Remember to eat
An amazingly intricate way to remind you to eat, no matter what the gods are hurling at you. Artemis is the...
Tussock-lined tract
What formerly passed for a lawn in our garden is now becoming a wild meadow, notwithstanding its random colonization by...
Sweet-blooded natures
A description of the Reverend Irwine, whose sisters are elsewhere described as being entirely superfluous. He is the only person...
Flat-footed view
Nicolson's writing helped cure me of any 'flat-footed view' I may have had of the Bronze Age, spinning its warriors...
Tongue-tied penguins
Having seen a number of documentaries on penguins, who seem anything but tongue-tied, this is a baffling idea. They seem...
Heavy-headed chrysanthemums
I love heavy-headed flowers, hand-span broad and beautiful. And yes, I also love daises, small, compact and resilient.
'Beneath the...
Gently-swelling meadow
George Eliot lived during the height of the Industrial Revolution, with several of her books being set earlier in its...
Body-gulping Charybdis
If ever there was an argument for steering a middle course, it is the horrific pair of sailor slayers, Scylla...
Lop-eared rabbits
What a fine word, 'lop'. You can see these droopy-eared pretty creatures lolloping around the melon patch.
'Lop-eared rabbits basked...
Mead-crazed ancestors
Since ancient Britain was steeped in German genes, not to mention mead, I fear these may be my ancestors too....
Thrice condemned monster
Heaney's tripling summary of Grendel, the world's fear and monster: a guilt-fouled fiend and a God-cursed brute with a hall-watcher's hate. Thankfully,...
Caique-dwelling tom
Leigh Fermor's Mani has a fine selection of memorable cats. I liked this description of the limited gene pools of...
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