tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18694066709015080272024-03-26T23:38:16.064-07:00Hannah DennisonHannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-57204559784322251742013-11-22T15:50:00.000-08:002013-11-22T15:50:00.031-08:00Fancy a cuppa and a chance to win a Brown Betty teapot?
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Although I’ve lived away from the UK for twenty years now
(and these past 11 months in Portland, Oregon) I still stick rigidly to my four 0'clock teatime ritual. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">On Facebook
recently</span><b>, </b>author<span style="font-weight: normal;"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethJDuncan?fref=ts">Elizabeth Duncan</a> asked her friends and followers the question, “What is your favorite brand of tea?” </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I used to adore <a href="http://www.yorkshiretea.co.uk/">Yorkshire Gold </a>but now I find it too strong. I enjoy <a href="http://www.pgtips.co.uk/">PG Tips</a> but that could be because of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgzEBLa3PPk">“Cooeee Mr. Shifter” </a>– a commercial from 1971. <span style="font-weight: normal;">Hilarious. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji1qkAC7O85CSGeq-lChsmhM8L1TUC-NFEyuQb3CQkgXyg_2zm8Wks-FIfawdMZ3bDB98dOsvNgEK8q2fAm9ESKZP13QcxpKse1CyWY7gKSAqpfqB_i5HYwqBeJVOeuuRIzlCvvg3buVvz/s1600/DSCN0762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji1qkAC7O85CSGeq-lChsmhM8L1TUC-NFEyuQb3CQkgXyg_2zm8Wks-FIfawdMZ3bDB98dOsvNgEK8q2fAm9ESKZP13QcxpKse1CyWY7gKSAqpfqB_i5HYwqBeJVOeuuRIzlCvvg3buVvz/s200/DSCN0762.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I love <a href="http://www.twiningsusashop.com/lady-grey.html">Twinings</a> (especially Lady Grey), I don’t mind <a href="http://www.tetleyusa.com/">Tetley</a>,
I loathe Liptons (is that really tea? Seriously?) but my all-time favorite is …
<a href="http://www.mariagefreres.com/boutique/UK/ft+french-breakfast-tea-classical-black-tin-100g+TC7000.html">French Breakfast Tea </a>by Mariage Freres. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Quelle horreur! I hear my fellow countrymen
and anglophiles cry. But it’s true. I love it. Perhaps it’s the packaging … or
even the little muslin bags?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Drinking tea from the correct cup makes a difference, too. </span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbOwta2zb6oIxLgfx63VD-NDmDcjIzqSMWqjF0p8dA-bwP1otq_BxBY5rsbhPPlp50kD7GgfTKRHALJYQ6bPYpX036qliX8G2sesHoWpgW1WI-hssRG0tb2i9j6W8gObJONGblUlRqUcj/s1600/DSCN0761.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbOwta2zb6oIxLgfx63VD-NDmDcjIzqSMWqjF0p8dA-bwP1otq_BxBY5rsbhPPlp50kD7GgfTKRHALJYQ6bPYpX036qliX8G2sesHoWpgW1WI-hssRG0tb2i9j6W8gObJONGblUlRqUcj/s200/DSCN0761.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tottering-By-Gently</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My mother insists that only workmen on building sites or plumbers (I do not
share her opinion) drink tea from heavy mugs. Bone china is the only way to go.
I’m not a fan of a cup and saucer (the tea gets cold too quickly) so these
delicate mugs from <a href="http://www.tottering.com/index.php?cPath=36&osCsid=2cfb102f11f851d2929328154519913f">Tottering-by-Gently</a> are a perfect compromise. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtjlsbuspNHiYUqzInnxMBkOXufLw-_krGtdUxj1JmHybdRSMA1DEZojVondTU5qe-wqD-xWyiS37TMOaAv2xHL-BWPIzikIH5HrT0koZ3ChccJ4EC9oGNGMeCJoXM7vDP1alTeNubRmw3/s1600/MurderAtHoneychurchHall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtjlsbuspNHiYUqzInnxMBkOXufLw-_krGtdUxj1JmHybdRSMA1DEZojVondTU5qe-wqD-xWyiS37TMOaAv2xHL-BWPIzikIH5HrT0koZ3ChccJ4EC9oGNGMeCJoXM7vDP1alTeNubRmw3/s200/MurderAtHoneychurchHall.jpg" width="170" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But the true test of a good cuppa is in the way it’s made. And
if you want to know how … click on this link to my<a href="http://eepurl.com/H9t0b"> latest newsletter</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ll also find details of a free contest for a chance to win a genuine Brown Betty teapot. All you have to do is guess the name
of the dog on the book cover of my brand new series that will be coming
out in May of 2014 called Murder at Honeychurch Hall. The contest ends December
1. Winners will be contacted by email and announced on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/VickyHillMysteries?ref=hl">Facebook</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But for now, my little alarm has just gone off. It’s 3.50 PM
exactly. In ten minutes I’ll be sitting down with my afternoon cuppa and a
McVitites chocolate digestive biscuit. Yum. </span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-10446473214661377942013-06-11T19:04:00.000-07:002013-06-11T19:04:24.121-07:00The Sun is Out!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJvPu2I3s6GdhhZv0EG2Gtvu_RfWZPJ1KqzXx5N9FbWwHqiwf_RkICiaZzoK7LmfpCVM1koik2xRgMIDuur2ci8AyM4zUrPRIW2BMdRegQl7IenntEXeyvubGgP1KbvQ83oD8Q38tK76Ka/s1600/Sunriver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJvPu2I3s6GdhhZv0EG2Gtvu_RfWZPJ1KqzXx5N9FbWwHqiwf_RkICiaZzoK7LmfpCVM1koik2xRgMIDuur2ci8AyM4zUrPRIW2BMdRegQl7IenntEXeyvubGgP1KbvQ83oD8Q38tK76Ka/s200/Sunriver.jpg" width="147" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from our room at Sunriver</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Well ... summer is around the corner and I'm beginning to cheer up a little. I had obviously lived in California for far too long. Who would have thought the lack of sunshine would have had such an impact on me. I even bought a SAD light. <br />
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But - this past weekend my husband and I went to the <a href="http://www.sunriver-resort.com/">Sunriver</a> Resort in Bend, Oregon. It was absolutely gorgeous. We had so much fun whitewater rafting, trail riding, hiking, cycling ... Oregon is such a wonderful place to be—when it's sunny.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4AWqFp6ioH3ivLUCGD_6F69WPR21bzO59-d4FAf29hW-CMpjPIq_GPqXEWHKoifssHk07ZZoxcMU4Z_y5mOsBN2MX_OBxrOJfug4Q7Y29v0pyhmi454yGvB4KqN-auXKpAQf9QLWo-7G8/s1600/DSC_0503.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4AWqFp6ioH3ivLUCGD_6F69WPR21bzO59-d4FAf29hW-CMpjPIq_GPqXEWHKoifssHk07ZZoxcMU4Z_y5mOsBN2MX_OBxrOJfug4Q7Y29v0pyhmi454yGvB4KqN-auXKpAQf9QLWo-7G8/s200/DSC_0503.jpeg" title="" width="200" /></a><br />
But - no more grumbling! I am making a solemn intention from this point forwards to embrace my new life. To "bloom where I'm planted" - something a new friend (and everyone in Portland is so nice!) suggested I do.<br />
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However - just so you know what challenges lay ahead, here are <b>37 Things to Consider Before Moving To Portland</b>. (And a big thank you to <a href="http://annanicholas.com/STARRING/Anna_Nicholas.html">Anna Nicholas </a>who sent me this cool blog from Estately).<br />
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Click on this link - and learn! <a href="http://blog.estately.com/2013/06/37-things-to-consider-before-moving-to-portland/">Estately: 37 Things to Consider Before Moving to Portland</a> Oh ... and there is always the TV Show Portlandia...<br />
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<br />Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-50867967688259304832013-04-26T00:30:00.000-07:002013-04-26T00:30:01.075-07:00Adjusting to a New LifeThere's a saying "be careful what you wish for" and for the past decade, all I have wanted is to quit my full-time job in Los Angeles and write.<br />
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When my husband's job moved us to Portland, Oregon in January, I was over the moon. At last my dream was coming true but somehow, things didn't quite work out how I imagined.<br />
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This is what I imagined: Getting up at a decent hour (I used to wake at 4.30 AM to write before work) with a leisurely cup of coffee followed by a few hours of serious writing. Ideas would pour into my mind. I'd type away with a huge, contented smile on my face—possibly working on two or three projects at the same time.<br />
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I'd make a healthy lunch and lose 10 pounds because I wasn't tempted by office snacks. Afterwards, I'd take a leisurely walk along the river (it's beautiful here) or perhaps an exercise class. I'd be thin. Toned. Radiant. Gorgeous.<br />
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I'd spend another couple of hours at my writing—rattle off a few emails, play on Facebook, phone my mother and the friends I never had time for whilst living in Los Angeles. At 4 PM I'd stop for a traditional cup of English tea and read a book for an hour. After that, I'd cook something absolutely fabulous for supper—possibly French—greet my husband at the door like a 1950's housewife and we'd share our day.<br />
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How wrong could I be!!<br />
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First of all ...I've discovered that without a rigid structure to my day, all my self-discipline has flown out the window. When I worked full-time my days were ruled by panic and the fear that I would never turn my books in on time. It was what got me out of bed at 4.30 AM.<br />
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Secondly ... I really really miss my work people. Being part of a crazy advertising environment was actually a lot of fun. True, it was insane and very stressful but a true mine of inspiration when it came to devising murder plots and selecting victims.<br />
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Thirdly ... it rains. Okay - as I am typing this, it is day 3 of sun which is apparently really unusual. Yes, I'm British and I should be used to the weather by now, but after twenty years in sunny California it's very hard staring at a gray sky day in—day out. Apparently, <a href="http://www.ifc.com/shows/portlandia">Portlandians</a> (and do check that series out because Portland is exactly like the show) say that summer officially begins on July 5. I have to find the funny though because last year when my husband and I were gripped by the American TV version of <a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-killing">The Killing</a>, I would say "Good God. I can't imagine living somewhere so dreary where it rains all the time! I'd kill myself." And here we are ... months later living exactly where it rains all the time. Of course, I miss my little feline friend, Mr. Tig so I suspect that hasn't helped.<br />
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And as for exercise. Honestly. Up until yesterday I would have said I didn't care but we just enrolled in "Full-Tilt Spin" classes at <a href="http://firebrandsports.com/">Firebrand</a>. I'll say one thing for Portland, it's pretty innovative. It's probably a good thing because the food in Portland is amazing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijtK_g82qQ8RBxwMJyxmdaUXgmjoLsjZXS7U-6GH6iD4O1orSKl9k_trQC6CnYsLz4dii4ly4YC_Tp1nz4JIfwETKHt4NXHDLN6Z0fc8x5fJQyEXSinNF3CcEa6gdVYzsABR7XhVRBz5Xy/s1600/Nuisance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijtK_g82qQ8RBxwMJyxmdaUXgmjoLsjZXS7U-6GH6iD4O1orSKl9k_trQC6CnYsLz4dii4ly4YC_Tp1nz4JIfwETKHt4NXHDLN6Z0fc8x5fJQyEXSinNF3CcEa6gdVYzsABR7XhVRBz5Xy/s320/Nuisance.jpg" width="224" /></a><br />
