All Purls. No Swine.
Oh, holy cow. It’s January 22. Exactly 120 years ago today that Queen Victoria popped her clogs breathed her last. I don’t know why the recency of that date surprises me so much. Perhaps because so many members of my family whom I remember were alive on that date. Great Granny, who was born four years… Continue reading The Widow At Windsor
Happy January 21! The sun has come up, the earth is still turning, and life goes on in these United States. Today is, according to legend, the 1717th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Agnes of Rome, patron saint of young girls and defender of the chaste. Brutally murdered in AD 304 at the order… Continue reading “Lucent syrops, tinct with cinnamon”
It's been, as my mother used to say, "as cold as charity" around Chateau Right for the past few days, chilly, damp and blustery--very reminiscent of a long-ago Thanksgiving and one of the most magical episodes of my life. I refer, of course, to the strange case of the Macedonia Baptist Bunnies. If I were… Continue reading Macedonia Baptist Bunnies!
One of my favorite authors, Rudyard Kipling, died 85 years ago today. Eighty-five years. Lord, not all that long ago. I’m within two decades of that lived milestone myself. (I’m 66, for those of you who are keeping track, or who’d like to weigh in on what an irrelevant old hag I am.) On that… Continue reading “You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!”
Why do men fight, and why are they willing to continue to fight to the last man, preferring death to surrender? T. E. Lawrence said men go to war “because the women were watching.” According to Michael Walsh, in his new book, Lawrence’s answer holds more truth than irony. Men fight for their families. Last… Continue reading Book Review by Seawriter: Why Men Fight
Sixty years ago today, my idyllic life as an only child came to an end and I began the rest of my life as a sibling. We were living in Mubi, in the British Cameroons which was, at the time, administered as a United Nations Trust Territory. In a few short months, a plebiscite would… Continue reading “Two Different Faces”–Happy Birthday, Sis!
Some years ago, I enjoyed a spirited argument with a friend about a movie. I was strongly in favor; she was apathetic, to say the least. Some of you, like my friend, may not be fans. It’s possible you are offended by the many continuity gaffes. Perhaps you can’t get past the clunky, rather claustrophobic, sets. Maybe… Continue reading “Play La Marseillaise. Play it!”
I've written several posts about my rather schizophrenic musical tastes, and how, even as a child of the 1960's, I never owned a Beatles album (or even a 45!) until after I got married and Mr. Right gave one to me as a gift. My early childhood (mid-to-late 1950s) was spent mostly in Nigeria, sometimes… Continue reading It’s Only Words…
Two things got me thinking of this "oldie but goodie" post, first published on Ricochet in 2014: First, I inspected the nether regions of a few of my ewes the other day, in order to adjudge the imminence of any blessed events. (Another couple of weeks, I think; things generally start popping around here in… Continue reading Reflections On a Childhood Hymn
There are two sorts of people in the world: There are decent, kind, honest people who treat others the way they would like to be treated and who return good for evil when they encounter it in the world. And then there are those who are neither decent, nor kind, nor honest, and who take… Continue reading On Stalkers, Cyberbullies, and (Finally) Turning the Page