It's a Classical Life

Are you a tea drinker? With winter coming to an end (and endless cups of tea drunk), I can truly reflect on how special this tradition is. We've chatted about the ritual of tea here before on the blog, but I thought it was worth mentioning again. It seems that coffee around the country (I'm not sure about the rest of the world) is going up in price, like many other groceries. Visiting a coffee shop isn't always an affordable option for social visits anymore, with some studies suggesting that the future of coffee is quite bleak due to climate change. I love coffee, but ultimately tea is my drink of choice and today I want to share some of my favourite ways to enjoy a cuppa. These are all free or cheap ways to enjoy tea, and with everyone watching their budgets closely I think it's important that we still find joy in this old-fashioned tradition.  1. Sunrise tea This is my favourite way to partake in tea. I get up early in the morning, before the rest of the family wakes...

I have something fun and exciting to share with you all today. I love word games, puzzles and riddles and I especially love word searches and crosswords. I thought you might like them too, so I have started creating classic themed word searches for you to download on the first Friday of every month (perfect for the weekend - perhaps whilst watching the Coronation!) The first one is the characters of Jane Austen's novels. Each word search is made with large print and includes a floral picture, hand-painted by me. I love water painting and I love word searches - a match made in heaven! You can either copy the image above, or you can download the PDF from the google drive here.   Jane Austen Word Search I have also made an answer sheet. If you would like one, please email me and I will send it to you. I don't think the puzzles are too hard, but if enough people email then next month I will add the link to the answers in the post. If you have any ideas for word searches that you wo...

  We recently passed the winter solstice and it has been quite wintery around here lately. Cold winds, foggy mornings and weak (but welcome) sun have characterised our days. Winter is the perfect time to read more, and I thought it would be fun to share some of my favourite Agatha Christie stories, set in a wintery setting, just to get us in the mood. For those of you in the northern hemisphere, you may want to bookmark this page to read in December! Otherwise, grab a hot drink (or a cold one!) and let's snuggle in for some wonderful winter mysteries from the great dame herself. The 4:50 to Paddington   " 'It's very simple, really," said Miss Marple. 'Unusual but simple. I want you to find a body.' " I love the cosy, Christmas setting of this book. It is one of my favourite Agatha Christie novels featuring Miss Marple. As the experienced and calm friend of Miss Gillicuddy, the woman who witnessed the murder, we get lots of little insights into Miss Ma...

3 October . —As I must do something or go mad, I write this diary. It is now six o’clock, and we are to meet in the study in half an hour and take something to eat; for Dr. Van Helsing and Dr. Seward are agreed that if we do not eat we cannot work our best. Our best will be, God knows, required to-day. I must keep writing at every chance, for I dare not stop to think. All, big and little, must go down; perhaps at the end the little things may teach us most. The teaching, big or little, could not have landed Mina or me anywhere worse than we are to-day. However, we must trust and hope.                                                                                                       ...

Wordle has been taking over the internet lately! Do you know this short but challenging word game? Even if you don't, you've probably heard how it was recently bought by the New York Times. So what's the hype? Well, the premise of the game is really simple and you can only play one game a day. No sign-up. No commitment. No fees. All you have to do is guess the 5-Letter word of the day, within six guesses. We love it! My son especially loves to play and between our two devices (everyone has the same word to guess), we usually get it!! You can watch how to play in the video below, then pop over to the Times website to play. ( edited: We have also recently discovered Quordle , which is just like Wordle only there are four words to guess. Very challenging!) There is nothing new about word games. In Ancient Rome, there was the Sator Square, a stone with a combination of a palindrome carved into it (that is, the words can be read backwards and forwards) and a cryptogram.  When t...

LEISURE What is this life, if full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. No time to stand beneath the boughs And stare as long as sheep or cows. No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass. No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like stars at night. No time to turn at Beauty; glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance. No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began. A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.                              W.H. Davies  This stirring poem by Welsh poet W.H. Davies was first published in 1911 yet its message, I believe, is still just as important today. I have talked about past-times on the blog before but having read Sense and Sensibility last month, I wanted to look in a bit more detail at some of the leisure activities that these early Victorian women got ...

 Preserving and pressing flowers is a true classical past-time, with the practice being done as far back as the ancient Egyptians and Chinese. These dried flowers were used for a variety of purposes: fragrance, medicinal purposes, tea and so forth. However, it is believed that it was the Japanese in the 16th century who began to use the dried parts of a flower for art, known as Oshibana. This beautiful artform is continued today. Via As much as I love this delicate and whimsical art form, it is a more simple way of preserving flowers that I wish to discuss today. I have two easy ways that I dry flowers in my house, using no special equipment other than plain twine and heavy books (two things I always have in my house anyway).  The first way is to simply tie the flowers together and hang them upside down. I use a section of my kitchen wall to do this, as I really like looking at them; a simple and natural form of art that changes with the seasons. Here I have the flowers from a...