Oh! And I missed out a vital fact that although I have essentially given up full-time work in high-rise office, I'm still available "remotely" 24-7 to my Los Angeles boss ... and believe me, he takes advantage of that ... and I don't mind! I'm starved of conversation.<br />
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But grumbling apart, I know I'm lucky and as my mother would say, "only you can change your attitude." So ... that's what I'm going to do. Right after I've eaten the last slice of chocolate cake.<br />
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If anyone would like to share their moving-to-a-new-city story with me, I'd love to hear it!<br />
<br />Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-27818239638730291192013-04-12T10:07:00.001-07:002013-04-12T10:09:42.776-07:00Rainbow BridgeIt's been nearly three weeks since my darling Mr. Tig passed over to the Rainbow Bridge. I guess he never really adjusted to life in Portland, Oregon although - two years ago - he came close to leaving us so I try to think of having those extra two years with as a wonderful gift.<br />
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Nothing prepares you for the loss of a beloved pet but what has absolutely touched my heart is the amazing support from other animal lovers through countless emails, Facebook messages and phone calls.<br />
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Mr. Tig started his journey with me when I moved to California. He was a rescue cat and it was only by chance that my daughter Sarah and I saw him that boiling hot Saturday on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, California. We weren't looking to adopt a cat but there was something about him that made us change our minds. Mr. Tig's cage was on top of a little Spaniel and every few minutes, he'd push his paw through the grill and tap the Spaniel on the head and then, retreat and hide. It drove the poor dog crazy because he couldn't figure out what was happening ... so we took Mr. Tig home.<br />
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His name wasn't always Mr. Tig. The rescue society named him Flipper because he could turn somersaults... but we thought that a little unmanly so we called him Tiggy. It was only when the wonderful Ben Scuglia, pet psychic extraordinaire said Tiggy disliked that name and wanted to be called <i>Mister</i> Tig that we did as we were told. <br />
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Mr. Tig stayed with me when my daughter returned to England to go to college; he comforted me through the loss of my Dad ... and he fought for my affections when I first met Jason who became my husband (and Mr. Tig won Jason over, too). And finally, he stayed with us for the 1,000 mile drive to Oregon, making sure that all was well before saying goodbye.<br />
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And a huge thank you to Susan Van Hyning and Carolyn Hart for telling me all about Rainbow Bridge.<br />
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" 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" style="height: 198px; margin-top: -10px; width: 245px;" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Author unknown...</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Till we meet again ... R.I.P. my dearest boy - April 24, 1996 to March 25, 2013.</b></div>Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-82672013231481172502013-02-08T19:08:00.000-08:002013-02-08T19:08:38.557-08:00Mr. Tig Moves to Portland
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It is no secret that I am obsessed with my cat, Mr. Tig.
With his 17<sup>th</sup> birthday fast approaching, he and I have been through
a lot together. In fact, when I first met my husband Jason (who is really a dog person) Mr. Tig
was very put out and was determined to sabotage my blossoming
relationship. But that is a whole other story that ended with Jason giving me an ultimatum along the lines of, "it's me or the cat." Suffice it to say, I still have both in
my life. Jason and Mr. Tig bonded (eventually) and these days, they can
be found watching hockey together or just hanging out doing
guy-things. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But I digress. When my husband got a promotion and was transferred to the Portland office a few weeks ago, my wonderful boss agreed that I could work "remotely" from home leaving me more time to write. It's early days but so far so good. My biggest challenge seems to be finding a structure to my day. I was far more productive when I had less time! </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mr. Tig's challenge is to adapt to his new surroundings. —especially the weather. I</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">f he had been
human, I suspect he would be a surfer, say “dude” a lot and drive a Wrangler.
Now he has swapped the Californian sunshine for English-type weather (I feel right at home) – dreary gray skies
where, when the sun does come out, it’s optimistically called a “sun break.” I</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">t’s the land of vampires up here for sure (The Twilight series was filmed locally) but I’m told that when Spring finally comes it is gorgeous.<span> </span>The countryside is stunning, the food in Portland is beyond delicious and there are a gazillion coffee shops all roasting their own beans. And of course there is a strong writing community along with the world famous <a href="http://www.powells.com/">Powells of Portland</a>, the biggest bookstore in the world.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">…. I absolutely love it here and I do hope that Mr. Tig will adjust eventually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA1MIuHxpMj_6UohORHNzx8jVJJK12lhNRPUdUiMrs1-VL0lxZ6ToLeE8XqsdJ8b9YAhpE1rIIVZkYXwuTl37xRnuue40NWa0forMB4LE4FpCQlA1f2LZaS4c1hqZGSNx1ShDyWJ0WNUfv/s1600/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA1MIuHxpMj_6UohORHNzx8jVJJK12lhNRPUdUiMrs1-VL0lxZ6ToLeE8XqsdJ8b9YAhpE1rIIVZkYXwuTl37xRnuue40NWa0forMB4LE4FpCQlA1f2LZaS4c1hqZGSNx1ShDyWJ0WNUfv/s200/photo.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr. Tig</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Our holistic vet <a href="http://holistichousecallvetservice.weebly.com/about-dr-lisa-hoberg.html">Lisa Hoberg</a> <span style="font-weight: normal;"> says that moving a cat—especially an old cat—is very stressful. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">To help him along I purchased a Sol Box from <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/pets/index.ssf/2012/12/portland-based_company_creates.html">Pawsitive Lighting</a> that is specifically made for animals. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">It made a huge difference to his mood. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I still venture down to Los Angeles once a month for work
but in the meantime, Mr. Tig and I share the Sol Box light and listen to a CD called <a href="http://shop.bl.uk/mall/productpage.cfm/BritishLibrary/ISBN_9780712305198">"Songs of Garden Birds."</a> I've never been able to listen to music as I write but the sound of birds in the background is quite lovely and along with the special light, reminds me of a perfect English summer day. All that is missing is a jug of Pimms No. 1. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>NEWS</b>: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The first book in my new series will be published by Thomas
Dunne/St. Martin’s Press next Spring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you’d like to be added to my mailing list for updates on this as well as the Vicky Hill Mysteries (yes another one of those
brewing too,) send me an email to <a href="mailto:Hannah@hannahdennison.com">Hannah@hannahdennison.com</a>
with Mailing List in the subject line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-8505238555325598022012-11-16T00:30:00.000-08:002012-11-16T00:30:08.439-08:00The Challenges of the English Language<br />
<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
</div>
<br />
<br />
Even though I'm English, there are still words I struggle to pronounce correctly. Nothing is ever what it seems and pronouncing certain names phonetically doesn't help much either. Here are some examples:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Althorp = all-trupp. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Beauchamps = beecham</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Berkley = barclay</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Cockburn = co-burn</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Derby = darby</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Hertfordshire = hart-fordsheer</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Leicester Square = lester square</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Magdalen = maudelen</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Pall Mall = pal mal</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Saint John = sin jun</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Thames = tems</div>
<br />
I have often thought how confusing it must be to learn the English language and can't think of a better example than the following poem from Dutchman, G. Noise Trenite.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><i>Dearest creature in creation,</i></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><i>Study English pronunciation.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>I will teach you in my verse</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>I will keep you, Suzy, busy,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Make your head with heat grow dizzy.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Tear in eye, your dress will tear.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Just compare heart, beard, and heard,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Dies and diet, lord and word,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Sword and sward, retain and Britain.</i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>(</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Mind the latter, how it’s written.)</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Now I surely will not plague you</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>With such words as plaque and ague.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>But be careful how you speak:</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Cloven, oven, how and low,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Hear me say, devoid of trickery,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Exiles, similes, and reviles;</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Scholar, vicar, and cigar,</i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Solar, mica, war and far;</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>One, anemone, Balmoral,</i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Gertrude, German, wind and mind,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Scene, Melpomene, mankind.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Billet does not rhyme with ballet,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Blood and flood are not like food,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Nor is mould like should and would.