Photo by Elliott B on Unsplash With Christmas a mere six days hence, wouldn’t it be entertaining to explore a few Regency Christmas trivia and traditions? I’m glad you agree with me! Here we go, in no special order: 1. Christmas Trees Were Not Yet Common The Christmas tree we know and love was not popular in the Regency era. It did not come to England until Queen Victoria’s reign, due to the fact that her husband, Prince Albert, brought the tradition with…
As this Tuesday Tunes post is conveniently a week before Christmas, it seems a good time to post about the season. If you know me, then you know that I am a sucker for piano music. So let’s combine these both for today’s post! To be honest, I don’t really know anything about Daniel Blomberg, but I stumbled across some songs on YouTube. He has several really nice arrangements of well known Christmas hymns that I fell in love with…
Image by G4889166 from Pixabay Aah, the joys of advancing age and receding memory. I knew I had a post due this week, but forget all about it until this morning! In keeping with December’s Christmas them, please enjoy an assortment of images to highlight the beauty of the Milky Way galaxy and the universe: Photo by NASA on Unsplash What, you might ask, does this have to do with the season? A lot, in my opinion. Image by Yol Gezer from Pixabay It is truly humbling and awe-inspiring…
Image by Claximoli from Pixabay December is here, so in keeping with Rowland family tradition, I’m going to start celebrating the season early. To be honest, I’m far from the first of my brothers and sisters to do this; my eldest sister started decorating before Halloween. But don’t worry, I have no plans to get sentimental right out of the gate. Instead, I came across an AI joke generator that I decided to try out. While the results aren’t side-splitting, with a few…
As Colin mentioned in his last post, it’s time for Merry Mischief! For anyone who has read the blog since it began, you may recollect that we wrote a Christmas story to celebrate the launch of this very site. It’s short, only six chapters long, and tells the story of an obtuse (isn’t he always?) and determined Mr. Collins, Elizabeth’s attempts to fend him off, and Mr. Darcy’s scheming to take Mr. Collins’s supposed place as Elizabeth’s suitors. After a…
I thought I’d finish off the season with a last few jokes to send you on your way into the new year, jokes I’ve searched for high and low from every corner of the internet! While I will allow you to judge whether these are the best (or worst) ever, I hope you will enjoy this last post of the Christmas season! What goes “Oh, oh, oh?” Santa walking backwards! (Cue the groans!) Why don’t snowmen get married? Because they…
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash Although it’s not Funny Friday, I’m in both a festive and humorous mood, so I decided to share some amusing Christmas cartoons I found on the web. the authors or sites are listed in each cartoon. I was unable to provide attriution for the few that do not contain that information.They are not side-splitting, but they tickled my funny bone and I hope they do the same for yours. …
In the spirit of Christmas, I decided to refresh my memory with regards to celebrations of the season in Jane Austen’s day. It did not take long to find a trove of information. To tell the truth, there are so many good sources that condensing it comes down to a struggle between what to include and which to leave for another article. Christmas in the early part of the nineteenth century was similar to the season now. For estates such…
Today I want to share three of what I think are the prettiest Christmas songs of the past sixty years. They are not carols, but they do bring the spirit of the season. The first is “I Believe in Father Christmas” by Greg Lake. A bit of interesting trivia about this song is he did not compose it as a celebration of the season, but rather as a protest over what he saw as the increasing commercialization of the holiday….
With Christmas mere days from now, I thought I’d mix the holiday with some trivia about the Rockefeller Christmas Tree in New York City. This might be the most recognizable Christmas tree in the world and, based on the time, effort, and money that goes into creating this magnificent display every year, the title is well deserved. Every one of these trees is massive, ranging in height from 69 to 100 feet. Decorating takes almost two weeks and the lighting…