Aggiornamento

Aggiornamento is a lovely word; it means bringing up-to-date. So you get an aggiornamento here most days.

Let Us Pray

Yesterday’s post portrayed the author as a feckless flâneur with an addiction to alliteration and alcohol. Guilty as gharged.

The Spire

A bellcote is like a dovecote with at least one difference; the latter is a home for pigeons, the former for bats and bells.

July Gleanings

“My dear Rick, when will you realize that in this world today isolationism is no longer a practical policy?” (Casablanca)

Sister Teresa

Sister Teresa (Keswick) was deputy chief clerk for the Inner London Magistrates’ Courts until she was admitted to a Carmelite monastery in Quidenham, Norfolk thirty-seven years ago.

The Font Race

It’s a well-known fact the more it snows (tiddely pom) the colder the toes. Less well known is under lockdown the more it snows the more bonkers I become.

Look and Learn

Look and Learn seemed to me inferior in every respect to a good novel and I only read it if there was absolutely nothing else available. These days Aquila is the go-to mag for a grandparent wanting to give a present that will not be well received. It’s why Aquila advertises in The Oldie.

He Chose David

Duff Cooper was tremendously productive. His duties as British Ambassador in France exceeded the demands placed on diplomats today.

Osberto Parsley

It seems to me it’s unusual to have a surname that is a vegetable or herb. The Broccoli dynasty of Bond fame, of course, and the fictional Parsnip created by Evelyn Waugh to mock WH Auden in Put Out More Flags. So I’m pleased to add Parsley to my trug.