Jane Jago's Blog

December Delights – Day 1

Yule love this!

It is the festive season,
The time December sees in
And that’s our very reason,
To grant each day for you
Something that’s old or new
Perhaps a gift or two!

TODAY’S DELIGHT – A Giveaway!

Winter was the bejewelling of Temsevar, its crystalline magnificence turning even the most sordid and mean peasant’s wooden hovel into a glittering palace of diamond. The snows softened the harshness, smoothing all into a glorious billowed largesse of white. From every branch and twig, every ...

First Frost

The first white frost awoke 
To beauty, flowers dead and iced with lace 
As overnight the days of autumn 
Died. And winter took their place

The first white frost bedaubed
The trees with silver shining bright
And round our feet the sucking mud 
Grew crisp, and turned from dark to light

The first white frost awoke
To beauty, nature as we walked
And all about our heads our voices
Misted as we talked

The first white frost, a harbinger
Of winter’s freezing bite
Made us lift our heads to to glory
And our...

Aeva’s Challenge – X

A tale of angels, demons and dragons…

Aeva allowed herself to be herded, giving ground steadily and carefully until her opponent thought her defeated. Then, as a cruel grin stretched the draca’s lipless mouth, she dropped her pose of helplessness and moved towards her tormentor. Before the draca could compute what was happening, Aeva was behind her again and had taken a leap onto her shoulders.
With a wordless cry of rage, the draca began to stab and slash at the creature who stood on her shou...

Granny’s Pearls of Wisdom – Eggy Drinks

Pearls of wisdom from an octogenarian who’s seen it all…

Somewhere in the deep and distant past (during the time I was too busy raising a hopeful brood of contumacious little buggers to take notice of fashion) somebody sneaked something eggy onto the shelf behind the bar. Having made this dreadful mistake they looked at it for a decade before deciding that mixing it with lemonade and shoving a cocktail cherry in it made it a palatable drink. They then persuaded a whole generation of non-d...

Granny’s Thoughts on Thanksgiving

I don’t feel myself qualified to comment on Thanksgiving. It’s a noble sentiment – eat until you almost explode to give thanks for staying alive for another year – and one I applaud.

Is it like British Bank Holidays? Slightly outmoded by the number of days people get off work now? Or does it retain real meaning?

I don’t pretend to know. And neither can I pretend to like pumpkin pie.

In the spirit of friendship I’ll see your Thanksgiving and  raise you British Boxing Day, wherein one lay...

Darkling Drabble 13

A darkling drabble offers a shiver of horror in a hundred words…

The squire’s daughter had few friends, and many enemies. But, friend or foe, they were appalled when her father gave her in marriage to the bony octogenarian who was the king’s tax collector.

Next year, a much younger man came to collect the taxes. When asked where his predecessor was he laughed a cold sort of a laugh.

“My father is no longer with us. It is often thus when a foolish old man takes a bride young enough to be...

Puppy Poems – III

Poems of puppy Fozzie Jago as he is exploring and experiencing the world!

There is a something a horrid surprise
It’s behind me wherever I goes
And I cannot outrun it however I tries
And it sticks very close to my toes
It’s long and it’s creepy and scares me a bit
As I watches it out of of mine eye
And if I could catch I’d be biting of it
To make the bad follower cry
I will be creeping though long that will take
To catch and to punish the thing
I catches and bites but I thinks it’s as snake
Coz I bit it...

Dai and Julia – Saturnalia

In a modern-day Britain where the Roman Empire never left, Dai and Julia solve murder mysteries, whilst still having to manage family, friendship and domestic crises…

They left the house as one party – with the addition of Cariad’s two children, who Julia was pleased to find were both quite delightful, taking after their mother in looks, but seeming to have their father’s easy-going disposition. They had an escort: servants carefully sanding the paving in front of them and a ceremonial guard ...

How To Be Old – A Beginner’s Guide! (21)

Advice on growing old disgracefully from an elderly delinquent with many years of expertise in the art – plus free optional snark…

If you’re old get a new high back chair
And stair lifts to get up your stair
You shouldn’t be seen
Clad bright neon green
Glued to railings to protest that you care!

Eleanor Swift-Hook

How To Be Old – A Beginner’s Guide! (21)

Advice on growing old disgracefully from an elderly delinquent with many years of expertise in the art – plus free optional snark…

If you’re old get a new high back chair
And stair lifts to get up your stair
You shouldn’t be seen
Clad bright neon green
Glued to railings to protest that you care!

Eleanor Swift-Hook