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Viscous, viscount, load and broad,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Toward, to forward, to reward.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>And your pronunciation’s OK</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>When you correctly say croquet,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Friend and fiend, alive and live.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Ivy, privy, famous; clamour</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>And enamour rhyme with hammer.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Doll and roll and some and home.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Stranger does not rhyme with anger,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Neither does devour with clangour.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>And then singer, ginger, linger,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Query does not rhyme with very,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Nor does fury sound like bury.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Though the differences seem little,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>We say actual but victual.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Refer does not rhyme with deafer.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Fe0ffer does, and zephyr, heifer.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Mint, pint, senate and sedate;</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Dull, bull, and George ate late.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,</i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Science, conscience, scientific.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Liberty, library, heave and heaven,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>We say hallowed, but allowed,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>People, leopard, towed, but vowed.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Mark the differences, moreover,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Between mover, cover, clover;</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Chalice, but police and lice;</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Camel, constable, unstable,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Principle, disciple, label.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Petal, panel, and canal,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Senator, spectator, mayor.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Tour, but our and succour, four.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Gas, alas, and Arkansas.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Sea, idea, Korea, area,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Psalm, Maria, but malaria.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Doctrine, turpentine, marine.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Compare alien with Italian,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Dandelion and battalion.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Sally with ally, yea, ye,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Say aver, but ever, fever,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Heron, granary, canary.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Crevice and device and aerie.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Face, but preface, not efface.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Large, but target, gin, give, verging,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Ear, but earn and wear and tear</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Do not rhyme with here but ere.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Seven is right, but so is even,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Pronunciation (think of Psyche!)</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Is a paling stout and spikey?</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Won’t it make you lose your wits,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Writing groats and saying grits?</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Islington and Isle of Wight,</i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Housewife, verdict and indict.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Finally, which rhymes with enough,</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Hiccough has the sound of cup.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>My advice is to give up!!!</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I am so grateful I never had to learn the ropes!</span></span></div>
Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-37558095520942883832012-11-11T00:30:00.000-08:002012-11-11T00:30:01.607-08:00In Flanders Fields<a href="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSBGvDfLQ-iJmf1ky4xjB1sNZsUoYrw4dXaP_EhVB3xu2PpmNFK" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" class="rg_hi uh_hi" data-height="229" data-width="220" height="229" id="rg_hi" src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSBGvDfLQ-iJmf1ky4xjB1sNZsUoYrw4dXaP_EhVB3xu2PpmNFK" style="height: 229px; width: 220px;" width="220" /></a>It was the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month that marked the signing of the Armistice on November 1918. The guns on the Western Front fell silent after more than four years of continuous warfare. More than one million men and women from Britain and the Commonwealth died in World War One between 1914 and 1918.<br />
<br />
My grandfather was thirty years old when he fought in the trenches. He was invalided out in 1916 stone-deaf and suffering from shell-shock that meant he would never work again. With eight children to feed it was up to my grandmother to hold the family together.<br />
<br />
<br />
I never met him. Since my mother was the youngest of eight, Grandad died years before I was born but I think of him often—and always on Remembrance Day or Veteran's Day as it's known in the USA.<br />
<br />
Queen Elizabeth II lays the first wreath of poppies at the Cenotaph in Whitehall for all those men and women who have died in warfare. But wreaths are also laid around the country at War Memorials on village greens and in town squares.<br />
<br />
<br />
It's often asked why the red poppy became the symbol of remembrance.<br />
<br />
<br />
Flanders—the western part of Belgium—saw the most concentrated and bloodiest fighting in the First World War. There was complete devastation. Buildings, roads, trees and natural life simply disappeared. Where once there were homes and farms there was now a sea of mud. Only one other living thing survived. The poppy. It seemed to bring life, hope, color and reassurance to those still fighting.<br />
<br />
<br />
John McCrae, a doctor serving with the Canadian Armed Forces wrote this well-known poem.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<b>In Flanders Fields</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
In Flanders fields the poppies blow</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Between the crosses, row on row,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
That mark our place: and in the sky</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The larks, still bravely singing, fly</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Scarce heard amid the guns below.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We are the Dead. Short days ago</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
In Flanders fields.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Take up our quarrel with the foe:</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
To you from failing hands we throw</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The torch: be yours to hold it high.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
If ye break faith with us who die</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We shall not sleep,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Though poppies grow</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
In Flanders fields.</div>
<br />Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-12398084404559582972012-09-21T00:30:00.000-07:002012-09-21T00:30:02.114-07:00The Comfort of a Good Book
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My mother was nine
years old when she was <span style="color: #0000ee;"><a href="http://www.evacuees.org.uk/">evacuated from London</a></span> to escape the bombs in
World War Two. As the youngest of eight, Mum was sent away without her
siblings. She was gone for four whole years during which time her father only
visited a handful of times and her mother not at all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In those days,
getting to Surrey from London—which now takes about an hour by train—was
incredibly difficult. Apart from the fact that my grandfather fought on the
Western Front in The Great War and was severely shell-shocked, neither of my
grandparents could drive and besides, petrol was strictly rationed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">During my trip to
the UK this summer I was lucky enough to combine a book tour and spend time
with my mother. The two of us traveled around England. It was a wonderful
trip—especially when my daughter was able to join us for the odd weekend. Girls
on tour! But most of all, it was the first time as an adult I could really question
mum about her life as a wartime evacuee. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">She stayed with
three different families—one woman, "Olive" was particularly unkind
to her (mental note to self, potential murder victim) and Mum was incredibly
lonely. My grandparents did not have a telephone and although they wrote to
her, letters were slow in arriving. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I asked Mum how she
survived and she said by reading a book called "The Twins To The
Rescue." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin2QGyYmHPqfB_ZD1fTm6cw8xVwxw5ksrbZMgtAFUeCUVO8Gs9wx9B-3GJyAj_jVgdfHGQbwECsYcqsCJ55LbLs9y9NC3vCiwqJYzCPyw0JHZy6YKRZQDGOJyW4WldSXIY2bfe3QvrD25L/s1600/Twins.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin2QGyYmHPqfB_ZD1fTm6cw8xVwxw5ksrbZMgtAFUeCUVO8Gs9wx9B-3GJyAj_jVgdfHGQbwECsYcqsCJ55LbLs9y9NC3vCiwqJYzCPyw0JHZy6YKRZQDGOJyW4WldSXIY2bfe3QvrD25L/s200/Twins.JPG" width="149" /></span></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">On returning to the
USA I set out to track down a copy of that book and was thrilled when <span style="color: #0000ee;"><a href="http://www.abbeybook.com/">Abbey Antiquarian</a></span> Books came up
trumps. The wonders of the Internet!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The first thing I did
was read the book myself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Published around
1937, author Joyce Bruce tells the story of twins who are sent to stay with a
distant relative in a manor house far away from home because their parents are
going abroad for six months. It was easy to understand why the book struck such
a chord for her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Abbey Antiquarian
Books said they are "Purveyors of nostalgia." I began to think about
