Overlap

I have almost finished the biography of Churchill by Roy Jenkins. In a way I wish it were shorter, in a way I find it engrossing and in another way I find it induces post-prandial somnolence.

La Dame aux Camélias

I saw a camellia in bud at Chiswick House today and thought of Violetta, Verdi and La traviata.

Published
Categorised as Local, Nature

Project Gutenberg

The oldest library in the world is thought to be the Library of Ashurbanipal in modern day Iraq. When it was founded in the 7th century BC it was in Assyria, a city-state in Mesopotamia. The oldest continuously working library may be the Al-Qarawiyyin library in Fez, Morocco, dating from 859 AD (a suspiciously precise… Continue reading Project Gutenberg

Marmalade Overdrive

If you want a nip of whisky for breakfast on a chilly morning this is the obvious choice.

The Battle of Britain

Roy Jenkins’ biography of Churchill is sometimes dull but more often of interest. He digresses, something of which I approve, to relate his own experiences.

Rape and Pillage

Mind the Gap last month mentioned in passing that activist investors are circling some Baillie Gifford funds that trade at big discounts. I didn’t think it affected any of the investment trusts I own but I was wrong.

Published
Categorised as Business

Some Observations

Sorry, Ella, it was a sunny day in London Town yesterday. We walked through The Green Park, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens and saw snowdrops.

Reginald in Russia

Reginald sat in a corner of the Princess’s salon and tried to forgive the furniture, which started out with an obvious intention of being Louis Quinze, but relapsed at frequent intervals into Wilhelm II. He classified the Princess with that distinct type of woman that looks as if it habitually went out to feed hens… Continue reading Reginald in Russia

Published
Categorised as Literature

The Past is a Foreign Country

Opinions will vary about the qualities and policies of “Make America Great Again”, president-elect, Trump. He puts me in mind of Palmerston.

Published
Categorised as Politics

Quare Fellows

I get muddled between Bowles and Burroughs. Both American writers who lived in Tangiers, were gay and of a similar vintage; Bowles 1910 – 1999, Burroughs 1914 – 1997.