The Grammar of Ornament

A book first published in 1856 and still in print deserves to be called a classic. That’s The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones.

Barons Court in Bloom

At this time of year one’s thoughts turn to gardening. My brother mounts his ride-on mower, Rosemary and Ann attend to the gardens at Barmeath and I browse the horticultural section of my bookshelf.

The Betrayal of Nora Blake

Size isn’t everything. The Jermyn Street Theatre is beneath an Italian restaurant, in what was the waiters’ changing room. This is glossed over in their programmes. They prefer their 1930s heritage as a night club called Monseigneur.

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Categorised as Theatre

Eating My Hat

Reggie and I were unadventurous yesterday. We reprised our Monday morning walk to Bruniquel but this time in low cloud and a light drizzle, or a grand soft day as it’s called in Ireland.

Château de Haute-Serre

Six grape varieties are allowed to make red wine designated Bordeaux: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Carménère. The last three are not household names, at least not in my cellar.

Didactic

”Didactic”, that’s a nice word hitherto unused here. To make up for yesterday’s feeble post today’s is didactic.

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Categorised as Travel

French Leave

There was a temporary parting of the ways yesterday. Robert went to Mallorca to the Rafa Nadal Academy to brush up his tennis.

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Categorised as Travel

Plain Tales from the Hills

  Brenda Bayliss, who posted a comment on Verdict, has proved to be a diligent and accurate genealogist of the Hill family, from whom her husband is descended. It was rather remarkable that she tracked me down through this website which hitherto has only mentioned Bellew family history.

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Categorised as Family

A Swift Solution

Very broadly, membership of the EU has been bad for fishermen but rather good for farmers, financial services and some manufacturers (especially motor car manufacturers and the aeronautical sector) but what impact has it had on me?

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Categorised as Politics

A Swift Hello

There used to be eels in the lake at Barmeath and probably still are. The lake is landlocked and I could not work out how they got from the sea to the lake but they did; probably through an overflow drain that runs under the fields and then through ditches down to the sea. Much… Continue reading A Swift Hello