🎄 Dec 18 | #RosemarySutcliffAdventCalendar2024 “Loyalty is never simple, nor is it without cost.” ⚔️⚖️ In the 17th Century English Civil War, a young boy discovers that truth lies in the heart. #Simon #ReadingRosemarySutcliff

🎄 Dec 19 | #RosemarySutcliffAdventCalendar2024 “Love is the sharpest sword of all.” 💔🌊 Sutcliff reveals the raw, Celtic heart of a tragic romance. #TristanAndIseult

🎄 Dec 20 | #RosemarySutcliffAdventCalendar2024 “A hero’s strength is not in his sword but in his soul.” 🐺⚔️ Cuchulain’s myth told with Rosemary Sutcliff’s skillful realism. #TheHoundOfUlster

🎄 Dec 21 | #RosemarySutcliffAdventCalendar2024 “Healing the body is easier than healing the heart.” 🧙‍♂️❤️ A boy with disabilities finds his place in the world through healing arts in medieval England. #TheWitchsBrat #ReadingRosemarySutcliff

Aagh! Wife's hospital discharge 'planned' Sun since Fri delayed cos hospital pharmacy CLOSED. Patient Mrs L-"I can't believe they shut the pharmacy in a big hospital the Sunday before Xmas!!"Now they tell us. Plus Dr to sign of discharge+letter difficult to get "cos its Sun".

... but ward nurse i/c has pushed tirelessly and effectively this am and Mrs L is now ready to leave just as soon as we get there! But the system hinders her & her team's caring as much as it helps it.... Kettering General Hospital Northampton General Hospital 💙 newish CEO Laura Churchward please note & act

🎄 Dec 22 | #RosemarySutcliffAdventCalendar2024 “Memory is the thread that stitches our past to our present.” 🖋️⛰️ Sutcliff’s autobiography reveals how her childhood illness shaped her as a writer. And she writes of the love of her life - Rupert. #BlueRememberedHills

🎄 Dec 23 | #RosemarySutcliffAdventCalendar2024 “Through the centuries, the roots of the oak hold firm.” 🌳📖 Three novellas show how history and myth intertwine across time. #HeatherOakAndOlive

🎄 Dec 24 | #RosemarySutcliffAdventCalendar2024 “Some fight for crowns, others for their country; both carry heavy burdens.” 🎩🏴 Sutcliff brings her genius to the Jacobite rising in Scotland. Unusual era for her. #BonnieDundee #ReadingRosemarySutcliff

A most helpful reminder for when it comes to writing thank-you letters and emails — from Philip Reeve . Molesworth pre-dates AI …

This is my favourite New Year’s poem, which I turn to at this time every year. It’s actually a bit from In Memoriam by Tennyson. Whether or not you can feel optimistic, a very happy and stable new year to you all.

Now this is my (And Another Thing ……) kind of article about gardening …

A neighbour Maxine Dodd Art who does wonderful watercolours which capture the excitement and movement of cycling (and football…). Do vote for her below! (More of her work at maxinedodd.com)

Historians are divided in their views about whether the Anglo-Saxon invasion was large or small, hostile or co-operative—see BBC News (UK) Rosemary Sutcliff portrayed it as both a time of conflict and a period of cultural evolution—see #TheLanternBearers #SwordSong #TheShiningCompany

Netherne was the Sutcliff family house in the 1930-1950s, in Devon between the Torridge & Taw valleys, close by Barnstaple, Bideford, Huntshaw Cross, Torridge & Yarnscombe. The gate was at the site of the former gallows, on the corner of three parishes—see #BlueRememberedHills

The bagpipes were Rosemary Sutcliff’s favourite instrument …. Tho’ her politics would not have seen her favouriting ALASTAIR CAMPBELL for his politics …..!

Ave. ‘Happy’ New Year all ye who actively follow here and love #ReadingRosemarySutcliff. But I will no longer post on this platform with owner Elon Musk—a dangerous self-seeking right-wing ideologue with no regard to facts—actively slurring this country’s democracy & leaders.

Nor will I be using Facebook or Instagram which have ditched their fact-checker based safety processes....BBC News - "Facebook and Instagram get rid of fact checkers" bbc.com/news/articles/…

I will be posting (more) at Bluesky .... @rosemarysutcliff.bsky.social