Following on from my epic reading marathon of Henry Williamson's awesome saga spanning the social changes from 1880 to 1940s, Jez from Exeter Library has said some kind words about the review I completed and the full version of my guest blog within his 'Sleuthing in the Stacks' blog is available on the Library website …
Reflections w/e 10 September 2023
I remember 10 September 2001 distinctly. It was a Monday and I was enjoying gardening in the warm sunshine. I had a phone conversation with my friend, Ulrike. Life felt good. How all that changed the very next day with the now so-called 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York. And, …
There has been a lot of fuss in the press regarding the blue supermoon…and rightly so! The Moon is a fascinating object and an easy objec to get anyone interested in space and astronomy. I was fortunate to be interviewed on Radio Devon which gave me an opportunity of explaining the phenomenon. When there are two full moons in a month, the second one is called ‘blue’…origins of this are disputed, and the term is used as a catch all for anything rare. Two full moons in a month are not actually that rare but a blue supermoon is. A supermoon occurs when the moon is at its closest to Earth or perigee, and when it coincides with being low on the horizon, looms very large in the sky. It is the same size as always, but appears larger due to perspective and the extra brightness.
February can never contain a blue moon because the time it takes the Moon to make an orbit of Earth and for it to complete a cycle of its phases are both longer than there are days in that month. The Moon is full because it is directly opposite the sun, so it is fun …
Book Review of Henry Williamson’s Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight
This ambitious project has taken me a year to complete, and then not entirely as I skipped a couple of volumes in order to complete the reading and review. It was through Jez at Exeter Central Library that I came across this series and it deserves much wider recognition. Here it is: Book Review of …
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Honiton Revisited – a fresh (er…no I just missed a month!) series of items for publication on my website blog
w/e 23 July 2023 (posted after the August one...;-)) Hot Penny Day. Well, the last time I attended this annual event in Honiton was on a wet day and when life was not so good…and I remember thinking, “what on earth am I doing here?” Since then, there have been many changes, and this …
w/e 6 August 2023
This week I took a trip into the city of Exeter to catch up with a friend and to return a library book. I do not miss the roughness of Sidwell Street at all. Exeter was noisy, busy and grubby. The central library is a jewel though and my friend and I enjoyed a …
May Reflection
The first of the month was actually on the Bank Holiday Monday or ‘May Day’ as it used to be called. Not sure when it stopped being called May Day. At primary school we were fortunate to have a maypole around which we danced on the warm spring grass. It is one of my …
April Reflections
With Easter falling towards the beginning of this month, the month began with a hefty amount of baking. I tried again to make a traditional Greek Easter loaf which involves plaiting strands of dough. It was a little more successful than a previous attempt, but not by much. The pretty boiled eggs placed within it …
February Reflections
There were many reports at the beginning of this month about labour shortages, over 55s taking early retirement, furloughed people and working-from-home-during-the-Pandemic people not returning to offices, and an increase in the number of people claiming benefits. I am among the many feeling aggrieved by the rise in the state pension age…my formal retirement …
January Reflections
This month saw me settle back into Honiton where I had lived for a few years prior to moving to Exeter. It felt like coming home and I received a warm welcome from people who recognised me. Having moved in just before Christmas meant there was a delay before getting work done on the …
Karen Hedges 