Rambling in Wales

Drive by Bloggin'

Because I am away and because I miss you, I thought i would blog here and there where I could.

After an excellent flight we arrived in Wales. Yesterday was a lovely day, and Father's Day here in Britain as well as in North America. It was a pretty afternoon, sunny and cloudy. My sister in law and I went for a long walk, in the countryside which is only steps from her house. I didn't take my camera - but that will be the last time I go anywhere without it. Remember my flora fauna blog, just last week, well I saw honeysuckle and dogroses and foxgloves all growing wild in the hedgerows. So I am feeling pretty good about that blog. I will be taking lots of pictures to share with you when I get back.

In the meantime here is one fashion picture for June as promised.



This is from the Cabinet of Fashion, June 1808

Fig. 1. Short dress of muslin; pelisse of fine cambric, and fashionable straw hat; yellow gloves.
Full Dress.-A round dress of pale pink sarsnet, covered with a stout robe of white crape, or net; a cap of white lace or net, and bows, ornamented with a red rose in front.

My next newsletter will be coming in July - so if you want to be sure to get a copy, you can sign up through the link posted at blogside (like curbside). Off to see the old mum tomorrow.

I will pop in for a visit later in the week and let you know what we have been doing. Until then, Happy Rambles

Regency Flora, Fauna and News

I hope you will forgive me, for running a tiny bit late today. I am off to the Historical Novel Society Conference tomorrow and had a couple of deadlines to meet.

Of course, everyone waxes lyrical about June. It is really the beginning of summer and all the flowers are putting on their best show. Of particular interest was this little extract.
Honeysuckle is an overpowering sweet odour sometimes the air is so heavy one can'tbreath. I can remember honeysuckle like that. These days it just doesn't seem to have that heady perfume. Or is it me?

What other flowers do we find in the gardens and hedgrows?


Here is a list from the



Times Telescope for 1817: Naturalists' Diary

Flowers: Larkspur, white lily, orange lily, everlasting pea, veronica, hyssop, snapdragon, linaria, yellow loosestrife, marigolds, chrysanthemum, nigella, wallfower, sweet william, iris, cranesbill, red valerian, bachelor's button, poppies, columbine, thrift, candytuft, foxglove, periwinkle, camomile, lavatera, lavender, globe
thistle, squill.


Trees, shrubs, vines: Spanish broom, yellow and white jasmine, roses, tamarisk, lime tree, cinquefoil, honeysuckle, Syringa, viburnum, Passion-flower,
Tulip-tree, spirea, Portugal laurel, sweetbriar.

Out of those I picked a couple that for me hold many happy memories of perfumes during childhood.

Wallflowers - not the kind who have to sit out the dancing.
They also have a sweet perfume and grow well in the lose mortar of walls. Hence their name.

The other one is foxglove. Come on now, don't you just love that name. We always used to pick the heads of the flowers off and pop them on the ends of our fingers, like gloves. Didn't do the flowers much good, though I must say.
Do I hear you crying, digitalis - that's poisoness. If I did you are quite correct. So if there is a murder in 1817, we know this is one plant that could be to blame.

Something else the Diarist tells us. June is when the birds stop singing. By the end of June most of them stop their call, including the cuckoo. You have to be very careful about when you have a cuckoo make its appearance - if it is the call you are using.


I am going to do more on this topic for June, because there are a few more plants and wildflowers that I would like to include, even though I cannot inclue them all.


News

I also want to tell you that I will be going on vacation from June 15 to July 10. I will be gathering lots of pictures of places for this blog as well as visiting my mum.

So I hope you will be patient if I miss a day or a week here or there, because I don't always have access to a computer.

I will be here next week and will finish up the flora and fauna and hope to get a little bit of Fashion done for June.

I hope you are enjoying some nice early summer weather. Until next week, Happy Rambles.

Sneak Peek

There is nothing more exciting or as scary to a writer as seeing the cover for your book. Well, perhaps seeing an envelope from a publisher or an agent that has had your manuscript for a while is pretty scary.

Anyway I have to share my new cover. I really love it and I thought you should be among the first to see it.

Isn't that pretty? Come on, you really must agree. I must say I am very happy with it.

You can of course order the book on amazon, but it won't be out until October and it will be in bookstores, so you can wait for a while. In the meantime I am going to sit here and stare at the cover.



Here is another cover. I bet Lori was very pleased with this one. Her book out is this month, and I can't wait to read it. Hellhounds. Yummy. I have added the link and a bit of the blurb to tempt your appetite. You will love this exciting read.

Publisher: Silhouette Nocturne
ISBN: 0373617658
ISBN-13: 978-0373617654
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: June 1, 2007

Order Now from Amazon.com
Read the excerpt listed there, shivery and intriguing. Go check it out. It will make a change from Regencies and they do say variety is the spice of life. So get living ducks.

Risk Leidolf is a hellhound—a legendary, otherworldly creature who is both man and beast. For centuries, he’s been bound to do the bidding of an immortal witch. But after being ordered to destroy novice witch Kara Shane, the man within him rebels. And the beast within him is held at bay—for now.


Fiercely drawn to each other, Risk and Kara soon form a passionate alliance as they set out to find her missing sister—and the key to his salvation. For the power unleashed by the twin witches could free him from the immortal witch’s bondage. But that freedom comes at a steep price. For the fierce battle will put more than one soul at stake
To see more books by my friends go to Your Virtual Book Bag

Thursday, we will take a a peek at some Flora and Fauna, and then I am off the to Historical Novel Society Conference. And the following week I will have some fashion and some news.

Until next time, Happy Rambles.