is way out, as one particular volunteer regularly rings in hundreds of pounds on a single sale. And heaven help the paid staff if they fail to provide tea and coffee at the expected intervals! Then there are the customers who ask for a discount if they buy a couple of (inexpensive) items, or complain that the "collectibles" are over-priced even though they have no intention of buying them. It would make a good setting for a sit-com.

I miss writing the Green & Pleasant newsletters, so I suppose this blog is an extended version. I've really enjoyed seeing many of you when I've been around Clarendon park since August, and very much appreciated your emails while I was away - please keep them coming! I'll be having a stall at Avenue School Xmas Fair, 11-3 on Sat 5 Dec with gel candles etc. (I haven't made any handbags recently, but will take commissions). Perhaps I'll see you there.