Category Archives: Odds & Ends

The Hour of the Book

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Scribe Doll

The day is drawing in and I’m rushing to finish translating a page.  I need to look up a word and that slows me down.  I don’t like to stop mid-page but if I don’t leave now I’ll be late.  Do … Continue reading →

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Tea Ceremony

Posted on February 3, 2019 by Scribe Doll

A gentle hum that grows louder, then turns into a hiss that becomes a gurgle  The water is boiling, bubbling, impatient.  The teacher removes the electric kettle from its base, and pours its contents into a clear glass pitcher.  This … Continue reading →

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A Shapeshifter at Play

Posted on January 27, 2019 by Scribe Doll

All the windows are locked.  Curtains closed.  Blinds pulled down all the way to the sills.  Even so, its chilly breath hisses through the tiny gaps and reaches my knees.  There is an occasional tremor in the candle flames on … Continue reading →

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Telephone Nostalgia

Posted on January 13, 2019 by Scribe Doll

It suddenly occurs to me that it’s been months since anybody called our landline.  Except for my mother, of course.  Day after day, when I check the phone after coming back home, the display is always the same.  0 Calls.  … Continue reading →

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New Year Resolutions?

Posted on January 6, 2019 by Scribe Doll

I’ve binned my 2018 New Year’s resolutions. Unopened.  They were past their use-by date.  Somehow, they ended up being kicked under the bed or falling behind bookcases, where dust grows in tumbleweed form, buried under dictionaries on my desk, or … Continue reading →

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Needling

Posted on November 14, 2018 by Scribe Doll

For some, it’s a massage or a facial. For me, it’s acupuncture. As soon as I’m overwhelmed by stress, run down or simply in need of TLC (not to mention if ever I have a health concern), I book in … Continue reading →

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Early Autumn Wedding

Posted on September 23, 2018 by Scribe Doll

“Are you having any readings?” “No.” “Have you brought some music?” “No.” “Do you have rings?” “Yes.” The elderly registrar smiles with a hint of relief.  At least one traditional feature.  She tells those present that photos are not permitted … Continue reading →

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Thunderstorm

Posted on July 29, 2018 by Scribe Doll

After weeks of relentless, unusually intense heat, the weather forecaster announces a violent thunderstorm with possible flash flooding in the East of England.  That and we’ve been promised the longest lunar eclipse – with blood moon, no less – in a … Continue reading →

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Ash Wednesday

Posted on February 18, 2018 by Scribe Doll

Miserere mei, Deus: secundum magnam misericordiam tuam. Et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum, dele iniquitatem meam. Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea: et a peccato meo munda me. The voices gently rise to the stone vaults and fill the 12th-century church, … Continue reading →

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A Writers’ Social

Posted on January 21, 2018 by Scribe Doll

The Scene: A bar. The Players: Novelists, children’s writers, academics, translators, journalists, biographers, and other assorted literary intellectuals. * “Hi! Nice to see you! Which way did you come?” “Oh, it was bloody awful.  I drove down the [name of … Continue reading →

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