the books I loved when I was age 9. <a href="http://www.enidblyton.net/"><span style="color: #0000ee;">Enid Blyton</span>'s</a> "The Famous Five, Michael
Bond's <a href="http://www.paddingtonbear.com/"><span style="color: #0000ee;">"Paddington
Bear,"</span></a> and my all-time favorite, "The Lion, The Witch and
The Wardrobe," (oddly enough I only read that book at the time, not the
others in the Chronicles of Narnia) by <a href="http://cslewis.com/"><span style="color: #0000ee;">C.S. Lewis</span></a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEganqjs9xSSavkJJOJA3XfXVRNFYEK49DhD1gkExiEHuB_O6_YPCxctDbzrkK1b1PBdhbIEmALXyIBZBPP-MCtYrgOhsabm7QBvkr1juyyzgSNQRy9G65K5_jVGNMi3Y8AULDRMud1wEpW0/s1600/Twins1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEganqjs9xSSavkJJOJA3XfXVRNFYEK49DhD1gkExiEHuB_O6_YPCxctDbzrkK1b1PBdhbIEmALXyIBZBPP-MCtYrgOhsabm7QBvkr1juyyzgSNQRy9G65K5_jVGNMi3Y8AULDRMud1wEpW0/s200/Twins1.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I also started
thinking about times when reading a book brought me great comfort during
difficult times. Books have helped me escape from reality when I’ve suffered
through many a broken heart, a divorce, bereavement, unbearable anxiety and
just plain nerves whilst waiting to interview for a new job. But I’m sure none
can equal the fear of a nine-year old sleeping in a strange bed so far from
home over seventy years ago. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">“The Twins to The
Rescue” was published with Girl Guides in mind (at a cost of 3s 6d). Throughout
the story the twins are governed by Girl Guide Law No.8.</span></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br /></b></span></i></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>“A Guide smiles and sings under all
difficulties.”</b><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And my darling Mum
still smiles and sings under all difficulties to this day. </span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-35113865639790250842012-08-14T11:58:00.001-07:002012-08-14T11:58:18.155-07:00The British Empire's Pink Bits<br />
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It's been almost twenty years since I set off for the land of milk and honey with stars in my eyes. Not once have I ever forgotten my roots. I subscribe to <a href="http://www.countrylife.co.uk/">Country Life magazine, </a>watch <a href="http://www.bbcamerica.com/">BBC America</a>, listen to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/">BBC World News</a> and, without fail, drink tea at 4:00 PM every afternoon. In fact, with the close of the Olympics, I've never felt more British. <a href="http://www.teamgb.com/">Team GB</a> was brilliant.<br />
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Bearing in mind that our little island (including Northern Ireland), is smaller than the state of California, Team GB—per capita—were really the overall winners (just kidding). But of course "we" used to be much larger.<br />
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The British Empire reached its peak in the early 1920s. With the additions of the League of Nations—mandated territories in the Middle East, Africa, and the South Pacific, one-quarter of the globe was pink! Hence the phrase "the pink bits."<br />
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<a href="http://jacksonville.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c003e53ef010534cc7fd5970b-400wi" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" id="il_fi" src="http://jacksonville.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c003e53ef010534cc7fd5970b-400wi" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="320" /></a></div>
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So what are the pink bits and where did the phrase come from?<br />
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Traditionally, pieces of the British Empire were colored pink on maps. This was a bit of a compromise because red was really the color associated with the Empire. But if the colonies, protectorates and mandates were also printed in red on a world globe, it was tricky to read the place names within them.<br />
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Even though we no longer talk about the Empire (apart from my mother), Queen Elizabeth II is still the titular head of state of Canada and Australia.<br />
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Here is a list of our current overseas territories ... Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands (we fought a war over these), Gibraltar (just the rock), Montserrat, Pitcairn Island (remember the mutineers of HMS Bounty and Captain Bligh?), Saint Helena—including Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands.<br />
<br />And ... Independent States with our Queen as head ... Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.<br />
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And finally ... Crown Possessions ... Channel Islands, including Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney and Sark (in the English Channel) and The Isle of Man (in the Irish Sea).<br />
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Hmm ... gosh. Maybe my mother is right. The Empire still lives on!Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-37686000331113273522012-07-21T09:33:00.000-07:002012-07-21T09:33:40.333-07:00Pitman ShorthandDuring my travels in England last month, I stumbled upon Collards, a tiny bookshop tucked down a narrow road below the ruined castle of Totnes, Devon. It was filled with all kinds of unusual books from first editions to a collection of the <a href="http://magculture.com/blog/?p=13585">"Lilliput"</a> monthly pocket magazine. But what caught my eye was a slim book on Pitman Shorthand published in 1919.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_E76Y5OBX2mvVBiQ8iANFMe2DX9GNq5a4shLmTy8OLSZyRlPfKSNtAVCdJtBu7XQiq5XvKFQpjUTPjXdQMkM-1a4_WzHulYwa0myLGirmDrYN4JnPn1TP4C_wI3VYnUrIg7h6COVvuEkn/s1600/Pitman+Shorthand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_E76Y5OBX2mvVBiQ8iANFMe2DX9GNq5a4shLmTy8OLSZyRlPfKSNtAVCdJtBu7XQiq5XvKFQpjUTPjXdQMkM-1a4_WzHulYwa0myLGirmDrYN4JnPn1TP4C_wI3VYnUrIg7h6COVvuEkn/s320/Pitman+Shorthand.jpg" width="200" /></a>Developed by Sir Isaac Pitman (1813-1897), Pitman Shorthand is a form of phonetic speedwriting. The symbols do not represent letters but sounds. The words are written as they are spoken using a series of strokes, loops and hooks that differ only in thickness and length and where they are placed above, through or below the line. Vowels are light or heavy dots, dashes or dipthongs. It looks mind-boggling on the page but I love it. </div>
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I'm particularly fond of Pitman Shorthand because without it, I wouldn't be a "Resident Alien" and wouldn't be working in the USA.<br />
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It was Pitman Shorthand that gave me a "special" skill when I applied for my Green Card many years ago. Who could have possibly imagined that these little squiggles would open a door to a new chapter in my life!<br />
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I first learned Pitman Shorthand when I was 19 on a sandwich course (as they were known back in the day) in Cardiff, Wales. We took dictation every day for three straight hours. It was excruciating and I resented it at first. But gradually, my speeds picked up and by the end of the first month I was writing 120 words per minute—that's pretty fast. The average writer writes longhand at 20-30 wpm. A good typist is 50-80 wpm at a push since we're all so keyboard savvy these days. Apparently the fastest shorthand speed attained in a test was 350 wpm by Nathan Behrin in 1922!<br />
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Three decades plus later, I can still read my shorthand (I wrote an entire diary one year - obviously not wanting to let my mother read it) - and I still remember how to write the basics though I'm not that fast anymore.<br />
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Here is an excerpt from the little book that I purchased for £1.50. I still find shorthand beautiful to look at. <br />
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If you're really interested in learning more, check out this fabulous blog called <a href="http://www.long-live-pitmans-shorthand.org.uk/">Long Live Pitman's Shorthand</a> and sharpen your pencil.<br />
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<br />Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-85017740824599651432012-07-06T00:10:00.000-07:002012-07-06T00:10:00.170-07:00Back in La-la-land<div>
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Yes! I'm here at last. What a grueling few months! I have neglected this blog horribly but I've returned from my six week trip to England full of a gazillion resolutions—losing weight, never eating sugar again, exercising every day, keeping a clean house, wearing a permanent smile at work with a "Yes of course, I'd love to do your expense report"—and writing a regular update on my blog. Giving up wine is not on this list.</div>
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I also turned in the first book in a new series for St. Martins Press. Writing a new series is always a challenge especially when other things get in the way e.g. breaking my hand last November, having a very demanding full-time job and finding windows of time to promote Vicky Hill in England. I'm also a wife, a daughter, a sister, a mum, an aunt, a great-aunt and a slave to my cat Mr. Tig. Life has never been so busy. </div>
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England was glorious as always but gosh, the weather was atrocious. I've lived in California for nineteen years (can't believe it. I was only coming here for two). I'm used to sunshine even though I don't have time to really enjoy it (see above paragraph). It's good to wake up to a blue sky every morning but it can never beat the beauty of the English countryside. </div>
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The book part of my trip was lovely. There are so many bricks and mortar stores still standing. I had a great launch party at the <a href="http://www.torbaybookshop.co.uk/">Torbay Bookshop</a> (thanks Mum for buying six copies and boosting my sales). I also did interviews with the amazing <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p001d7nc">Judi Spiers</a> on BBC Radio Devon and with the wonderful <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/content/articles/2006/06/05/davidwhite_profile_feature.shtml">David White</a> on BBC Radio Cornwall which will be posted on my website in the next few days.</div>
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The last part of the trip ended with a ten day family holiday in Trebarwith, North Cornwall. There were twelve of us. My sister and I have been going to the same place for fifty years. It seems to be the only place we know that has never changed and hopefully, never will.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR9G3Kv_-7MRKs0E1oyyjIj3Vl1l_vf_E5CpX4c5box5-OmqvZrcDdTW3e3qY8eYeDb8aGWY2hEheCz6DSx0imR-N1yxaAPQPUQrMnL8q1BtsDMv47BBp-hYnDCPVOam_f2vO4Nr72OXOg/s1600/Trek-PortIsaac.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR9G3Kv_-7MRKs0E1oyyjIj3Vl1l_vf_E5CpX4c5box5-OmqvZrcDdTW3e3qY8eYeDb8aGWY2hEheCz6DSx0imR-N1yxaAPQPUQrMnL8q1BtsDMv47BBp-hYnDCPVOam_f2vO4Nr72OXOg/s200/Trek-PortIsaac.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEEn-bE_qLW7EgpDM1FrBlNPrBqXutf5am6HFzPZ3IzcOVKPjGz9VaGBFJVhz8GZijxHgy9xznVZ6_eDbLScBVpWmNXa24UEqE5eUspiGAI7VB2-F46ufvfEQ3JbNHo73Rs1g1F2fUj36L/s1600/DSCN0227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEEn-bE_qLW7EgpDM1FrBlNPrBqXutf5am6HFzPZ3IzcOVKPjGz9VaGBFJVhz8GZijxHgy9xznVZ6_eDbLScBVpWmNXa24UEqE5eUspiGAI7VB2-F46ufvfEQ3JbNHo73Rs1g1F2fUj36L/s200/DSCN0227.JPG" width="200" /></a>The headland is owned by the National Trust with glorious walks. Like this one ... a six mile trek—mostly in the pouring rain—from Trebarwith to Port Isaac. It took us four hours and it took my hiking boots four days to dry out.<br />
