An Alphabet of My Likes and Dislikes: “L”
This is a post belonging to a new blogging project — the title is pretty much self-explanatory, I think; the project’s introductory post can be found HERE. Credit for the idea: BeetleyPete. As always, the only thing linking the two items mentioned in this post in my mind is that they both start with the […]
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An Alphabet of My Likes and Dislikes: “G”
This is a post belonging to a new blogging project — the title is pretty much self-explanatory, I think; the project’s introductory post can be found HERE. Credit for the idea: BeetleyPete. As always, the only thing linking the two items mentioned in this post in my mind is that they both start with the […]
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An Alphabet of My Likes and Dislikes: “F”
This is a post belonging to a new blogging project — the title is pretty much self-explanatory, I think; the project’s introductory post can be found HERE. Credit for the idea: BeetleyPete. As always, the only thing linking the two items mentioned in this post in my mind is that they both start with the […]
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An Alphabet of My Likes and Dislikes: “E”
This is a post belonging to a new blogging project — the title is pretty much self-explanatory, I think; the project’s introductory post can be found HERE. Credit for the idea: BeetleyPete. As always, the only thing linking the two items mentioned in this post in my mind is that they both start with the […]
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An Alphabet of My Likes and Dislikes: “C”
This is a post belonging to a new blogging project — the title is pretty much self-explanatory, I think; the project’s introductory post can be found HERE. Credit for the idea: BeetleyPete. As always, the only thing linking the two things mentioned in this post in my mind is that they both start with the […]
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An Alphabet of My Likes and Dislikes: “B”
This is a post belonging to a new blogging project — the title is pretty much self-explanatory, I think; the project’s introductory post can be found HERE. Credit for the idea: BeetleyPete. As always, the only thing linking the two items mentioned in this post in my mind is that they both start with the […]
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An Alphabet of My Likes and Dislikes: “A”
This is the first post of a new blogging project — the title is pretty much self-explanatory, I think; the project’s introductory post can be found HERE. Credit for the idea: BeetleyPete. Today’s entries both happen to be food items, but the only thing that links them in my mind is that they both begin […]
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Festivus Scale of Strength: Weighty Books
24 Festive Tasks: Door 20 – Festivus, Task 2: The Scale of Strength: Pick 3 of your weightiest tomes and place them on a scale. Tell us the total weight. I used Shakespeare’s Complete Works, my copy of the illustrated guide to Houses of the National Trust, and Eye to Eye, a collection of […]
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Staying Zen in Stressful Times
24 Festive Tasks: Door 12 – World Philosophy Day, Task 2: How do you stay zen / sane over the holidays or in other stressful periods? And / Or: How did you manage to stay (more or less) zen throughout 2020 … if you did? This, too (like my favorite rainy day reads can easily […]
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Favorite Rainy Day Reads
24 Festive Tasks: Door 5 – Bon Om Touk, Bonus Task: List / tell us about your favorite rainy day reads. I suppose it only takes one look at my list of read books this year to determine my favorite rainy day books, as 2020 was essentially one extended rainy day: Golden Age mysteries and […]
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Corsica
24 Festive Tasks: Door 5 – Bon Om Touk, Task 2: Post a picture from your most recent or favorite vacation on the sea (or a lake, river, or any other body of water larger than a puddle), or if you’re living on the sea or on a lake or a river, post a picture […]
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Christmas Tea, a Book, and a Candle
24 Festive Tasks: Door 2 – Guy Fawkes Night, Bonus Task #2: Host a traditional English tea party, or make yourself a nice cup of tea and settle down with a good book to read. A mug of Christmas Tea with a Yuletide candle and this year’s final (recently republished) Golden Age mystery, Brian Flynn’s […]
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Christmas Pudding
One of my annual Christmas Eve rereads: Agatha Christie’s The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding. And we actually do have one this year, too:
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Donna Andrews: The Gift of the Magpie … and Yule Candles, Candy, and Other Christmas Cheer
24 Festive Tasks: Door 1 – Winter Solstice (Yule – Dōngzhì – Soyal – Yaldā Night), Book, Task 1 and Bonus Task #2: Book: Read a book that takes place in December, with ice or snow on the cover, where all events take place in a single day or night, that revolves around the solstice, […]
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Hygge!
24 Festive Tasks: Door 8 – St. Lucia’s Day, Task 1: Get your Hygge on — light a few candles if you’ve got them, pour yourself a glass of wine or hot chocolate / toddy, roast a marshmallow or toast a crumpet, and take a picture of your coziest reading place. Post a picture. […]
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Reading by Flashlight … with Feline Accompaniment
24 Festive Tasks: Door 19 – Hanukkah, Task 2: Read by flashlight or candlelight. Post a picture. Reading by flashlight was the plan for last night — but I had barely gotten comfortable with Paul Doherty’s first Friar Athelstan mystery … … when Charlie showed up, sat down on my book and made it clear […]
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The Belgian Flag, from Book Spines
24 Festive Tasks: Door 17 – Armistice / Veterans’ Day, Task 2: Create the flag of one of the countries that fought in either World War out of book covers. If your country was one of the participants, make it the flag of a country other than your own. Not the German but the […]
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2021 Book Buying Plans
24 Festive Tasks: Door 16 – Melbourne Cup Day, Task 2: The odds-on favorite to win this year is Anthony van Dyck, with a betting amount of $8.50. If given that amount of money, what anticipated book(s) coming out in 2021 would you spend it on? (Note: Pony name(s) and betting amount(s) to be added once the […]
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First Day of Carnival in the Rhine Valley: Dinner
24 Festive Tasks: Door 10 – First Day of Carnival, Task 1: Carnival – including its first day in the Rhine Valley (Nov. 11; officially beginning at 11:11 AM sharp) – is essentially one big party; fuelled, wherever in the world it is celebrated, by traditional local food / snacks and drinks. In the Rhineland, […]
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