All Blog Posts Tagged 'Grace' (58)

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Breath of Death.

“A great deal of slow poisoning is going on in Great Britain.”

Dr William Hinds 1857

            In the 1850’s a change came over the nation. As oil lamps, with their brighter light, replaced candles as the main source of household illumination, walls no longer needed to be pale reflective colours. Dark shades became fashionable and of these, there was a positive passion for Scheele’s Green and Schweinfurt Green.…

My latest post looks at King John's 'Sin Tax' and why it brought about legal change in medieval Britain.

http://graceelliot-author.blogspot.com

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Traditionally what are violin strings made from?

A)    Cat gut,

B)     Steel wire or

C)    Sheep intestine.

The answer, of course, is (c) – sheep intestine, so why then, do are the strings of violins, stringed instruments and tennis rackets called ‘cat gut.’ It seems the answer lies with a medieval myth about16^th century saddle maker, Erasmo. (*)

TO READ THE FULL POST VISIT:…

Historical romance author Grace Elliot features as my Author Snapshot this week. Grace begins with a quick look at her latest release, A Dead Man's Debt published by Solstice.



A Dead Man's Debt by Grace Elliot

A Dead Man’s Debt is a story of blackmail, duty and unexpected love. I’m delighted to say it has had some awesome five star reviews from people such as…

My mid week post involved the Emperor Napoleon and 30,000 rabbits. This reminded me of Napoleon’s reputation for being afraid of cats. Apparently this was an open secret amongst friends and adversaries alike. Indeed, during an important political debate, an opponent got the upper hand, throwing Napoleon off his stride, merely by bringing the subject of cats into the conversation.

Another example of this deep seated fear happened during the campaign for the Battle of…

My midweek blog post is a blend of animals, history and trivia- to stimulate and make you smile! This is an almost Monty Pythonesque tale involving the French Emperor Napoleon, his Major General ‘Berthier the Ugly’ and 30,000 rabbits.

PLEASE follow the link for the full post:

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For Mother’s Day I was lucky enough to be receive The Tudors DVD box set (and I didn’t even hint that hard!) So this morning you would have found me ironing along to Season Two…with tears streaming down my face. Anne Boleyn was executed. Say no more. An extremely moving episode, which is perhaps why, when it came time to write my blog post, my mind turned to thoughts of beheading… and the guillotine.

Where was the guillotine invented?

a)     …

My personal motto should be, 'If you want something done, ask a busy person.'

Today I'm visiting the lovely Deborah Melanie's blog (author of 'Winter's Spirit' ) and posting about why this being busy keeps me going...

Please follow the link for more:

http://deborahmelanie.blogspot.com/

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On a dull Wednesday, here's a little something to help you smile.

(Follow the link)

http://graceelliot-author.blogspot.com/2011/04/something-to-make-you-smile.html

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A lovely comment on an Amazon forum made me smile today:

"Every once in a while I accidentally discover the work of an author I can't stop raving about. Grace Elliot is one such author. I just started reading my copy of A Dead Man's Debt by Grace Elliot. So far, I'm loving it! The prose is extremely beautiful and the descriptions so far have been nothing short of breathtakings! And there have been one or two scenes that brought out a belly laugh! I'm really excited about this…

By the 1880’s tea drinking became an upper class ritual. Ladies gathering around a silver tea pot with elegant porcelain cups became symbols of good taste and refinement and the preparation of tea was an art in itself. A popular household manual from the 1880’s ‘Enquire With Upon Everything’ instructs on how to make the perfect brew.

-         Use freshly boiled water, not exhausted by prolonged boiling

-         Scald the pot with hot water then empty…

Gathered by Virgins.

There’s something about a good cup of tea that lubricates thought and helps the day go more smoothly. My parents drink tea by the bucket full, whereas I mainly drink it at work. There are cultural differences to; I believe tea is much less popular in America than it is here in the UK, but strangely the Portuguese and Dutch are big tea drinkers. Anyhow, when tea was first introduced to Britain in the mid 17^th century, wild claims…

My weekend blog post starts with a question:

Which of the following is used as a lightning conductor?

A – Growing the plant ‘House Leek’ in the garden

B - Wearing a crown of laurels during a thunderstorm.

C - An iron pole connected to the ground via a metal strip.

D - Ringing church bells.

E - Having a ‘Witch post’ near the main door.

FOLLOW THE LINK TO READ THE FULL POST:…

Join me today at Casey Crow's blog where I post about flirting- Regency style.

http://www.caseycrow.com/general/learn-to-flirt-%e2%80%93-regency-style/comment-page-1/#comment-677

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As you may or may not know, I'm fanatical about historical romance - which is ironic really because I'm an independant working mother and have the sort of freedom that a Georgian or Victorian married woman could only dream of!

My new blog post "More Power by Tears" looks at the blood boiling attitude of men to women within marriage in the past...…

Grace is guest blogger over at Night Owl Romance and posts about the lack of women's rites within marriage during the Regency.

For a chance to win a copy of Grace's 5/5 rated historical romance 'A Dead Man's Debt' simply visit the blog and leave a comment.

http://nightowlromanceblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/womens-rites.html

Good luck !…

My guest today over at Grace Elliot's blog is fellow author of historical romance Jean Hart Stewart.

Jean shares her love of the regency period, some interesting facts about the Duke of Wellington and tells us about her latest book 'For Love is New.'

To read the post visit:…

My mid week blog post tells the true story of artist James Whistler, his favorite dog and an eminent ENT surgeon.

Whistler’s Poodle and the Eminent Surgeon.

American born, British based artist, James Abbott Whistler (1834 - 1903) famed for paintings such as ‘Arrangement in Grey and Black, the Artist’s Mother’ (yes, the picture in the first Mr. Bean movie!) and Old Battersea Bridge, was an animal lover. Whistler owned a tortoiseshell cat, but his…

As a veterinarian I’m constantly surprised by the resilience of the feline species. This week alone a 17 year old cat with kidney failure successfully underwent dental attention, a stray cat lost a leg but was eating the same night and a kitten fell 40 feet with barely a scratch to show for it! Its no wonder cats have a reputation for having nine lives - which set me wondering where the saying originated.

Research into this fable led me to ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians believed…