I have always been fascinated by playing cards, not just by the possibilities of endless hours of fun, but by the artwork. Today I found a very old set ensconced in a leather travelling case, and was very excited when the first joker jumped out at me. I think the black cat is hilarious (note […]Read Post ›
I have always loved poetry and the sound of my own voice, so when I was asked to read a poem as part of a national poetry reading event I didn’t hesitate to agree. It was supposed to happen on my birthday in September, and I was tempted by the thought that there would be […]Read Post ›
A few days ago I wrote about my minuscule part in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, a play written as an allegory to the witch-huntery of communists and sympathisers in McCarthy’s America. A powerful play, when properly performed, thought provoking and disturbing. Witch-hunting is nothing new. Rumour, the spread of gossip, the false reporting, conspiracy […]Read Post ›
21st May 2022 A few weeks ago I received this invitation to attend a book launch and exhibition of ceramics, both by the artist Elizabeth Stanhope, as she is known in English speaking circles. I have written about her before, when I was writing a profile of her for the Polish Ball, to which she […]Read Post ›
Yes indeed, I am jumping on the royalty bandwagon. Quite incidentally really, but last week, when I was still in Poland, I received an email advertising a Jubilee inspired lecture in Kingston. Normally this wouldn’t have interested me at all – Kingston is an hour away, 6 30 in the evening is not a convenient […]Read Post ›
It took me a long time to pick up this book and actually read it. I was reluctant at first because I had somehow convinced myself it was by the author of the Thorn Birds, a popular book when I was at University in the seventies, but which I don’t remember particularly enjoying, though people […]Read Post ›
Good Friday always used to be the most difficult day of the year for me. When I was little it was the beginning of the most boring long weekend of the year. Friday was a bank holiday – there was absolutely nowhere to go, nothing to do, all the shops were shut, it was usually […]Read Post ›
Many years ago my husband I both discovered a love for the music of the twenties and thirties. Forties stuff was also acceptable. We had come to it from different directions. When I was at University I had spent many weeks in Sheffield crossing the city so I could watch the next episode of Pennies […]Read Post ›
by and for MD Finally Meeting Mum by Mike Daligan is a tome that lifts the spirits and shows you how it is possible to come to terms with whatever life throws at you. This delightful book is very hard to categorise. It starts off with a poem – a beautiful paean to mothers everywhere […]Read Post ›
No. Not the band but the area of London. Walthamstow. The Far Eastern end of the Victoria Line. Not difficult to get to from where I live. Ealing. The most western end of the Central Line. But a long way nevertheless. I went in order to make the typical Polish Londoner’s pilgrimage to the William […]Read Post ›
Life Through Basia's Eyes 