The corn poppy re-christened Flanders poppy and immortalised by John McCrae, has a weight of symbolism which seems too heavy for such a fragile dainty flower to bear. Anyone who has tried to make a poppy lady will attest to its delicacy. But as with its cousin, the opium poppy, they are both flowers of… Continue reading Poppies (Part 1)
Category: Uncategorized
Remembrance Day
Remembrance seems to be a particularly English sentiment. We are good at it, great at War Poetry, War memorials and remembering. In beautiful Ely cathedral there's a long list of names, handwritten in lovely script and they turn a page over every day, the roll of honour. The omnipotent poppy, because of a very poor… Continue reading Remembrance Day
Back to the cinema…
I already told you how much I love the cinema. It's a bit like a book I suppose, living other lives. I've always found it so impressive though frightening, how filmmakers can manoeuvre us. Probably because it works on emotion. Tolstoy told me that. Do you remember the passage? He related that as a boy… Continue reading Back to the cinema…
In Praise of Laziness
I appear to have been adopted by a kitten who certainly knows which side his bread's buttered on. He chose the only person staying at home all August, at a loose end, getting fed up with Netflix, kept out of the garden by the extremely debilitating heat and the sheer amount of things to do.… Continue reading In Praise of Laziness
Cinema under the stars….
I do love the cinema! and especially cinema under the stars. It's really a case of"force is no choice" because I spend my weekday evenings during the year teaching, so there's really only the weekend left .I don't really like those mega-cinemas, though the seats are comfy. I found a small cinema near me with… Continue reading Cinema under the stars….
Guys
Guys in the sense of gals. I'm not getting sucked into the murky world of gender fluidity, so I'm addressing myself to anyone who does a bit of housekeeping and household tasks. When I got married, Italy was still a backward place with well-defined gender roles and I, having being fed on shit women's magazines… Continue reading Guys
Off the launching pad …at last?
Well as most of you know, my " followers" are all unofficial. I get lots of mails telling me how they enjoy, grapple with understanding ,have learnt new vocabulary and structures and are always very sweet. Some of you are incredible proof readers too and pick up on all my mistakes! This time I'm particularly… Continue reading Off the launching pad …at last?
Still overwhelmed by Gardens
A very interesting form of garden known as hortus conclusus, is actually a walled Garden. These pleasure gardens, found in castles and fortresses were surrounded by walls and separated from the noisy, chaotic, smelly life of the castle outside their walls, and were used as places of pleasure and often of courtship. Courtly love probably… Continue reading Still overwhelmed by Gardens
Overwhelmed by Gardens.
What IS a garden for goodness' sake? What exactly are we talking about? Front gardens, back gardens, rock, gravel or sensory gardens? Or perhaps kitchen gardens, show, high- or low- maintenance? Pleasure gardens, zen, wild, botanic, formal, cottage ,white, bee, natural, English, rose, historic? Gardens of Remembrance, of Eden, the garden of good and evil,… Continue reading Overwhelmed by Gardens.
What IS your problem?
One of the main problems with learning English, is, I believe, a weird idea that you can speak and write it in Italian! What I mean to say, is that people think, if they do actually think about it , that it's enough to use Italian grammar systems, translation ( Google and Reverso and all… Continue reading What IS your problem?
English that grows 