7 December 2022
Christmas Tree Festival
1 December 2022
December
🎄December the 8th is National Brownie Day 😋 my favourite baked treat, and one of America’s favourites, where they originated.
🎄Dr Robert Liston (28 October 1794 – 7 December 1847) was a British surgeon noted for his speed and skill in an era prior to anaesthetics, when speed made a difference in terms of pain and survival. On December the 21st 1846 The first surgical anaesthetic using ether was administered by William Squire during surgery by Dr Liston at the University College Hospital in London. If you're interested in the history of anesthesia follow this link for some interesting and humerous facts.
29 November 2022
A Good Read
The Thursday Murder Club
When new murders occur in the community, they are convinced they can find the culprit. Eventually, working with two reluctant police detectives, they take up the challenge.
Celebrity writers can be a hit and miss experience. I found this delightful. I loved the senior citizens with their sassy antics and their zest for life. I loved the twists and turns of their unorthodox investigations. The gentle humour strikes just the right balance, without being too flippant or cheesy. I also liked the detectives, with their protectiveness of the septuagenarians and their good-natured acceptance of their often questionable behaviour.
26 November 2022
Another Chromebook
24 November 2022
17 November 2022
A Good Read
The date was May 1991. The location: a quiet, picturesque seaside town. The scene: two bodies in a car filled with carbon monoxide. It was thought that police officer Trevor Buchanan and nurse Lesley Howell had taken their own lives, unable to live with the pain of their spouses’ affair with each other. The adulterers - Sunday school teacher Hazel Buchanan and dentist Colin Howell had met in the local Baptist Church. Deeply religious and deeply in love they wanted to be together but Howell would not entertain divorce, opting instead for murder. It was uncomfortable reading about how they planned and executed the murders.
14 November 2022
Rufus' Diary
10 November 2022
9 November 2022
A Good Read
Big Sky by Kate Atkinson
This is the last of the Jackson Brodie series, it’is not essential to read them in order but after this I did then want to do just that. I love Atkinson’s novels, she has a wonderful way with words, evocative and vividly descriptive characters and plots.
This one has a sinister opening – eastern European sisters Nadja and Katja are skyping with the representative of an employment agency called Anderson Price Associates, who is arranging to fly them to the UK to take up jobs in high-end hospitality. Nooo, the reader cries, don’t do it. Sure enough, with the Skype connection severed, we learn that the swanky offices they can see behind “Mr Price” are a stage set.
Meanwhile ex-military police, ex-Cambridge Constabulary Jackson has relocated to a quiet seaside village, with the occasional company of his recalcitrant teenage son and an ageing Labrador. Now working as a private investigator, his current fairly mediocre job is gathering proof of an unfaithful husband, but a chance encounter with a desperate man on a crumbling cliff leads him into a sinister network of child abuse, human trafficking and kidnapping.
With a trio of golfing mates, a feisty trophy wife and an excellent plot there are plenty of turns to keep the reader engrossed, and although it is far from a comedy, it does have some funny moments.
Despite the subject matter it is a very good novel, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
4 November 2022
Gunpowder Treason And Plot
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was a failed assassination attempt against King James I by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who wanted to restore the Catholic monarchy to England.
3 November 2022
A Good Read
YOU DIDN'T MEAN TO DO IT.
IT WAS ONLY ONCE.
BUT NOW HE'S DEAD, AND SOMEONE HAS TO PAY . .
In Poppy’s mind, there are two types of women in this world: those who are faithful to their husbands, and those who are not. Until now, Poppy has never questioned which one she was, but when handsome, charming Matthew Gordon walks back into her life after almost two decades, that changes.
Once an aspiring actress Poppy now runs an agency providing extras for film and TV roles. At the Association of Supporting Artistes and Agents' Christmas party she bumps into Matthew Gordon. When they were at drama school, they were an item for three years but Gordon broke Poppy's heart when he left her for another student.
Betty tells her story to Poppy in a series of letters describing her life with her deceased husband Jock, a selfish, controlling and imperious man who has since passed away. A marriage that Betty considered a mistake, but behaved as the social pressures dictated at the time and stayed with him. She opens up to Poppy, revealing secrets and regrets from a very naïve and oppressed young woman.
Jane Corry turns the tables brilliantly from excitement to a rapid descent into fear and dread.
1 November 2022
November
In the year 835 AD the Roman Catholic Church made the 1st of November a church holiday to honour all the saints. This feast day is called All Saints' Day which also used to be known as All Hallows (Hallow being an old word meaning Saint or Holy Person). The feast day actually started the previous evening, the Eve of All Hallows.
Also on the 8th November 1920 Rupert Bear was "born". The Daily Express published the first Rupert Bear strip cartoon.
On the 9th November 1989, the Berlin Wall separating Western and Eastern Germany was opened, allowing citizens from both east and west to cross freely.
On the 18th November 1307 William Tell, a Swiss patriot, refused to pay homage to the Austrian Governor. As a punishment he was made to shoot an arrow through an apple placed on his son's head.
Taking his bow, William Tell aimed. His arrow split the apple, and his son's life was spared.
On the 23rd November 1963 the first episode of Dr Who was broadcast. It was in black and white and starred William Hartnell as the Doctor.
America celebrates Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday in November. It dates back to 1621, the year after Pilgrims from England arrived in Massachusetts.
A Christmas pudding is traditionally made with 13 ingredients to represent Christ and His Disciples.
A coin was traditionally added to the ingredients and cooked in the pudding. It was supposedly to bring wealth to whoever found it on their plate on Christmas Day. The traditional coin was an old silver sixpence or threepenny bit.
Other traditional additions to the pudding included a ring, to foretell a marriage, and a thimble for a lucky life.
C.S. Lewis was born on the 29th November 1898. As well as a writer he was also a professor, teaching university students at Oxford and Cambridge. He is best known for his series 'The Chronicles of Narnia". The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is his most famous book. The Narnia books have been translated into more than 45 languages.




































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