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Along the way is Barrett's Zawn and the entrance to an old tunnel that runs through the cliff down to the beach. It's very steep, narrow and dark and was supposedly used by Cornish smugglers in the nineteenth century. The locals call it The Donkey Hole.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSdANMJFmYQFoPY51QrShOknAwzdVS9WTQ2Vi97ydTbUdCKp5mbvln-WtbxioVCoROaCAFlMm_SJhJC06-C8oQjjF-G5qnBKvfDvdIADwcY_3FZprX-EwkC6echMbD8mtwGshHknrk4Zr/s1600/barrats_zawn_tunnel_entrance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSdANMJFmYQFoPY51QrShOknAwzdVS9WTQ2Vi97ydTbUdCKp5mbvln-WtbxioVCoROaCAFlMm_SJhJC06-C8oQjjF-G5qnBKvfDvdIADwcY_3FZprX-EwkC6echMbD8mtwGshHknrk4Zr/s200/barrats_zawn_tunnel_entrance.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tunnel Opening</td></tr>
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Daphne du Maurier's famous novel, "Jamaica Inn" is set locally and tells the story of Mary, a young orphan sent to live with relatives who are the landlords of Jamaica Inn. Mary soon realizes that her uncle's inn is the base of a gang of ship wreckers who lure ships to their doom on the rocky coast. <a href="http://www.jamaicainn.co.uk/">Jamaica Inn</a> is still there and reputedly haunted (of course) with regular Overnight Ghost Hunts.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFbqjP_OvRkvw2UaLxn5H5LkGOdKLfshGNMAa-q24xoIIdOEK781gRGbz_Hs9wM9LRCqpy0up869WpdAhWoLRgpMjdpA3luDuljjIdk1uofUJ_uSe7BQ02C3dUeEJ1CWW6F8eV-bu9Qh2q/s1600/barrats_zawn_beach_opening.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFbqjP_OvRkvw2UaLxn5H5LkGOdKLfshGNMAa-q24xoIIdOEK781gRGbz_Hs9wM9LRCqpy0up869WpdAhWoLRgpMjdpA3luDuljjIdk1uofUJ_uSe7BQ02C3dUeEJ1CWW6F8eV-bu9Qh2q/s200/barrats_zawn_beach_opening.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Opening from Beach</td></tr>
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There is something magical about Cornwall—the legend of King Arthur, Merlin's Cave, the Knights of the Round Table. Perhaps that's why I continue to go back year after year ... it's certainly not the weather.<br />
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</div>Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-3176154098234468312012-04-06T14:45:00.010-07:002012-04-06T14:47:15.586-07:00Uninvited Guests!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template> <o:Revision>0</o:Revision> <o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:Pages>1</o:Pages> <o:Words>581</o:Words> <o:Characters>3313</o:Characters> <o:Company>Davis Elen Advertising, Inc.</o:Company> <o:Lines>27</o:Lines> <o:Paragraphs>6</o:Paragraphs> <o:CharactersWithSpaces>4068</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:Version>12.0</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Having thoroughly enjoyed ten days with my nephew and his girlfriend staying in our apartment, the subject of uninvited guests came up. I’m not talking about acquaintances begging a bed for the night en route to the airport, but guests of the supernatural kind.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Our apartment has a long, narrow hallway—ideal for playing skittles—at the end of which is our bedroom. For the past few weeks I’d felt a curious heaviness outside the bedroom door. I didn’t think any more of it until my nephew (age 21) said, “I know you might think me a weirdo but you’ve got a ghost in your apartment.” He then told me where. You’ve guessed! At the end of the hallway! AND THEN … my husband sheepishly admitted that he’d felt a “presence” looming over him in bed and a very cold draft. He’d not been able to sleep for weeks. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">A quick chat to our friend <a href="http://500turtles.com/">Ben Scuglia</a> aka pet psychic and medium (hey! I live in LA) who advised us to lay down a few house rules—no visiting whilst we’re in the shower etc.—and our uninvited guest disappeared. I never found out who it was. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This experience reminded me of something that happened in England when I moved to a 16<sup>th</sup> century cottage next to the churchyard in <a href="http://www.visitoruk.com/historydetail.php?id=29637&f=Brighton">Chailey Green,</a> Sussex. The photo here was taken before my time in the early 1900’s. However, not much has changed—except for the cow.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs453uXC5qa9CXeKLLVTa0S-HKrcewRJHZ7NmW6w-SfJzUjTTn5kARdrx33fm5i7kO2egWi9UKmUvljgJ6sg889cjain5LSKMQQbWPpfyUBT1L_fDbv7RoCAw4uQtNQ5lZyLgchdV-E6eH/s1600/Chailey+Green.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs453uXC5qa9CXeKLLVTa0S-HKrcewRJHZ7NmW6w-SfJzUjTTn5kARdrx33fm5i7kO2egWi9UKmUvljgJ6sg889cjain5LSKMQQbWPpfyUBT1L_fDbv7RoCAw4uQtNQ5lZyLgchdV-E6eH/s320/Chailey+Green.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My eight-year-old daughter and I lived in the left cottage and a lay preacher lived on the right. He told us quite cheerfully, that if we “saw a shadow” floating about at night, the shadow’s name was Thomas Jeffery who used to be the butcher there and to say “hello.” Thomas was actually buried in the churchyard. Here is his epitaph: </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Sacred</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">To the Memory</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Of</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Thomas Jeffery</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Who died 18<sup>th</sup> October 1852</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Aged 18 Years</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">When pursuing his trade as a butcher</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">His knife slipped and</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Severed the main artery of his thigh</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">After which he lived only one hour.</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Thus suddenly in God’s providence</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Was this young communicant taken</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">To his rest.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I thought no more of it. Two years went by until one dark and stormy night, I had just been unceremoniously dumped by my boyfriend at the time and was vacuuming furiously at midnight, cursing, crying, flinging myself all over the furniture etc. Thinking back, I must have disturbed something in the ether.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">At exactly 4 am (I checked) I was awoken by a curious yowling sound coming from my daughter’s bedroom – she was away at the time. Believing there was a rogue cat inside my cottage that was tormenting my own kitty, I went to investigate.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The room was so cold that I could see my breath. Rosie, my poor cat was terrified. So much was her fright that she had suffered a chronic diarrhea attack and was utterly paralyzed. She was staring into the corner that used to house the original staircase. Rosie’s eyes were bulging and her fur and tail bristled. When I followed her gaze I thought I’d die of fright myself. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">A shadowy form filled the doorway. It was a fuzz of black molecules in the outline of a tall man that I can only liken to the energy pattern depicted in the transporter chamber in Star Trek. I knew immediately it was Thomas. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I prayed. It was all I could think to do—forget about having a friendly chat! Finally, after a good half hour (yes, I checked), he vanished. I never saw him again but he stayed around.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">For the next three months, strange things started to happen. All the taps would turn on throughout the cottage at the same time; lights would flip on in the middle of the day and cupboards, dry with no water pipes anywhere, would have inexplicable pools of clear liquid on the floor or even soak a piece of clothing on a coat hanger.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After a while, I couldn’t handle it, nor could my daughter or my cat. Eventually, I called in the help of a spiritual group who conducted an exorcism of sorts with beautiful songs and soothing music. Thomas left.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Up until that experience, I never believed in ghostly visitors. It was a life changing experience for me and one I think, now makes me receptive to uninvited guests just passing through. </div><!--EndFragment-->Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-68439314468625201252012-02-10T11:59:00.000-08:002012-02-10T11:59:23.006-08:00My Early Morning MewsThe other day a friend of mine asked me about my morning writing routine. I explained that it was really boring but she insisted that I tell her all the tiny details.<br />
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So here it is ... I set my alarm for 5:15 AM. (It will be moved to 4:15 AM next month as I get closer to my mid-April deadline). I don't have any problem getting up at all mainly because I used to keep horses when I was a teenager and was always getting up early. In those days my alarm clock was the old-fashioned clanging bell variety that used to throw me out of bed in a state of numb shock. At least now my BlackBerry alarm is a gentle ocean sound that slowly gets louder. Usually I'm awake before the alarm and find I am already thinking about my plot.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBT_4cVrWQSFJCZrq-1vNfIEAWW7qZTe-FowRP2s4w4cYxBIsVTUfxIFykJ21aPO1Yn56An07kc_696IGHs7mjucQtCvmUpBtgnFV17qweeULnnEnyohWmMDPYJl9mY7IFrK8Fd6OnI1Vi/s1600/Mr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBT_4cVrWQSFJCZrq-1vNfIEAWW7qZTe-FowRP2s4w4cYxBIsVTUfxIFykJ21aPO1Yn56An07kc_696IGHs7mjucQtCvmUpBtgnFV17qweeULnnEnyohWmMDPYJl9mY7IFrK8Fd6OnI1Vi/s200/Mr.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Next, I throw on my old green sweater on top of my pajamas. It's my lucky writing sweater and full of holes but I don't care. I add thick socks and fingerless gloves and creep out of our bedroom to Mr. Tig's (the cat) "room." It's actually my husband's office but has been officially taken over by the real man of the house. Mr. Tig is a notoriously light sleeper and at the first sound of me stirring, he's waiting by the door grumbling and complaining as usual. I know it's cruel to keep him closed in at night but he's impossible to sleep with and believe me, my husband and I have tried.<br />
