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Hogmanay
One of the most surprising things about Christmas and New Year in Scotland is that Christmas was not celebrated as a festival and was virtually banned in Scotland for 400 years, from the end of the 17th Century to the 1950s. The reason for this dates back to the years of Protestant Reformation, when the…
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Christmas in the Netherlands
Hello everybody, I haven’t written any blogs for two years because my father died in January 2014 and then I moved house. I have now written another book called “The Anstruther Lass” a historical romance set in Dundee in 1865 and so I decide to start writing blogs again to promote the book. As it…
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Speech for Old and Bold Ladies night December 2012
SPEECH FOR LADIES NIGHT <p align=”center”><strong> </strong></p> Hello everyone, Well it’s that time of year again and you’ve got me again. Christmastime Some people love it and some hate it. One of the problems is buying presents for people. Now us girls always think it’s difficult to find something for our men but I think men…
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Speech for Old and Bold Ladies night December 2011
Thank the guest of honour <em>(For gods sake Vivien find out what the bloody hell his name is before you sit down for dinner!!)</em>Say how interesting his speech was etc etc Do you believe in Father Christmas? <em>(Someone is bound to say yes so adlib say your weren’t supposed to say that, there’s always one…
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A picture of Stella
A picture of Stella <p align=”center”><strong> </strong></p> Stella Serck-Roche was a beautiful woman, even at 99 yrs old. I remember that I took her to buy a watch at a jewellers in Blachington Road Hove. It’s run by an old chap and is an Aladdin’s cave. Anyway Stella had a lovely time chatting to the jeweller…
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European Sewer Tours
From: Edward Keogh <keogh829@btinternet.com> Subject: Sewer Tours To: vivien@vivien-carmichael.co.uk Date: Friday, 5 October, 2012, 16:05 Other Sewer Tours, European and British:After posting my blog a friend sent me this information about European sewer tours. Here is the link http://bit.ly/UoaMAc and the info he sent Want to to take a European Sewer Tour? It’s simple, fun,…
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Brighton Sewers
I first went on the Brighton Sewer tour when I was 18 yrs old. Varndean Grammar School arranged it after we had completed our A levels. We were all in high spirits and we found it very exciting and exhilarating especially when we exited through the manhole in Steine Gardens. I went on another tour…
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Plenty of legroom
Plenty of legroom <p align=”center”><strong> </strong></p> I read a letter in the Times yesterday Tuesday 25<sup>th</sup> September, about Igor Sikorsky, the subject of my last blog. So I thought I would post it. Sir – the suggestion that Vladimir Putin’s presidential airliner should include a “patio” (Celebrity Watch, Times3, Sept 20 has historical precedence. …
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Plane Facts!
n my first book, “The Skimming Stone”, Archie and Ally time travel back to the Second World War, meet Jazz, a Spitfire pilot and witness a dogfight and a victory roll. This spiked my curiosity about aviation and how it all began so I turned to the Internet and this is what I found. Do…
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The Grail of the unicorn Planet is now on Kindle
The Grail of the unicorn Planet is now on Kindle and can be downloaded or borrowed. Please use this link amzn.to/OUbNg7 Read it and let me know what you liked about the book. Tweet
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UFO’S and Aliens – Foo Fighters
Perhaps the strangest reports of UFO sightings occurred at the end of the Second World War. Pilots, who are usually rational and sensible persons, reported seeing fast moving round glowing objects following their aircraft while flying over Germany at night. Sometimes they were described as fiery, glowing red, white or orange. Pilots and their aircrew reported…
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Alex’s War: Chapter One The Beginning May 1939
This is the beginning of my father’s story and tells why he decided to join the Royal navy.and the first chapter of my fathers experiences in the Second World War I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a…
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The Second World War
I was listening to Jeremy Vine on the Radio the other day and he was talking to Antony Beevor about his new book called “The Second World War”. Jeremy was saying that it is strange that The Second World War fascinates everybody. This struck a chord with me as I am spell bound by the…
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Urban Foxes. Live in the City. Close encounters of the Foxy kind.
I was delighted when Channel Four announced their programme about urban foxes, firstly because I love foxes and secondly because one of the characters in my book, “The Grail of the Unicorn Planet,” is an urban fox called Rufus. In my book, the children are able to communicate with him, made possible by the wizard Signet.…
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Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence
In my book, “The Grail of the Unicorn Planet” the extraterrestrials that live on the planet Altair are highly advanced and benevolent. They visit Earth, unknown to most of us but if they did show their faces they would be friendly. However some people believe that to try and make contact with aliens and send…
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Car trouble
I thought that the days of rogue cowboy garages was over but I was wrong. After having two clutches in quick succession, fitted by Lee Hire in Brighton they told me that I had burnt the clutches to a crisp and that the car would not go into gear because the gear box was faulty. They suggested that I “pass” the car and its problems on to an unsuspecting buyer and I…
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Stargazing, Exoplanets and Space travel
I have always liked Science fiction and have been inspired by H.G Wells and Jules Verne and later Asimov. So as a writer I wanted to incorporate this as an element in my books. Information technology means that we all have instant access to the latest developments in technology and we can see that Science…
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Holy days and the first day of the week
The Literacy class where I am a volunteer restarted after half term, last Monday the 20th February and I was very surprised to find that I learnt something myself. The teacher asked everyone, “What is the first day of the Week?” You possibly thought like me that it was Monday. or maybe you are cleverer than me and know that it…
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The Odd Sock in the Laundry Syndrome
Do you ever find that when you come to sort out the laundry after it has been washed and tumble-dried that you are left with odd socks? Even though you have washed the clothes at home, they just can’t be found. They’re not left in the washing machine or tumble drier so where on earth…
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What’s in a name?
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.(Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet Scene II, ii 1 -2). So speaks Juliet in Shakespeare’s famous work. I was thinking about this, last week, when my friends came back from a holiday in Hong Kong and telephoned me to…