In The Pink

For some time now I have been trying to get the whole Lancaster vs York thing straight in my mind with regard to The War of the Roses. As most of the magnates involved are descended from Edward III (all credit to Phillipa of Hainault!) it is a family affair but I feel as though I want to choose sides. I just want to know who was right and who was wrong! Up until this point I have felt distinctly Lancastrian however through my recent readings I have discovered that while more knowledge makes some things clearer, it can also make things more complicated. I now understand the family tree for this period, and if I squint and really concentrate I can see it in my mind and follow the blood lines through. But both sides have done some really bad things, and not always for good reasons. Both sides have killed a King and it seems that almost everyone has plotted to kill one, except one poor soul who has been executed for plotting to kill one despite being innocent. It...

I am coming to a crucial bit in my Henry V book and am troubled. I have read about many English Kings now, some I like, some I don't, but I have tried to understand them all so that I may make my own opinion on their cause and justifications. I like Henry V, well at least I want to, but I do not believe in his cause. (Image Credit: Silva Animation ) I have always liked my warrior/ battle stories, and reading about a battle can be incredibly exciting when you believe in the perpetrator; when you don't it is a sad tale of events that wreak havoc on thousands of peoples lives, like a wave of suffering and destruction; and if there was one thing they knew how to do in medieval times it was make people suffer!  I think Henry's cause is misguided and believe him intelligent enough to have been able to change the course of events if he had considered the bigger picture and believed in himself.  Perhaps I am wrong; perhaps given his Father's unorthodox...

My current book and precious possession - History of the Kings of Britain, Geoffrey of Monmouth

I have been blogging for 6 years now, hard to believe really! Anyway I have just been looking through my blogroll and bloggers that have come and gone over the years. When I first started blogging I spent a lot of time visiting new sites and meeting new bloggers so to speak; a few of them I still share comments with, one of them has become my friend (Hey Kyle !) which is amazing, but many of them have not blogged for some time or have deleted their blogs altogether. When I first started out there was a lovely lady called Joni who used to blog about her farm. Unfortunately she decided she did not have time to keep her blog up and deleted it. (I have just spotted that she started it up again this year although has yet to post! Come back to the blogosphere Joni!) There was also a blogger called Lone Chatelaine who I used to share lots of comments with. She was a lady looking for love; the last post she made on her public blog was a picture of her hand wearing an engagement...

I have recently developed early wake syndrome again! Its not a bad thing in the week when I need to get up but a little disappointing at the weekend. Anyway, yesterday when it happened I was able to stay in bed until Mr Dancin woke and we had breakfast but this morning I felt restless and so decided to get up and leave him to snooze in peace. As its dark outside I am spoiling myself with an early morning viewing of Snow White and the Huntsman, a film we got out this weekend and watched on Friday night. Its stars Chris Hemsworth who you may remember from such films as Thor an Avengers Assemble! And is a really interesting and fresh take on the traditional Snow White story. Snow White herself is played by Kristen Stewart who actually does a fair job however the supporting cast is even more impressive with appearances from Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, Ian McShane (hasn't Lovejoy done well!) and Nick Frost. I am really glad they did a good job of the film. The trailer we s...

Well our advent calendar is up! Now don't panic, we are not that Christmas mad! It is a calendar counting down to our Scottish Holiday for Christmas week, as seen here. When my sister and I were little we used to make count down calendars to all sorts of things, just to help us count the days down and somehow make them seem to go quicker. Well it was something Mr Dancin' and I took up a few years ago to count down to our summer holiday. We had a cover image like this, a map of the area we were going to, and then doors opening up each day onto pictures of things relevant to our holiday. The first attempt went a little wrong and each image behind the door was slightly out of shot but it made us giggle trying to guess/ remember what they were! Well today I decided to do another calendar counting down the 64 days until we head to Scotland! Again I have used a map of the area we are off to and each image behind the doors is something significant for us. We were discussin...

I have been mentally writing a post about where I am in my history pursuits and why they are so important to me but I got distracted this evening and do not have enough time now to do it justice. I did however at the very least want to record which King I am upto and as such may I introduce you to Henry V, son of Henry IV (that may sound obvious but it doesn't always follow that the next King of that name is the son of the former) from the 15th Century. May I also just add that if you are really interested in this stuff, what really happened and who these people really were, do not read Shakespear or historical fiction, it is often very misleading and can lead to unjustified prejudice. Anyway, more on the subject next time. For now I am off to find out what Henry has planned next! Goodnight Bloggers, sleep well.

I am having a small identity crisis at the moment, its nothing too serious, but I have recently had something happen in my life that has shocked me and caused me to loose confidence in myself. I am not going to go into details but I was worrying about the outcome of an event, all the while telling myself that everything would probably be fine, only to find out that things were far from fine and actually far worse than I could have ever imagined. I thought I had got over it but this evening, when faced with a new life challenge, I have found myself sitting here, worrying and, having been so recently stunned about how events can unfold, creating new scenarios of horror! I know deep down its all rubbish but it is hard to silence the worry. I am blogging about this not to ask for sympathy, or advice, I know what I need to do; I am blogging about this to raise the point of how easy it is to let other people or situations destroy our belief in ourselves, and in addition how ...

I am taking a few moments out to enjoy one of my favourite films on TV, Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, staring James Stewart and Grace Kelly. I have been a big fan of James Stewart since I was little and you can't not love Grace Kelly, she is so beautiful, natural and charming. Anyway, I would not say I was a huge Hitchcock fan; I have seen several of his movies and have my favourites, but there is something about Rear Window. For those of you who have not seen it it is about a foreign correspondent journalist (James Stewart) who as the result of a broken leg is forced to stay at home and spends his time looking out of his living room window and observing the residents of the opposite block of flats. Through their living room windows we get a glimpse of their lives, their loves and their traumas. There is the beautiful young blond who has many gentlemen callers, the lonely middle aged woman who fantasises about the perfect date, the old lady with a dog which she lower...

Sorry but it is! Hey at least I did not say the actual word! I am feeling so ******massy its untrue! It is cold here today, cold but fresh and sunny and I have started doing my you know what shopping! Also, me and Mr Dancin have a cottage booked in Scotland for you know when which is very exciting and we cannot wait for December to arrive! Ok, I will stop now but I just had to get that out!

I got a visit from a blogger yesterday, Honfleur Then and Now , on my recent post about my historical readings, My Latest King , which has lead me off on a trail this morning to Falaise, Normandy and the birth place and home of William the Conqueror, Chateau Guillaume le Conquerant . One thing I have found since I have been history hooked is that you pick up a small thread of information to find out one thing and before you know it you are travelling along a wide web spanning time in all directions and hours have past! Anyway, I recommend a visit to Honfleur Then and Now  to find out more about Williams origins and will leave you with this image, courtesy of  Chateau Guillaume le Conquerant , which shows how the fortress would have looked in Williams time.

Last month we had our summer holiday planned for Wales and got the tent and camping kit out for our trip. Unfortunately on arrival in Wales one of the pups became unwell and we had to return home. (She is fine now, just an old lady.) So we put our efforts into planning events for our 'staycation' so that we still felt the benefits of a good break and didn't get caught up in home chores and I have to say I think we did a very good job of it! The following photos summarise the holiday and most of our activities. St Beuno's Church, Clynnog Fawr The pups enjoying a play on a beach between Beaumaris and Puffin Island on Anglesey.  Battle re-enactment at Rockingham Castle , Vikings vs Saxons, as performed by the Vikings of Middle England Rockingham Castle Gardens Biplane Flyby at Rockingham Mr Dancin at Rockingham The National Memorial...