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Mr. Tig and I pad into the kitchen where I give him his breakfast, take my supplements (I told you this is boring) and make a cup of coffee. A few months ago Nikki Bonanni who runs <a href="http://www.killercoffeeclub.com/">The Killer Coffee Club</a> suggested I buy a <a href="http://www.keurig.com/">Keurig</a> coffee maker, a classy Krupps coffee grinder and reusable K-cups. The K-cups are perfect to satisfy my early morning coffee addiction - fresh every time! I'm very particular about my coffee. French Roast is my favorite.<br />
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THEN Mr. Tig and I go to The Rug. This is his very own rug (torn to shreds) that the lovely Joanne O'Brien who runs <a href="http://sittinkitty.net/">Sittin' Kitty</a> in Los Angeles had to give him after his last stay with her. I brandish The Love Glove and give Mr. Tig some serious loving for about ten minutes. <br />
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Mr. Tig and I then retire to our pretty yellow love seat where I sit with my laptop and he snuggles next to me kneading a scrap of sheep fleece from Yorkshire. I write for a good two hours before jumping into the shower and going to work.<br />
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And that's my morning routine. I really couldn't do it without coffee or my cat. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxAysKHfrszyWeGTSNlD04OFcSEIN108zz8Y-OiccyRs_jBo_jzc4fJjacFZPOEpQyQ-DS3pU4_rDvRtWJ7Cg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;">And this is why we do not sleep with Mr. Tig. Remember to turn up the sound. </div>Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-64846210503179799602012-01-20T20:14:00.000-08:002012-01-20T20:14:00.497-08:00Keeping A Stiff Upper LipMy pins are out but my thumb and forefinger seem to have gone into rigamortis. For some reason I assumed I would be able to drive, cook, dress myself and type feverishly on a computer keyboard.<br />
<br />
I have weeks of horrible physiotherapy ahead (and those exercises really hurt) - but I am back at work and keeping a stiff upper lip in true English fashion.<br />
<a href="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQHZUHFR_bsGEGzyyteiBIK0A5vPk5WZ1pQvVh-Xl_i2Hyp20Gf9g" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" class="rg_hi" data-height="251" data-width="200" height="251" id="rg_hi" src="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQHZUHFR_bsGEGzyyteiBIK0A5vPk5WZ1pQvVh-Xl_i2Hyp20Gf9g" style="height: 251px; width: 200px;" width="200" /></a><br />
What is the definition of a stiff upper lip? "To face misfortune bravely" or "to suppress the display of any emotion." In my case, it's the former and not the latter. Ask my husband.<br />
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The origins of the stiff upper lip date back to the 1800's. The phrase traditionally has been used to describe an attribute of the British people (the class above stairs if you are following Downton Abbey). However, rumor has it (thank you Wikipedia) that its earliest known example came from a publication called the "Massachusetts Spy" for 14 June 1815. "I kept a stiff upper lip, and bought license to sell my goods."<br />
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So why just the upper lip and not the lower? Maybe it had something to do with the enormous mustaches most men sported in those days making the top lip more noticeable when quivering.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 19px;"></span><br />
<h2 style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: black; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0.17em; padding-top: 0.5em; width: auto;"><span class="mw-headline" id="See_also"></span></h2><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><o:p></o:p></div>Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-71807028602235022832011-12-13T11:15:00.000-08:002011-12-13T11:15:46.567-08:00Happy Holidays!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsc9US5MjILOm70P0_VlsdkTvH_Wb5wQvv3ggoFsUywOazxo8bYcq3afDH-2aX93DqEqcZcDhg-AuDxPoqMSlxZ_VUR_8LpeC-0U10QbnAylsFKZZzN1lPNJ6pFMuqUSJgW6b4voKV0H3Z/s1600/IMG_0536.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsc9US5MjILOm70P0_VlsdkTvH_Wb5wQvv3ggoFsUywOazxo8bYcq3afDH-2aX93DqEqcZcDhg-AuDxPoqMSlxZ_VUR_8LpeC-0U10QbnAylsFKZZzN1lPNJ6pFMuqUSJgW6b4voKV0H3Z/s200/IMG_0536.jpeg" width="149" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hannah's Thumb</td></tr>
</tbody></table>i am typing this greeting with one finger.<br />
yes, i know i don't post often but for the next month i will be M.I.A.<br />
<br />
two weeks ago i had a car accident and broke my thumb....i have two titanium rods and a cast. fortunately, the break was in my right hand and i am left-handed. Oddly enough, i can only write left-handed. for everything else - cleaning teeth, eating, putting on clothes - i am right-handed.<br />
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an inconvenience to say the least, (no driving, goodbye skiing in Park City) but it could have been so much worse. <br />
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i will be back on top form in 2012 ...so until then ....have a wonderful holiday season.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">in the meantime ... here is a clip of my nephew Chris sledging out of control last christmas in Devon. Turn up the sound ... even the dog couldn't keep up.....</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzedCmqQ2EsJ44jrrGK7ypt5BRU3sctoIrgXxMpb_2x-Q6sHGQDPabTfGwKeYEiorEXNNdYIHjrUb8UAs5Dvw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
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</div>Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-2875796280280294192011-11-02T13:00:00.000-07:002011-11-02T13:00:02.459-07:00The Three Faces of Henry VIII<div style="font: 13.0px Arial; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 1.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I noticed that The Tudors is back on TV. I have always had a great passion for history - particularly European. I'm embarrassed to admit I know very little about American history. In fact, when I was a teenager I thought Native Americans were a Hollywood invention just so John Wayne could show off his spurs. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In 1970 Keith Michell gave an excellent portrayal of Henry VIII in "The Six Wives of Henry VIII." (I am showing my age.) </span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Of course, Jonathan Rhys Meyers does the most incredible job as Henry but let's face it, physically, they are as different as chalk and cheese. Even so, as the current series progressed, I gradually became captivated by Meyer's interpretation of Henry. He was utterly mesmerizing. </span><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQhLvcaQWTJm_a1yRspdEV0H5SEKBmsC6x6Uq6I4a1uJz-AcLKJyw" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" class="rg_hi" data-height="144" data-width="240" height="120" id="rg_hi" src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQhLvcaQWTJm_a1yRspdEV0H5SEKBmsC6x6Uq6I4a1uJz-AcLKJyw" style="height: 144px; width: 240px;" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keith Michell</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSrkplzQxL6Q5-9-2pMe3H-ysfNDQEIxOY8SxVUVIRidDi5tgbm" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" class="rg_hi" data-height="256" data-width="197" height="200" id="rg_hi" src="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSrkplzQxL6Q5-9-2pMe3H-ysfNDQEIxOY8SxVUVIRidDi5tgbm" style="height: 256px; width: 197px;" width="153" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonathan Rhys Meyers</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here is a little history lesson ...</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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<a href="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT33_BnpO3BxhYAzmLOhVpSsvXf6BMxd_ZNBMFFB68kl7h9qeym" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img alt="" border="0" class="rg_hi" data-height="246" data-width="205" height="200" id="rg_hi" src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT33_BnpO3BxhYAzmLOhVpSsvXf6BMxd_ZNBMFFB68kl7h9qeym" style="height: 246px; width: 205px;" width="166" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When Henry VIII came to the throne in April 1509 he was 17 years old, 6ft 2in tall, and had pale skin, blue eyes and auburn hair. He was physically active and enjoyed sport, hunting and jousting. However he became fatter with age and gluttony. His suits of armour show that in 1512 he had a 32 inch waist , which increased to 35 inch by 1520s, and then grew to an enormous 54 inch by 1545. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Henry suffered increasingly from ill health, swelling of the joints and an ulcerated leg claimed to have been caused by a jousting accident. His pain added to his mood swings and unpredictable temper. In 1544 Henry's portrait shows him puffy and bloated. By 1546 he could hardly walk and was carried around on a wooden chair . He had to be winched onto his horse and his armour cut open to accommodate his swollen legs. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Henry is estimated to have weighed a staggering 25 stone (350 lbs or 158kg) when he died in January 1547.</span></div>Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-55809213079216222912011-10-25T14:10:00.000-07:002011-10-25T14:10:26.583-07:00Anyone fancy a game of conkers?<a href="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQuKfRfet5tKWluUUoLJjC1VjnjFu-3yYe3feJHn-ceSqcwglQu6g" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" class="rg_hi" data-height="269" data-width="187" height="200" id="rg_hi" src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQuKfRfet5tKWluUUoLJjC1VjnjFu-3yYe3feJHn-ceSqcwglQu6g" style="height: 269px; width: 187px;" width="139" /></a>I was in Vancouver this past weekend for a family wedding. What a beautiful place it is. What I loved most was the smell of autumnal leaves. I really miss Autumn in England. I particularly miss playing conkers.<br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">What is a conker? It's the fruit of a horse chestnut tree - hard, brown, half-dollar sized orbs. The trick is to pick the good ones, drill a hole through their center, hang them on a knotted shoelace and your conker is good to go. Two players take alternating whacks at the other's chestnut until one shattered. </div><div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/aug2011/4/6/image-6-for-48-hours-29-08-11-gallery-237725992.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" id="il_fi" src="http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/aug2011/4/6/image-6-for-48-hours-29-08-11-gallery-237725992.jpg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Although the game is discouraged in school, the <a href="http://www.worldconkerchampionships.com/">World Conker Championship</a> is held every year in Northamptonshire.<br />
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What to know how to win? Enjoy this informational video <a href="http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-win-at-conkers">How to Win at Conkers</a>Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-64928280298698614972011-10-04T10:31:00.000-07:002011-10-04T10:31:20.244-07:00Back into the swing of thingsAfter many fits and starts, I'm finally back on track with my morning writing schedule. HURRAH! For weeks and weeks I've been procrastinating, faffing about, making silly lists, organizing my spice drawer etc. and I can't put it off any longer. I must write.<br />
