Category Archives: Odds & Ends

The End of a Blog – and the Beginning of a New One

Posted on January 8, 2023 by Scribe Doll

I started writing this blog, first entitled Londoner’s Musings, then Scribe Doll’s Musings, back in February 2011 because blogs were all the rage, it was Valentine’s Day and I was single with nothing to do, and in order to vent a … Continue reading →

Posted in Odds & Ends, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

Christmas Eve

Posted on December 25, 2022 by Scribe Doll

The treble has sung.  Christmas has begun.   Once in Royal David’s city… A voice like gold shimmering in the firelight.  The light is draining from the sky.  The sun has withdrawn without pomp.  This is not an evening for … Continue reading →

Posted in Odds & Ends | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Feast of Saint Catherine

Posted on November 26, 2022 by Scribe Doll

The elderly mother of a close friend sends me nameday good wishes every 25th November, and I thank her for her attentiveness. My mother once told me which Saint Catherine I had been dedicated to at birth, but I have … Continue reading →

Posted in Odds & Ends | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

The Polish Woman on the Bus

Posted on April 10, 2022 by Scribe Doll

The emotional memory of that day is much stronger than the memory of the event’s details.    It was 1981 and I was coming home from school on the bus.  I was sixteen.  Without a word, she presented a card … Continue reading →

Posted in Odds & Ends | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Just a Five-Pound Teapot

Posted on January 10, 2022 by Scribe Doll

I bought the teapot in Boots.  White with blue and yellow flowers.   Back when there was a Boots in Sidney Street. When they still sold a few household goods and stationery.  I paid about five pounds for it.  I … Continue reading →

Posted in Odds & Ends | Tagged , , , | 16 Comments

New Year’s Eve

Posted on December 31, 2021 by Scribe Doll

A tower of books is rising in the corridor, taller, wonkier by the minute, until it comes tumbling down.  I scoop the books into several plastic bags.  They’re going to Oxfam.  Books I no longer like.  Books I don’t care … Continue reading →

Posted in Odds & Ends | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Yuletide

Posted on December 20, 2021 by Scribe Doll

There are things you can’t tell other people – or only just a few people, perhaps: that you love the time of year when nights are long.  That you long for the moment, at around four o’clock, when you watch the … Continue reading →

Posted in Odds & Ends, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

A Necklace of Words

Posted on October 10, 2021 by Scribe Doll

1. Sfumatura (Italian): a shade, a nuance, but I love the sound of the word fumo (smoke) that forms it. A graduation in colour that’s as subtle as smoke; its very sound evokes a swirl of gossamer.  Close your eyes … Continue reading →

Posted in Odds & Ends, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 15 Comments

I Want to Live Among People with Salt

Posted on October 3, 2021 by Scribe Doll

Grey outside; on my improvised worktop, red, green, white and gold. Murky, rainy, chilly, gloomy.  An early autumn. But not with the wistful charm of Johnny Mercer’s lyrics.  Not like the entrance of a Jerry Herman heroine, who swoops down … Continue reading →

Posted in Odds & Ends | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Searching for LouLou

Posted on August 2, 2021 by Scribe Doll

I’ve always prided myself on not being influenced by commercials. As a girl, I made many of my own clothes, summer dresses and skirts especially, and would tweak the model, so it would be slightly different from the pictures in … Continue reading →

Posted in Odds & Ends | Tagged , , | 5 Comments