Musty smell of old books

Musty smell of old books can be avoided – a personal experience

My home is full of books.  Books of all kinds, fiction and non-fiction, new and not so new – and that’s where a musty smell can become an issue.

As I find history fascinating, it won’t come as a great surprise when I tell you that many of my non-fiction books deal with historical subjects.  Not all the books I would like to read are easily available, be it online, at a library near-by or for sale at a high street shop.  Sometimes the only way to get my fingers on the book I desperately need is to buy it second hand.

Alban Buns

Alban Buns – do hot cross buns

originally come from St Albans?

It is the season of Lent and in a few weeks’ time it will be Easter.  Visit any supermarket and you will find hot cross buns displayed in a prominent position.  Nowadays they belong to Easter like Easter eggs, but where does this tradition actually come from?

The Ginger Diaries (2)

The Ginger Diaries (2) – an update

Nearly six long weeks have gone by since planting some ginger roots.  During the first weeks nothing seemed to happen.  I was getting very disappointed and had given up on growing ginger as a complete failure.  At least, as far as trying to grow it from ginger root bought at the supermarket was concerned.  I thought that possibly even the organic ginger had been sprayed with some growth inhibitor, as the experts had warned.  Or that maybe the ginger sold as organic wasn’t organic after all.

Death of Elizabeth MacKintosh

Death of novelist and playwright Elizabeth MacKintosh

Many Ricardians and lovers of detective novels will remember today the death of Elizabeth MacKintosh on 13 February 1952 in London.

Elizabeth MacKintosh was born on 25 July 1896 in Inverness.  Her first detective novel, The Man in the Queue, was published in 1929 under the pen name Gordon Daviot. She would write seven more novels under another pen name, Josephine Tey. Her 1951 novel The Daughter of Time was probably for many the starting point of an interest in Richard III and his time.

St John the Baptist, Buckland – disagreement

St John the Baptist, Buckland –

a disagreement between gentlemen

The church of St John the Baptist, Buckland, was consecrated on 15 January 1849.  Unfortunately, this did not mean that everyone lived happily ever after.  On the contrary, it seems to have just been the last drop for some long-simmering animosities.  The whole affair eventually ended in the Supreme Court of Tasmania.

The Greats at the Art Gallery of NSW

The Greats at the Art Gallery of NSW – Masterpieces from the National Galleries of Scotland

At present, the Art Gallery of NSW is showing ‘The Greats‘, an exhibition of masterpieces from the National Galleries of Scotland.  As the exhibition closes on 14 February, we decided that now was the time to go and see it.  After all,  it is a lot easier to go into Sydney than going all the way to Edinburgh.  The works are from three galleries in the Scottish capital:  The Scottish National Gallery, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.