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Starting a new project is always a challenge - especially a new series with new characters and setting. I'm suffering from the usual paralysis, need to nap constantly and the fear that I can't pull it off a fifth time. Coupled with my increasing workload at the office, all I can squeeze in is a couple of hours before work during the week. For now I am getting up at 5:30 AM - or should I say, 5:23 AM since that's when my neighbor revs up his car and leaves for work. Of course, as I get closer to my deadline, my wake-up call will be 4:20 AM for those last three months.<br />
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But for now .... I creep out of bed and head to the kitchen for a delicious cup of <a href="http://www.keurig.com/">Keurig</a> coffee. Thank you <a href="http://mysteryheel.blogspot.com/">Molly Weston</a> (check out her blog, she's wonderful) for recommending this machine during my "Molly Tour" to North Carolina. Coffee is made in a matter of minutes, freshly brewed and delicious. I drink it black and strong.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4xYTz0rSOSP5PAB7CI3DCB_PtjXXRGmK_dxbxZdILsfmpRovzhfb0TcK5QwdaD5m-ficvBOVsR44hXpVB3mvhPo8RskY5OlEvuSMcuZ4B4LulA-thxZR0EQfNnRprZHCjuLjrIQXTOQNz/s1600/nervous-dogs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4xYTz0rSOSP5PAB7CI3DCB_PtjXXRGmK_dxbxZdILsfmpRovzhfb0TcK5QwdaD5m-ficvBOVsR44hXpVB3mvhPo8RskY5OlEvuSMcuZ4B4LulA-thxZR0EQfNnRprZHCjuLjrIQXTOQNz/s320/nervous-dogs.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Still in pajamas and wearing my lucky socks, I collect my laptop and Mr. Tig (my muse cat). We both settle onto my "inspiration sofa" in the sitting room. It's a beautiful pale yellow two-seater with matching ottoman. I only write on this sofa when I'm creating or getting down the bones as they say. So that's what I'll be doing for the next few weeks, bashing out a really really shitty first draft.<br />
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So if you're up at dawn, you aren't alone.Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-80695323646224489682011-09-30T14:22:00.000-07:002011-09-30T14:22:48.572-07:00My First Typewriter"How many hours do you spend at your computer?" said my eye doctor, Dr. Richlin. When I answered a minimum of ten per day during the week and at least six at weekends," he practically fell off his chair.<br />
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I'd gone to see him concerned with this weird sensation I have in my right eye. It seems daft to say this but for those of us who have both eyes (my dad only had one) we're not usually "conscious" of our eyes sitting in our head. For the past few weeks I've been really aware of my right eye. I've also been getting horrible headaches. Turns out it is severe eye strain.<br />
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I didn't have to wear glasses until I turned 45. But as a writer, I suspect eye strain goes with the territory. I suppose I could write longhand, but I enjoy the speed of the computer; the ability to cut and paste and mess around with all different versions of the same draft. My mistakes and typos vanish with the click of the delete button.<br />
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Like many people born in the middle of the last century (gasp) I l grew up using a typewriter—or <i>tripewriter</i> as we liked to call it at my first reporter job at the <i>Tiverton Gazette</i> in Devon. My typewriter was an old 1945 Remington Deluxe. In those days articles were typed up on small rectangular pieces of paper separated by carbon paper. <i>Four</i> pieces of carbon paper actually so any typo was a pain to correct.<br />
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Although I enjoy the speed and efficiency of using my computer, I miss the noise of busy typewriter keys and the satisfying <i>ding </i>as the carriage reaches it's end-stop only to fly back in the opposite direction for the next sentence. Most of all, I loved the feeling of satisfaction when a piece was finished and I could pull it from the roller with a flourish.<br />
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Lovely.Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-91628595894862170612011-09-20T21:26:00.000-07:002011-09-20T21:26:51.828-07:00Tea On My MindI know I've blogged about "Tea" before and hopefully I will be forgiven - I am British, after all. It's part of our culture. So you can imagine my excitement when I was invited to an "Afternoon Tea with the Ladies of Mystery" hosted by the Friends of the Lomita Library in Lomita, California.<br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Co-ordinated by the effervescent Evelyn Moore from <a href="http://www.sistersincrimela.com/">Sisters in the Crime Los Angeles</a>, I joined fellow panelists, authors <a href="http://www.katecarlisle.com/">Kate Carlise</a>, <a href="http://www.dorothyhowellnovels.com/">Dorothy Howell </a>and <a href="http://www.lauralevinemysteries.com/">Laura Levine</a> for a fabulous afternoon of delicious food and fun.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div>Ruth Herbert, President of Friends of the Lomita Library, confessed she spent most of her summer devouring mystery books, selecting various dishes from favorite authors for the tea. Ruth also created beautiful name cards by hand to accompany each one. The icing on the cake (no pun intended) was a fabulous glass cabinet displaying all the books she used along with bone china tea cups and teapots.<br />
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As Kate Carlisle's character Brooklyn remarked bravely in <i>The Lies That Bind</i>,<b> "I straightened by shoulders and gritted by teeth. I could do this. I approached the buffet table..."</b><br />
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Here was the menu:<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Scones</b> from the <i>Vicky Hill Mysteries</i> by yours truly. (And very very yummy they were too!) </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Chocolate</b> from <i>Bleeding Hearts</i> by <a href="http://www.susanalbert.com/">Susan Wittig Albert</a>.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Lemon tea bread</b> from <i>The Silver Needle Murder</i> by <a href="http://www.laurachilds.com/">Laura Childs.</a> (My favorite).</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Cecile's brownies</b> from T<i>he Cat Who Blew The Whistle</i> by Lillian Jackson Braun. (I ate 3).</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Chocolate chip cookies</b> from <i>The Cat Who Dropped The Bombshell. </i>(I ate 3 of these as well).</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Sugar cookies</b> from <i>The Sugar Cookies Murder</i> by <a href="http://www.murdershebaked.com/">Joanne Fluke.</a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Chicken salad</b> from <i>Fatally Flaky</i> by Diane Mott Davidson</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Edible fruit arrangement</b> from <i>Purses and Poiso</i>n by <a href="http://www.dorothyhowellnovels.com/">Dorothy Howell</a>.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Molasses cookies</b> from <i>The Darling Dahlias And The Cucumber Tree</i> by Susan Wittig Albert.<br />
<b>Cucumber sandwiches</b> from T<i>he Darling Dahlias And The Cucumber Tree.</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Gingerbread cookies</b> from <i>The Gingerbread Cookie Murder</i> by Laura Levine.<br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Lavender flowers</b> were on the table, taken from Susan Wittig Albert's book <i>Lavender Lies </i>and</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Constant commit tea and lemonade</b> from Jamie Ford's book <i>The Hotel on The Corner of Bitter And Sweet.</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrupT7NxNPM3azWKRnOch1FgV-9a8QiVRbBBMVzZB4z_ABq6_JOIpvlpeGNZtqo1tADQ72X17RxcukcGsVf-1q7zC-yme0QogmJk90GZHS030YQ031PWUKTzWwsg0XJuDSAarHftX3ZT7J/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrupT7NxNPM3azWKRnOch1FgV-9a8QiVRbBBMVzZB4z_ABq6_JOIpvlpeGNZtqo1tADQ72X17RxcukcGsVf-1q7zC-yme0QogmJk90GZHS030YQ031PWUKTzWwsg0XJuDSAarHftX3ZT7J/s200/images.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><u>And the English tea was excellent!</u></div><br />
Although I am now on a serious diet, this fabulous event is a reminder of how wonderful our libraries are and how much they need our support. Just donating a few books or becoming a "friend" really helps to keep our libraries going.<br />
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</span></b></div>Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-7211523512865882652011-07-22T10:45:00.000-07:002011-07-22T10:51:28.796-07:00Termites! Yikes!As usual, all my best laid plans to write a regular blog post have flown out of the window ... if only the termites would fly away too! I'd never heard of the wretched things until I moved to California.<br />
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This weekend my husband and I are being banished from our home whilst the fumigators come in. I'm not happy. My husband's not happy. Mr. Tig the cat will definitely not be happy but hopefully, when he realizes he's going stay with the amazing Joanne O'Brien from <a href="http://www.sittinkitty.net/">Sittin Kitty</a>, he'll forgive us.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdV94GCrtA6sXkpHJZ7bTGaCdALzCiJ7MkUm2-3s9BfQ0UrNNFQAccUjEC3XbrDcxITh75PPteDrsm61KGLkcTWiJM1DaS_vro_ccpNbiPOGPxS02uNP4w_uFrjc1iduYD-UNdHVcifKvM/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdV94GCrtA6sXkpHJZ7bTGaCdALzCiJ7MkUm2-3s9BfQ0UrNNFQAccUjEC3XbrDcxITh75PPteDrsm61KGLkcTWiJM1DaS_vro_ccpNbiPOGPxS02uNP4w_uFrjc1iduYD-UNdHVcifKvM/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" /></a><a href="http://www.agathachristie.com/">Agatha Christie</a> once had a problem with termites—or rather, an exotic bug that stowed away in her luggage.<br />
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According to her wonderful autobiography, it started during one of her travels to the Middle East. She had fallen in love with a gorgeous chest of drawers in Damascas. The chest was inlaid with mother-of-pearl and silver and is exquisite—I've seen it in her bedroom at Greenway in South Devon. ANYWAY - apparently it took nine or ten months to transport the heavy chest to it's new home but when it arrived, Agatha Christie said she'd be woken in the middle of the night by a strange noise "as if large teeth were champing something." Agatha Christie examined the chest, took out the drawers but couldn't find anything. "Yet night after night, after the witching hour of midnight, I could hear crump, crump, crump." <br />
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In desperation, she took one of the drawers to a place in London that specialized in tropical wood pests and lo and behold, after three weeks, she was summoned to the shop and proudly presented with "a repulsive cross between a worm and a slug. It was large and white and obscene, and ... obese." And that was the end of that.<br />
