All Purls. No Swine.
As some of you know, I’m currently owned by two dogs: Xena, an elderly Great Pyrenees, and Odo, a puppy of the same breed. My last experience with a puppy was in 1986 (Wulfie, the Old English Sheepdog), and I’d forgotten how exhausting, challenging, charming, and occasionally hilarious, such a thing can be. In the… Continue reading No Matter What: Contrarian Pets, and the Owner Who Loves Them
Just listened to this week's Steyn Audio Show, a weekly feature of his site in which Mark entertains questions and thoughts from members of the Mark Steyn Club. (Anyone can listen; only club members can submit topics for conversation.) As usual, it's a fascinating romp through a smart and witty man's mind, together with the… Continue reading Winning the War; Losing the Peace
I've been there and done that. Sometimes on my own account, sometimes as an employee or contractor for others who sought my professional opinion. Here--after much research, a considerable amount of training, a purposeful opinion that ignorant drivel and slaver aren't helpful, and decades of failure and occasional success, even if only in a small… Continue reading Thinking of Naming a Business? Some Tips
I just picked the first of this season's dandelions and brought them inside as a treat for Miss Bunny. Doing so reminded me of this post, from almost exactly a year ago, and of how much I love this season: Simple and fresh and fair from winter’s close emerging, As if no artifice of fashion,… Continue reading Harbinger
I posted a comment in response to this article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/life/final-straw-family-farm/ Many of you may find it’s behind the paywall, so a few excerpts: Generations of farmers have stood up to Brexit and other difficulties, but the Ukraine war could push them over the edge financially For consumers, the war in Ukraine and its impact on commodity… Continue reading I’ve Been Cancelled by the Daily Telegraph: One of the Proudest Moments of my Life
...so then is vice its own punishment," The first part of today's conditional QOTD can be traced back to ancient times and (at the least) the Stoic meditations of Epictetus in which he wrote "the reward of virtue is in the acts of virtue." IOW--if you do something good for others (a virtuous act) there's… Continue reading Quote of the Day: “If Virtue is its Own Reward…
Oh, to be in England, Now that April’s there, And whoever wakes in England Sees, some morning, unaware, That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf, While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough In England – now!! Perhaps it’s the fact that I'm still leery of… Continue reading Thoughts of Abroad, From Home