Merry Christmas, the Nativity video
I hope you enjoy this beautiful, heart-touching ,seven-minute video of the first Christmas.
Merry Christmas. Peace on earth, good will to men.…
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Christmas trees…pagan, Christian, or just plain fun?
Few symbols of Christmas are more admired than the Christmas tree, and nowadays, most countries that celebrate this holiday have their own version of Christmas trees. Before that, evergreens were a commonly hung adornment in homes, not just at Christmas but all winter.
Evergreens
Dating back hundreds of years, people in many countries hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows during winter, hoping to ward off witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and even illness. According…
Christmas Ghost Stories
by Donna Hatch
Ghost Stories at Christmas
An odd Christmas custom that dates back centuries is telling scary ghost stories. Have you noticed in the popular Christmas Song, “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” the verse that says: “Tales of the glories and scary ghost stories of Christmases long, long ago” and wondered over it?
Telling ghost stories is an age-old tradition. Many claim the tradition cropped up in the Victorian Era, including Charles…
Halloween Pumpkins and…Turnips?
One of the most widely-celebrated holidays in the USA is Halloween. This favored holiday is fraught with costumes, decorations, and parties galore! An event that was historically honored and/or feared is now really just an excuse to dress up and party, not to mention, go Trick or Treating! A major player in this autumn game is the carved pumpkin, also known as the Jack O’ Lantern. Did you know using pumpkins for Jack O’ Lanterns…
Gambling in Bath
No, I’m not talking about poker in the bathtub, in case you’re wondering.
Why Bath?
Bath, England was a popular summer destination among the gentry and aristocracy during the Regency and Victorian Eras.
Many people went there for their health. They drank mineral waters from a fountain in the Pump Room (pictured below to the right) and frolicked or soak in the Great Bath, a pool constructed by the Romans hundreds of years ago which…
Marriage in Regency England
Ah, the ringing of wedding bells! A lovely, romantic sound. It always conjures in my mind true love and happily ever after. The hope of a bright future awaiting the couple probably isn’t much different now than it was centuries past. But the way people married has evolved over the years.
In Regency England, a couple could get married one of three ways: they could marry in a church after the reading of The Banns,…
The Five Most Influential Books to Me as a Writer
People often ask me what are my favorite books, but that question is impossible to answer. The list is far too long! However, I can tell you what some of the most influential books were and are to me as a writer.
I’ve always been a voracious reader. From a young age, I could read at several grades above my current level at school. As a child, some of my favorite books were the Little…
The Season
Houses of Parliament Houses London 1852 by Edmund Walker
Few events created more anticipation and excitement, and in some cases, fear and dread, than the Season in London. Historically, going “up” to London for the Season coincided with the sessions of Parliament. The dates when Parliament convened varied each year but generally ran from January to July.
The varied beginning dates may have depended on the hunting season. According to What Jane Austen Ate and…
The Queen’s Drawing Room
Queen Charlotte 1762
During the Regency era, few ladies received an invitation to be presented to the queen. Such an honor typically belonged only to wives and sometimes daughters of peers, and it was a one-time event. Oddly enough, the presentation did not occur in the throne room, but in fact, happened in the Queen’s Drawing-room. The event itself came to be known as “the Queen’s Drawing-room.”
During my research, I stumbled upon some fun…
Will the Real Big Ben Please Step Forward?
Great Clock of Westminster by vgm8383, CC BY-NC 2.0
One of the most famous landmarks in the world, and certainly in the London metropolis, is the clock bell tower commonly referred to as Big Ben. At 315-feet (96 metres), this iconic tower is the largest four-faced clock tower in the world. What many people don’t know is that Big Ben is not the real name of the clock tower.
Officially, this clock tower is the…