Two Monkeys

Next time you pop into the Uffizi Gallery look out for this remarkable altar piece. It’s a busy picture so let’s zoom in on a detail.

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Categorised as Art

Strange Stories of the Chase

The Countess of Feversham cut a dashing figure in the hunting field in a red coat and a top hat, as Millais’ portrait would bring out if I could find a colour version.

A Brief Alliance

Today it is a short blast up the motorway from Barmeath to Gormanston. It’s about twenty miles if you don’t mind paying the toll (my brother does). This was not the case in the 19th century.

Waugh Diaries

It’s been years since I read The Diaries of Evelyn Waugh. I’m looking at them again because of an email from a reader that sent me down a rabbit hole into a labyrinthine warren.

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Categorised as Literature

Meet the Bins

I wonder how can I make my posts more interesting? Blog readers like something seasonal, so how about mistletoe at Cranford Park instead of mulled wine?

Slightly Foxed

I’ve succumbed to temptation and taken out a subscription to Slightly Foxed, The Real Reader’s Quarterly. I used to read it in the library at my club but newspapers and magazines are too toxic for members to handle these days.

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Categorised as Literature

Claim Your Rights

The Quincunx, in the best traditions of the great Victorian novel, is a page-turner. Charles Palliser should have issued it in instalments and I for sure would have been drooling in anticipationlike Bertie waiting for dinner. Apparently on the east coast of America they were looking out for the ship bringing the next addictive shot of… Continue reading Claim Your Rights

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Categorised as Business