Woodsmoke and tea

When I was little, our family used to drink loose leaf tea a lot more than we do now. For me, childhood has the over-arching scent-memory of woodsmoke and apples. We had open fires in our house and my father would store racks of Bramley Apples from the wonderful tree in the middle of our …

Centenary

“I never get into an aircraft for fun. I aim first for the head of the pilot, or rather at the head of the observer, if there is one.” Manfred von Richthofen I read these cold words last night. It made me pause. Today it is exactly 100 years since the 25 yr old Richthofen, …

Happy New Year

I hope you've had a good time over the festive season. Or at least that you've had time to pause and take a rest. If it was a difficult time for you - then I wish you peace and hope that 2018 brings better things. I had planned to write a blog post at the …

Advent: Christmas Eve

I had to save the best 'til last. We're finishing off the Advent Calendar with the dragon, more specifically the emblem of Wales, The Red Dragon - known in Welsh as Y Ddraig Goch. I'm sure most people are familiar with the Y Ddraig Goch as the flag of Wales with the red dragon passant …

Advent; December 22nd & 23rd

December 22nd: Today we looked at the Will o' the Wisp. The Soundcloud clip is here. Will o' the Wisp is less a "creature" and more ethereal. They are known by many names such as ignis fatuus or foolish fire and are also known as Jack 'o' Lanterns or Marsh Lights. Or even more macabre, …

Advent; more catching up, nearly there…

The last few days I've let go by as I've had nothing extra to add and it avoid filling up inboxes with emails at this busy time of year! December 19th: Groke. The Soundcloud clip is here. The Groke is another character from Tove Jansson's Moomin tales. I always felt sorry for the Groke. I …

Advent: December 18th

Today's creature is the Bunyip. The Soundcloud clip is here. I've explained in the clip Ellaria read about how I first heard of the Bunyip and so why I chose pink as the shade to describe a legendary swamp monster. I did wonder if the spinners would find this an odd choice of colour though …

Advent: December 17th

Today's creature is the Waterhorse. The Soundcloud clip is here. The famous Loch Ness Monster - or Nessie - is a waterhorse. The photographic "evidence" above is the "surgeon's photograph" from 1934. However sightings of a monster connected to Loch Ness stem from 6th C AD when the Irish St Colomba did a bit of …

Advent – catching up!!!

I've really got behind on posting on here! It's been a busy few days... December 13th - Chimera. Soundcloud clip is here. December 14th; Haggis. Soundcloud clip is here. December 15th; Jackalope. Soundcloud clip is here. December 16th: Yeti. Soundcloud clip is here.

Advent: December 12th

Today's mythical creature is the mermaid. The Soundcloud clip is here. Mermaids - maids of the sea - are hybrid creatures with the top half being a female human and the bottom half of a fish. They are rooted deep in the myths of many cultures for thousands of years. The first known mermaid story …