Not all of us have one, but the majority of us yearn for one. A place to lay our head. To call home. To hang up the champagne cork on a pink ribbon, to park a pot plant and a stereo, and eat chinese food. Home is where the heart is. But what if one … Continue reading »
The dog was delighted. He had spotted his sworn enemy, the huge husky-type, walking past the back gate. And if he timed it just right he could bark at the back and then hare through the kitchen and catch his enemy at the front for further remonstration. Normally his mistress would head this one off … Continue reading »
Repost day. I love this post because I get to listen to my beloved Rimsky-Korsakov and shout his name from the rooftops. Give me the mad, bad, wild Russian composers any day of the week… When I met my husband, many moons ago, he was what one might call a wild child. He and his … Continue reading »
Versatility: flexible fine-tuned fabulousness. A valued commodity, this versatility. My old Oxford Dictionary says it’s the ability to turn easily or readily from one subject from another, a many-useful thing. And once, shrouded in the mists of cybertime, someone dreamt up an award which celebrates the blogger who has all this. Where it came from, … Continue reading »
For the last few years, our garden has been home to a shabby giant. This is a British garden, you understand: none of your unlimited tracts of fertile land with chickens running all over it; none of these acres running down to the creek and gazelles and giraffes craning over the distant perimeter fence. This … Continue reading »
A king’s foot is of singular importance, it seems. Especially one English King’s foot, if you believe the folklore: That of the first Henry, the king who ironed out all those nasty little administrative wrinkles left by his red-head brother William Rufus. What William had torn asunder, Henry put back together.He gave the Lords a … Continue reading »
Rarely have my eyes been arrested and unable to move from a portrait, as they were when I saw Chrysogon Dacre. And I wasn’t the only one. The room was full of people, there to see the sumptuous home of one of England’s great families at The Vyne, in Hampshire. But they all stopped short … Continue reading »
So an old Estonian tale has a humble woodcutter going out into the forest to chop trees. You wouldn’t think he would have any problems: except that in this old tale, replete with strange Eastern European imagery, the trees can talk. So he prepared to chop down a stout oak tree, when an oaky voice … Continue reading »
However charged life becomes, you can guarantee that Macaulay the dog will always be a few degrees more unhinged than the rest of us. But law enforcement means a lot to him. To a terrier, this means patrolling, alarming and remonstrating. He likes to patrol. This morning I watched the seconds of precious minutes tick … Continue reading »
Repost day: rather like leftovers day. Life is packed with event here and time is short. This is one of my favourites. This evening I walked the dog in the dusk and trailed home to read Felix a story. We have finished our beloved Cressida Cowell, with her fabulous stories of the Viking sagas … Continue reading »
