One of the nicest things about camping at Chapel Farm House (aside from sponging off our Host Family) was the short, easy walk to the Church of St. Mary, which just happens to be a Grade II listed building dating back from the early 1400s, with additions in the 1600s and some restoration in 1883. … Read more The Church of St Mary, Craswall, Herefordshire
I have been camping, and lo it was very much fun! Sweet Babou and I and the small herd of daughters were invited to go along with our friends, whom we call our Host Family who are showing us how to be properly British and do British stuff, on a small camping trip for the… Read more Camping in the Welsh Marches
Sunday was a lovely, sunshiny day in South Wales so my Sweet Babou and I loaded the kids up and took them to meet some friends for an amiable amble through Fforest Fawr (which means the big (hunting) woods in Welsh), also known to locals as Bluebell Woods. It feels wonderfully rural but in reality… Read more A Sunny Sunday in Fforest Fawr
Happy May Day Birthday to my darling middle daughter, Buttercup! I had heard all my life that “May babies were good babies” (they weren’t fussy and were healthy) and that babies born on Beltane were a particular blessing for their parents … and particularly blessed individuals. This belief may have come to America with the… Read more Beltane Babies Are Best!
Today is Easter, and, as most people reading this know, it the Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion. It is the holist day of the Christian liturgical calendar and a day when most Christians, even those who normally eschew church-going, attend a morning service. A lot of… Read more Some Bunny Loves You
My lovely, sweet –natured, bleeding-heart daughter Blossom recently announced to a table of her birthday guests that she was “genocidal”. While her friends stared at her, aghast, I calmly asked, “What do you think that word means, Blossom?” She smiled and chirped, “That you are a fan of creepy movies and stories about murder and… Read more That word doesn’t mean what you think it means …
My beloved eldest daughter came into the world on 29 March 2005 like a firework, and she has been filling me with same overwhelming awe and joy that I felt when I first saw her ever since. Blossom has been in my life for 12 glorious years now, and I cannot fathom how my world… Read more Happy Birthday Beautiful Blossom
I am in a bit of a quandary. Wither do I dither, you may ask? You see, it is International Women’s Day, many women are on strike for A Day Without Women, and there are too many things I want to blog about on this topic. On the one hand, I could blog about Jane… Read more International Women’s Day and Squirrels
(Today I have a video talk up over on My Jane Austen Book Club, so please stop by and say hi!) Yesterday, I promised to share the tale of Lady Caroline Lamb’s rather risqué and unusual love token to Lord Byron, and as a woman of my word I herby give you the excerpt from… Read more Lover’s Knot Done?
Woot! My newest book has gone live! Grab one while it’s fresh! Here’s the burb: Fans of Jane Austen will recognise the players and the setting – Mansfield Park has been telling the story of Fanny Price and her happily ever after for more than 200 years. But behind the scenes of Mansfield Park, there’s… Read more Mansfield Parsonage is Here!!