I did promise that this weekend I would write about two leaders, Boudicca and Cleopatra, however I am behind on my research. This is mostly due to the amount of information I’ve run across, and getting sidetracked at online bookstores … Continue reading
Tag Archives: History
After a chilly spring, summer has finally arrived where I live in New England…with a vengeance! Thank goodness for air conditioning… Speaking of which, did you know that the first building to be air conditioned was in London…back in the … Continue reading
The Pacific wind visits us often, bringing a cool freshet to the hot Willamette Valley. I’m outside with warm ginger tea beginning the blog of which subject I have no idea. I got two “Smithsonian” magazines today; I just subscribed … Continue reading
Well, have you? Swan Upping is the traditional census-taking of Mute Swans on the River Thames, wherein swans are rounded up, checked for bands or banded, and released. The king or queen of England, by ancient law and custom dating … Continue reading
I am an avid collector–and reader–of nineteenth century media. Give me an 1816 La Belle Assemblée or an 1810 Ackermann’s Repository of the Arts and Sciences, and I’ll be happy for hours: though the serialized fiction featured in them can be … Continue reading
One of the joys of leafing through the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, a marvelous compendium of early 19th century British slang, is running across expressions and figures of speech still in use today that you would never guess were … Continue reading
So here we all still are, still largely in we-ain’t-going-anywhere-just-yet mode (aside from the guys who apparently think that wielding an assault rifle on the steps of their state’s Capitol will somehow get them a haircut by a disposable barber … Continue reading
One of the joys of writing historical fantasy is mining the past for tidbits and obscure events on which to hang a story…and one of the best places to do that is the wealth of magazines and other periodicals that … Continue reading
Tomorrow is November 5. This is one of those statements that look simple but contain multiplicities of meaning. I asked friends on Facebook what they thought of the date and I was fascinated by how many ways there were of … Continue reading
I’ve lived in the Mid-Atlantic region all my life, and somehow have never done anything in Richmond but pass through it on my way to somewhere else. But I knew I ought to visit. The city was the capital of … Continue reading