by Valerie | Dec 16, 2019 | 1950s, art, Fashion, Fifties, General interest, history, people, travel
A few thoughts before Christmas Are all – or most – happy memories bathed in sunshine outside? Or inside? Or does remembrance make them so? Now, in a dark moment as 2019 slides away, shards shine through impending darkness in no particular order, thrown up... by Valerie | Dec 12, 2019 | 1950s, Fashion, General interest, history, horses, people, travel
It feels as if some unseen force is stirring a cauldron of emotions that would burst into conflict were it not controlled by the convention of the ballot box. Perhaps the frostiness of the winter world outside acts as a constraint. A stone’s throw away from here is a... by Valerie | Nov 27, 2019 | art, childhood, General interest, history, Italy, people, reading groups, theatre, travel, writing a novel
The loft – a child’s paradise. The place where parents put whatever they did not quite know what to do with but feared to throw away. Occasionally there is a sad moment when you silently watch bulging bin liners bumped down the stairs to a temporary store at the back... by Valerie | Nov 15, 2019 | General interest, travel
Inner thoughts reveal a disturbing landscape when inadvertently released into public view. So it was with that crack in Jacob Rees Mogg’s impeccable public image of a man like a walking poker with a matching face. Would he have followed his own advice if trapped in... by Valerie | Sep 25, 2019 | museums, people, travel
Evenings are now invading afternoon as the northern hemisphere tips into the darkest days of the year – a time of melancholy. I was born in the depths of winter and suffer from the loss of daylight. Christmas is three months away, but already I yearn for the bright... by VT | Sep 19, 2019 | General interest, history, Italy, travel
We were told that the mill where we have taken our olive harvest for years was hosting a supper in aid of the restoration of the local church. ‘Why don’t you come?’ I was asked to pay at the local bar, but they only wanted my name and how many in our group. We were to...
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