Nature
Cherry Blossoms
One thing that made me grin when surfing social media during my recent hospital stay was this post: — both because of the “World’s Top Destinations” listing and for pitying the hordes of visitors flocking here these days to see the city’s famed cherry blossoms … because very recently it had looked more like they […]
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Q1 / 2022 Reading Recap
Well, as it turned out 2022 began as 2021 had ended — all work and no play, albeit with the addition of a hospital detour to boot. (Nothing serious, just way more painful and, all told, protracted, than it had any right to be.) So I’m back to posting one summary post for the first […]
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Vita Sackville-West, Knole and Sissinghurst
Coming to the end of the first quarter of the year, one of the (M)DWS authors in residence was Vita Sackville-West — I’m sorry I didn’t manage to squeeze in more books by James Baldwin too, but I have every intention of making up for that during the rest of the year. Anyway, I’m glad […]
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An Alphabet of My Likes and Dislikes: “O”
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: “N”
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: “M”
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: “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: “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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The View from My Kitchen Window
#StayatHome blossoms — this is the view from my balcony and kitchen window at the moment. And by way of a bonus image, a pair of ducks (visitors from the banks of the Rhine, which is just a few 100 metres from my home) that were making a ruckus round about the front hedge while […]
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My Most-Missed Authors Who Died in 2019
24 Festive Tasks: Door 6 – Veterans’ / Armistice Day, Task 2: In keeping with the minute of silence, tell us about the authors who have passed this year that you will miss the most. Here’s hoping this year won’t see any more authors’ deaths, because too many of the great ones have already left […]
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November Sunset
24 Festive Tasks: Door 6 – Veterans’ / Armistice Day, Task 4: The Forest of Compiègne, just outside Compiègne, France, is the site of the signing of the 1918 Armistice. It was also the site of the signing by the French of a truce with the Germans following the German invasion in 1940. – Find […]
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A Miracle? Maybe.
24 Festive Tasks: Door 14 – Hanukkah, Task 1: Have you had any miracles in your life? (Kids are a given.) Just enough change for tolls? Just enough gas to get you to the station? Been tragically late for a flight only to find the flight was even more tragically delayed? Nothing is too small […]
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Nine Candles
24 Festive Tasks: Door 14 – Hanukkah, Task 2: Light 9 candles each representing something you’re thankful for (share a picture with us; sharing anything else is optional). Some of the things for which I am grateful this holiday season: My mom and the fact that, at age 80 (just this year) she is […]
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Unusual Cloud Formations
24 Festive Tasks: Door 12 – St. Andrew’s Day, Task 3: Legend has it that the saltire or St. Andrew’s cross (white on an azure background) – which constitutes the national flag of Scotland – originated as a cloud formation, symbolizing St. Andrew’s being crucified on an X-shaped cross rather than an upright one. Do […]
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Happy Independence Day – and, my Freedom and Future Library
Related Blog Post: Book Recs Solicited: Freedom and Future Library Reading Project: Freedom and Future Library Could there possibly be a better day on which to finally follow up on my Freedom and Future Library post? Truth be told, I’d been hoping to compile this much faster, but RL threw a major spanner in […]
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Book Recs Solicited: Freedom and Future Library
You’d have to be living under a rock buried somewhere halfway down to the center of the earth in order not to be aware that in recent years our beautiful world has been shaken up by a number of crises the likes of which I, at least, have not experienced in my entire lifetime — […]
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England (the Southern / Central Part), from East to West and Back: Bookish Souvenirs
The Trip: * Chiltern Hills and Thames Valley (to mystery lovers, aka “Midsomer County” — though given that this is an area chock-full of quintessential(ly) English villages, it’s no surprise that it also routinely provides locations for other series, such as Inspector Morse, The Vicar of Dibley, and of course, adaptations of Agatha Christie’s mysteries […]
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The Telegraph | 31 reasons why we love Scotland – Travel
The most irresistible things about Scotland, whether you’re looking for remoteness, wildlife, culture or whisky. Source: The Telegraph | 31 reasons why we love Scotland – Travel
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The Telegraph: Britain’s Best Islands
Scenic, quirky and often remote, Britain’s islands are a world apart from daily life. Nick Crane, who presents the television series ‘Coast’, introduces our guide to 10 of the best. The Isle of Skye “feels very Lord of the Rings” Source: Britain’s best islands – Telegraph
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The Telegraph: The most beautiful places in Ireland – Travel
Dark Hedges Road, Co Antrim An 18th-century beech tree-lined road known as the Dark Heges near Stranocum, Country Antrim, made famous by Game of Thrones. Source: The most beautiful places in Ireland – Travel
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