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I've never heard the termites gnawing away within our walls, nor have I seen any evidence of them. I'm worried about the friendly spiders that I am quite happy living in harmony with but all that will change --along with oceans of bougainvillea that surround our home.<br />
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There is an up side. We've splashed out on long weekend in a hotel that is supposed to be seeped in exotic splendor. Unfortunately, after making a non-refundable booking, an online reviewer remarked that the rooms don't share the same splendor. I quote, "If you like the smell of stale socks ... you're gonna LUV staying here!"<br />
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I can't wait.Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-59450820966310870322011-06-30T10:41:00.000-07:002011-06-30T10:41:20.175-07:00Scam me Once ...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOWHa7J178RSNIHDme2M180OijRQfkezMrGQ-Ta3YGhwH1A_7veFU_ELByxn3Oiw5u-ukh3wtYDgfxkM3fadmHTS89YBmvPiPQvjhbNoh7mFk-g4lSqh771zV5zvJ-Lp2QrEuTTAIMzHNy/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOWHa7J178RSNIHDme2M180OijRQfkezMrGQ-Ta3YGhwH1A_7veFU_ELByxn3Oiw5u-ukh3wtYDgfxkM3fadmHTS89YBmvPiPQvjhbNoh7mFk-g4lSqh771zV5zvJ-Lp2QrEuTTAIMzHNy/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" /></a>Gosh. I can't believe it's been over a month since I wrote on my blog. I certainly haven't been idle. My daughter came to stay for 2 glorious weeks and then I started writing a brand new mystery series for Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's. There has been the usual office drama, too.<br />
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However, I felt compelled to blog today because I seem to be a scam magnet. Only last Sunday, as I was filling up my car with petrol, I was attracted by one of those bright canopy tent things pitched on a street corner announcing fabulous 820-1000 thread count Egyptian cotton sheet sets for sale at the unbeatable price of $20 per set!<br />
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Cautious as ever (but clearly not that cautious), I chatted to the very cute blond (who asked me if I was a Buddhist) and suggested I touch these super-soft beautiful sheets by J. Sanders. They were soft. Very soft. And yes, I came away $44 dollars lighter - 2 sets plus a service fee - but thinking I had a bargain.<br />
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To be honest, I wasn't that surprised to discover later that the sheets were a piece of crap. Sorry - but they were. I pulled them out of the packet to wash them and the instructions said "wash only in cold water" and "do not iron" and jeez .... I could see my hand through the fabric. Arrgh ... so I googled <a href="http://tinyurl.com/63c2nlu">J. Sanders scam </a>and of course I had been fooled. The small print on the packaging said "<b>as soft as</b> Eyptian cotton sheets."<br />
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So I'm older and wiser and I have decided to stick to the linen sheets my mother gave me that <i>her</i> mother gave her. Believe it or not, mum's old sheets were not Made in China.Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-24426443195492822932011-05-27T07:35:00.000-07:002011-05-27T07:37:40.757-07:00Stiff Upper Lips<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPLg7M12AR4qQeLbTwNokxjQ-centqblMl0n2n3CsotV6u9tmDklSgHWL_AOjpbpILjM7NkR8PrOnhDgSE-yyjIO_ecOgx4JAToqKWLu44kFbG_oz8lxlbZBjeJI26DpLmEF0ZDxBsuwBi/s1600/BunnyMitch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPLg7M12AR4qQeLbTwNokxjQ-centqblMl0n2n3CsotV6u9tmDklSgHWL_AOjpbpILjM7NkR8PrOnhDgSE-yyjIO_ecOgx4JAToqKWLu44kFbG_oz8lxlbZBjeJI26DpLmEF0ZDxBsuwBi/s200/BunnyMitch.jpg" width="200" /></a>I've actually started writing a new mystery series and since it's the early days, I am easily distracted. So ... after I alphabetized my spice cupboard, I started sorting out my iPhoto and came across my wedding photos. One of my favorite snaps is pictured here - my lovely mum (on whom my character Barbara Meadows, the <i>Gipping Gazette</i> receptionist, is loosely based) and our friend Mitch. Isn't that the most spectacular mustache ever? (In England we say "moustache.")<br />
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I did a little research on these magnificent specimens and, thanks to <i><a href="http://www.countrylife.co.uk/magazine">Country Life</a></i> magazine, discovered the following facts. Did you know that in the 1830s and 1840s, British army officers in India began to rebel against the razor? Their dislike of shaving was driven in general terms by the Indian association of whiskers with virility. Apparently ... "The example of their bearded and moustachioed opponents in the First Afghan War and Sikh Wars of the 1840s, however, may have been a more specific catalyst for the change of heart." Basically, Britain didn't do very well out there.<br />
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In 1854 the mustache was made compulsory for British soliders in the Bombay army of the East India Company and soon spread into the civilian population. The fashion for facial hair became so popular that the (sadly defunct) <i><a href="http://www.punch.co.uk/">Punch</a></i> magazine asked 1,000 men why they wore mustaches. Only a quarter mentioned their army connections but nearly half grew mustaches because they believed them to be admired by "young ladies." It certainly had the desired effect on my mother.<br />
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It was only in 1916 when the King's Regulations permitted the British soldier to shave his upper lip once more.<br />
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Incidentally, the term "stiff upper lips" is thought to originate from ... America!Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-19160886907563143422011-05-10T06:41:00.000-07:002011-05-10T06:41:02.806-07:00The Perfect Cup of TeaBeing British, I'm very particular about what passes for a good cup of tea. It's not just the brand of tea or the ongoing argument over tea bags vs. loose leaf, the teapot design is very important.<br />
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An original Brown Betty teapot is hard to come by these days so if you have one, hold onto it. It's considered by many to be the best teapot design ever created. It may be the special red clay that is used for making the pot that causes the superior tea, or it could be the unique design of the pot itself. It's said that "the design allows the tea leaves more freedom to swirl through the water as it is poured into the pot and releases more flavor with less bitterness."<br />
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The original teapots came from a red clay that was discovered in the Stoke-on-Trent area of Britain in 1695. This special clay seemed to retain heat better and so found use as the material for the perfect teapot as early as the seventeenth century. The shape became more rounded as time passed and eventually found favor at the court of Queen Victoria.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn-eFno8QksiRZdpv5tnhr0eYuUOpfW3Djr5ZVvMIcG6OazzsAsrv85ttDXyLsJSy2_XVxfJS9ImOljlOLibfk5vf_S90YrV1qy0x3bPEMfm8K0hzpZiiIxptGr71fxgjgIkh6pAIXrZud/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn-eFno8QksiRZdpv5tnhr0eYuUOpfW3Djr5ZVvMIcG6OazzsAsrv85ttDXyLsJSy2_XVxfJS9ImOljlOLibfk5vf_S90YrV1qy0x3bPEMfm8K0hzpZiiIxptGr71fxgjgIkh6pAIXrZud/s200/images.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brown Betty Teapot</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>How to make a good cup of tea!</b><br />
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If you have a Brown Betty never put it in the microwave or on top of the stove. Always wash it by hand.<br />
To Brew Tea:<br />
1. Run warm water in the pot to warm it and pour it out.<br />
2. Add one teaspoon of tea per cup - and one for the pot (or 1 teabag per person and 1 for the pot) - it depends on personal taste.<br />
3. Put fresh cold water into the kettle and heat it just to the boil. Pour water into the teapot on top of the tea!<br />
4. Steep for three minutes and then pour. If you are using loose leaf tea, remember the tea strainer.<br />
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Drinking tea is not for everyone. It's an acquired taste but if you hate it, it could be that you've not found the kind you like. My favorite tea is P.G. Tips. I don't care for Yorkshire Gold - the box is pretty but the tea is just too strong. Liptons is ghastly ... so persevere! Earl Grey and Lady Grey are also yummy if you can't take the traditional English brands.<br />
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One of my all-time favorite TV commercials for tea is this one. Hope you enjoy it! Remember to turn up the sound!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/HgzEBLa3PPk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869406670901508027.post-14054145855833504242011-04-16T10:07:00.000-07:002011-04-16T10:07:45.700-07:00A Marmite HouseMy sister has been trying to sell her house for a few months now. It's an unusual old Devonshire long house slap bang in the middle of the town, hidden behind other properties. The cobbled path to the front door is flanked by a cottage on one side and a high stone wall on the other. From the road, all that's visible is a green front door and tiny window. Yet, step inside and the house is huge with four bedrooms, a massive beamed sitting room with inglenook fireplace, a farmhouse kitchen and a beautiful walled garden covered in wisteria. It also has a ghost—but that's another story.<br />
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Her realtor (or estate agent as they're called in England), says it's a "Marmite House." You either love it - or you hate it ... so that got me thinking about my new competition. Marmite. And yes, the prize is a jar of Marmite!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6iIxSuSa7RsWlUcGyXzIrX7EOwKuPpVsl5f2lXSSBcKCVQz1ukCSNmBMad-VI9RnD2K3XPJfeDmbBGHXdLyjQYoKWByncNSEYiATdMVVL6ieXyukxcftAD8Jyj9rtDzKl8DF6eWcUAnhz/s1600/images-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6iIxSuSa7RsWlUcGyXzIrX7EOwKuPpVsl5f2lXSSBcKCVQz1ukCSNmBMad-VI9RnD2K3XPJfeDmbBGHXdLyjQYoKWByncNSEYiATdMVVL6ieXyukxcftAD8Jyj9rtDzKl8DF6eWcUAnhz/s1600/images-1.jpeg" /></a></div>Marmite is a savory spread that was introduced to the unsuspecting public in 1902. A by-product of the brewing industry, Marmite owes its existence to a German scientist, Justus Liebig's discovery that yeast cells left over from beer-making could be concentrated, bottled and eaten.<br />
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Marmite is filled with Vitamin B and soon acquired the status of being extremely good for you. It may look like tar but don't let that put you off. Personally, I love it. My favorite combination is marmite, cheese and cucumber sandwiches.<br />
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Here are some delicious combinations to try ...<br />
Marmite and chocolate spread<br />
Marmite and peanut butter<br />
Marmite and marmalade<br />
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I'd love to hear your comments, folks! As always, the lucky winner will be selected by my random number generator on May 15.Hannah Dennisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480842784992747246noreply@blogger.com2