Obstinate Headstrong Girl author Renée Reynolds

The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves. (William Penn) WOW ~ Word of the Week ~ Prigstar https://wp.me/p35x4V-2y5 #Regency #history #Rivalry #love

“A girl likes to be crossed a little in love now and then.”Mr. Bennet, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen This is such a great line, for all that it’s an awful sentiment, especially one coming from your father. But on this St. Valentine’s Day – which has its own twisted history – I thought it interesting to examine two of the more famous infamous love stories where rivalries were…

“Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.” (#JaneAusten ) WOW ~ Word of the Week ~ Talesman https://wp.me/p35x4V-2xn #Regency #literature #PrideandPrejudice

This past week, January 28, was the anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice in 1813. So happy 209th birthday! It’s a beloved book of many readers and it made me wonder how many times it has been adapted onto the small and large screens. I’ll watch any version that I stumble upon… which means I’ve seen some real corkers (sorry, Unleashing Mr. Darcy). What follows is…

You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know. (William Wilberforce) WOW ~ Word of the Week ~ Club Law https://wp.me/p35x4V-2x3 #Regency #History #CivilRights

Sometimes we know we should do the right thing before it’s actually the right thing to do. For instance, there are some things in life that we know are right and we know are wrong; just because there aren’t any laws for or against them doesn’t mean we should or shouldn’t do them. Case in point: today is Martin Luther King, Jr Day in the United States. No one should have ever needed telling the…

If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it. (Toni Morrison) WOW ~ Word of the Week ~ Quill https://wp.me/p35x4V-2wu #Regency #History #HerStory #authors

Happy New Year! And in the words of Colonel Sherman Potter of M*A*S*H: “May she be a damn sight better than the old one.” I typically binge books and television shows/movies over the holiday break. These past few weeks have been the exception in that we were simply too busy. Even though we’re still social distancing and being extremely careful, we did get out more and several typical holiday…

Gossip is what no one claims to like, but everybody enjoys. (Joseph Conrad) WOW ~ Word of the Week ~ Back Biter https://wp.me/p35x4V-2w3 #Regency #vocabulary #gossip #art

In church we call them “parking lot committee members.” In social media we call them “tea spillers.” If you’re at work, people ask for the “scuttlebutt” or “dish.” No matter the label, someone who gossips, especially with the intent to hurt or defame, is an untrustworthy, chin-wagging scandalmonger that you’d better not turn your back on. Back Biter One who slanders another behind his back,…

You do not play then at whist, sir? Alas, what a sad old age you are preparing for yourself! (Charles Lamb) WOW ~ Word of the Week ~ Lurched https://wp.me/p35x4V-2v9 #Regency #history #Cards #games

We are game-playing fanatics in my family. Board, backyard, card – you mention the word “game” and our family is in it to win it. But perhaps that’s too simplistic. We love the strategy, the complexity, and the challenge…and we really enjoy being together with extended family and friends. Sometimes the competition is friendly and sometimes it gets a little more heated, but we always have fun,…

“On Michaelmas Day the Devil puts his foot on blackberries” WOW ~ Word of the Week ~ Michaelmas https://wp.me/p35x4V-2uu #Regency #history #vocabulary #Michaelmas

There are some holidays that are universal, such as Christmas and Easter, despite the differences in some customs connected with them from country to country. Most everyone knows something about those holidays, whether they observe them or not. Then there are the quarter days in England. These holidays have long fascinated me because they seemed so aristocratic, so fancy. Just the name “Lady…

Seeing my father's handwriting puts me in contact with the man he was at each stage of his life. (John Carter Cash) WOW ~ Word of the Week ~ Pothooks and Hangeks https://wp.me/p35x4V-2ud #Regency #vocabulary #JaneAusten #letters

Being my son’s teacher, and being a family fluent in sarcasm, I frequently joked that his less-than-stellar handwriting destined him to be a doctor. He did not take the hint. What he lacked in neatness, he more than made up for with his creativity and wit whenever given a writing assignment. As computerized as our society is today, I was less concerned about the beauty of his penmanship than…

Dearly beloved: We have come together in the presence of God to witness and bless the joining together of this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony. (Book of Common Prayer) WOW ~ Running Stationers https://wp.me/p35x4V-2tW #Regency #history #marriage

One of the most debated topics amongst Regency romance authors is the wedding announcement. I’ve read arguments discussions where some stated no extant examples of announcements exist while others insisted it was the most socially important part of the wedding (with neither side supporting their argument beyond stating it matter-of-factly). When in doubt, I consult the Oracle. “The latter…

We are born crying, live complaining, and die disappointed. (Thomas Fuller) WOW ~ Word of the Week ~ Grumbletonian https://wp.me/p35x4V-2tF #Regency #vocabulary #Karen #History

This week’s word is sponsored by the letter “G,” as in “Get Off My Lawn.” We’ve all seen that cranky person before. We’ve probably been that person before. “Miss, I have a monstrous crow to pluck with you!!” by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey, 1794, National Portrait Gallery UK. Grumbletonian A discontented person; one who is always railing at the times or ministry. “This is a…

O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-ey'd monster, which doth mock The meat it feeds on. That cuckold lives in bliss, Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger... (Shakespeare) WOW ~ Word of the Week ~ Hornified https://wp.me/p35x4V-2tj

It’s time for more James Gillray and I’m not the least bit sad. I love it when his art fits my Word of the Week choice. Hornified Cuckolded. The accomodating spouse; – the kind cuckold sent to Conventry; – coming York over her; – or what you like, by James Gillray, published by James Aitken, 15 May 1789, British Museum. This cuckold print shows Lady Tyrconnel in flagrante in bed, with a “come…

Do a loony-goony dance 'Cross the kitchen floor, Put something silly in the world That ain't been there before. (Shel Silverstein) WOW ~ Word of the Week ~ Barnaby https://wp.me/p35x4V-2t3 #Regency #vocabulary #Dancing

I’m no dancer. I’m not “a full body dry heave set to music,” a la Elaine Benes, but I’ll certainly never be accused of having grace or style. I enjoy music and I move to it, but in the privacy of my own home (or in public when necessary to embarrass family members wishing me to “for heaven’s sake, stop.”) Elaine Benes, as portrayed by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, in “The Little Kicks” episode of…

Wear old clothes a little longer if necessary; dispense with the new pair of gloves; mend the old dress...PT Barnum WOW ~ Word of the Week ~ Tatterdemalion https://wp.me/p35x4V-2sN #Regency #vocabulary #clothes

Well, it’s been a minute. Let this serve as warning that despite having finished as a homeschool teacher, I have no more free time than I did when we were still schooling. I totally understand my dad’s bewilderment at quitting smoking, yet not suddenly becoming rich for all the money he was saving by no longer purchasing cartons of cigarettes. However. Just as my father reaped health benefits…