Cooking, Rural Living, Womanly Feminism

A Shrove Tuesday Miscellany

I have always loved Shrove Tuesday--Fat Tuesday--Mardi Gras. There are no carnivals here at Chateau Right. (other than the general joyous mayhem that always transpires when out for a walk with two very large and energetic dogs, or the daily crowing and self-congratulatory strutting about of Chinggis the rooster), but, all my life, every Shrove… Continue reading A Shrove Tuesday Miscellany

Feminism, Politics, Womanly Feminism

Commemorating the Iron Lady: 2023

Crimenutely.  It's been almost half-a-century.  On this day, February 11, 1975, Margaret Hilda Roberts Thatcher was elected, at the age of 48, the leader of the British Conservative Party.  Four years later, she became Europe's first woman Prime Minister.  And the mark she left endures to this day.  Some of Maggie's gems: “I always cheer… Continue reading Commemorating the Iron Lady: 2023

Culture, Plain Speaking, Rural Living, Womanly Feminism

The Headwaters of the Mississippi, and a Few Other Things

This post requires a bit of imagination.  It involves what used to be called a "poetic conceit," in the days when it was allowable to speak in simile and metaphor, or to employ metonomy or synecdoche, secure in the knowledge that your audience didn't have to know what any of those things actually was, or… Continue reading The Headwaters of the Mississippi, and a Few Other Things

Beauty, Family, Plain Speaking, Womanly Feminism

Growing Up Ginger, 2023

January 12, 2023 is this year's "Kiss a Ginger Day!"  No sense letting Prince Harry have all the fun, so I think I'll throw my hat into the ring with a post originally published on the member feed on Ricochet, six years ago today, on January 12, 2017.  Tempus fugit, as they say....(If you're a… Continue reading Growing Up Ginger, 2023

Plain Speaking, Womanly Feminism

Quote of the Day: On Forgiveness and Moving On

I don't think it's too much to say that I have--as is required of me--forgiven much in my day.  By the same token, there's much I may have done--deliberately or not--which requires a bit of forgiveness on the part of others.  Whether or not they are up to the task isn't my business, and sits… Continue reading Quote of the Day: On Forgiveness and Moving On

Britishness, Cooking, Food and Drink, Womanly Feminism

Post #582

The word "for" is not a pronoun. That's a fruitcake. Herewith, my dad's much-loved recipe for mince pies--one which I have shared many times, both online and in-person--from the Farmhouse Fare cookbook: Plum Mincemeat 4 lbs plums 2 lemons 1 cup water 8 large cooking apples 4 oz currants 4 oz raisins 4 oz sultanas… Continue reading Post #582

common sense, Culture, Quote of the Day, Womanly Feminism

The Greatest and First Rule: Make Friends With People Who Want the Best For You

If you surround yourself with people who support your upward aim, they will not tolerate your cynicism and destructiveness. They will instead encourage you when you do good for yourself and others and punish you carefully when you do not. This will help you bolster your resolve to do what you should do, in the… Continue reading The Greatest and First Rule: Make Friends With People Who Want the Best For You

Plain Speaking, Quote of the Day, Womanly Feminism

A Horse! A Horse! My Kingdom for a Horse!

Am I the only person on planet Earth who finds the alleged proffering, by Elon Musk to his contract employee, of…umm…a horse in return for doubling down on her sexual favors towards him, more than a little ridiculous? Good.  I hoped not. On the other hand, perhaps not so ridiculous (I always try to pay attention… Continue reading A Horse! A Horse! My Kingdom for a Horse!

Culture, Plain Speaking, Social Media Idiocy, Womanly Feminism

The Ballad of Amber and Johnny: Make it Stop. Please.

Well now Frankie and Johnny were sweethearts They were true as a blue blue sky--The Ballad of Frankie and Johnny, Sammy Cahn and Johnny Green Apparently, Amber Heard and Johnny Depp met during the filming of The Rum Diary, a movie based on the Hunter S. Thompson book of the same name.  Depp was, it… Continue reading The Ballad of Amber and Johnny: Make it Stop. Please.

Family, Family Matters, Life, Womanly Feminism

On Granny. Oh, and On Chocolate, Too. And a Few Other Things As Well

On this April 16, 2022, a day that would have been my grandmother Molly's 124th birthday, I bring back a post originally published five years ago today, on Ricochet.  Nothing's changed. My grandmother Molly could be a rather stern old lady. She was born when Queen Victoria was still on the throne, on April 16,… Continue reading On Granny. Oh, and On Chocolate, Too. And a Few Other Things As Well