Lance Greenfield's Blog, page 54
December 27, 2016
Boxing Day Entertainment by the Kenilworth Lions at Kenilworth Castle and Abbey Fields
As Daddy to three wonderful dogs, I just love the doggie Christmas coat parade.
The English love to do fun – and some might even think silly – things on Boxing Day.
Perhaps this is a relief from all the stress of preparing for Christmas. It’s also the opportunity for people to gather together in the fresh air and enjoy themselves with traditional English entertainments.
Here are a few fun things that took place in one of my favourite places, Kenilworth, on Boxing Day – at Kenilworth Castle and Abbey Fields.
The events were organised by Kenilworth Lions who not only give people a lot of fun and enjoyment, but also provide tremendous support to local charities through their fundraising.
The entertainments included Morris dancers, Punch and Judy Show, and the best dressed dog contest at Kenilworth Castle…
……..and the annual duck race along the brook through Abbey Fields – an event which attracts a huge crowd. We followed this with another very…
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December 19, 2016
Mindful Monday – “Have Yourself a Mindful Little Christmas”
Wonderful. I’m with Colleen! ❤️
In my weekly feature called, “Mindful Monday,” I like to share my journey on the road to becoming more ‘mindful.’ This encompasses the act of being watchful, aware, wary, heedful, alert, careful, or attentive, in whatever area in my life I feel it applies to.
Welcome to Mindful Monday. I’m happy to see you.
Hello, and welcome to another week on Mindful Monday. Are you busy with the holiday season? Are you running around frazzled trying to have the “perfect” holiday for you and your family?
As many of you know, as a Buddhist, I don’t celebrate Christmas, even though I was raised with the tradition. However, Christmas was a strange event in the home I was raised in. For me, Christmas was, and still is a Christian tradition. As a child, the holiday I knew, was about attending church services, singing in the choir, and having dinner with my…
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WINTER PERCHING
This is Ernie perching upon a tree on Strawberry island.Those mountains are in Strathcona park,22 miles north.
Ethel joins him in the third shot.Ernie was singing a welcoming song for her from above.
I love this kind of light! As you know light is composed of many different colours. This is the last colour you’ll see at the end of a sunset. However not every sunset will display it.This colour only lasts a very short period of time & also has low contrast making it the most delicate of colours! I search for this colour all the time! I cannot get enough of it because I really do not see it very often & remember that when it does happen,you have to be in the right spot with your equipment handy! No time to run around looking for a great background to take advantage of it……..It only lasts a few…
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December 18, 2016
Review: The Dare
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This story covers a short, but impactful (I know that’s not a recognised word, but it should be!) period of a young boy’s life.
In the opening, Danny and his Dad are sitting at home, fretting over the unusually late home-coming of Danny’s Mum. Eventually, she turns up, flanked by two police officers. She has collided with Andy, who is slightly younger than Danny, as she was driving home. Andy is in a coma in hospital, and his chances of pulling through are slim. Mum is drowning in her guilt and has become uncommunicative.
Tensions rise. Other characters are introduced, including Andy’s sister, Sarah, who becomes central to the plot. The interactions between all of the players make the story roll along at a brisk pace. The events are not predictable, which makes for interesting reading.
As a quick read, it is possible to get through the whole book in a single sitting, and setting time aside to do that would be worthwhile. Once you are into it, you will want to continue until you reach the conclusion.
I did like this book, although not quite as much as the only other John Boyne that I have read, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
December 9, 2016
Review: The Gates of Rome
The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Action-packed historical drama
Conn Iggulden seemed to like my review of his “quick read,” Blackwater, almost as much as I enjoyed reading that book. Being in a one-to-one conversation gave me the opportunity to ask him if he would recommend his Emperor series to anyone who had enjoyed the shorter story. He was very honest in admitting that he didn’t know but advised me to walk into a bookshop, pick up The Gates of Rome, read the first chapter then decide whether to replace it on the shelf or buy it.
That’s almost exactly what I did. In fact, what I actually did was to buy the whole series and read the books back-to-back.
This is the first of a series of four historical that describe the life of Julius Caesar and his best friend, Brutus, from boyhood through to his violent death. Knowing what happens in the final pages of the final book does nothing to damage the reader’s enjoyment of the set. The action starts in the opening pages as Gaius, as Julius is known in his youth, and his friend Marcus, later known as Brutus, are captured and bullied by older boys from the neighbouring property.
As Gaius grows up, he has an early introduction to the Roman Senate and shares some very tough training for his military manhood with Brutus. His mentor is his father’s estate manager and his trainer is an even tougher ex-gladiator. These men follow and support Julius and Brutus through most of their lives.
Violence, death and political treachery abound and the first book ends with Julius embarking on a voyage as a junior officer on a Roman military ship in North Africa as Brutus heads off to the colonised lands of Greece.
After reading the first chapter in the bookshop, I bought the book. Before I’d finished The Gates of Rome, I’d bought all three remaining books in the series and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the same course of action to any friend.
December 7, 2016
#JoytotheWorld Christingle Church Service
I could almost feel the power and energy as I read this. I certainly know what it feels like and Christingle sounds wonderful to me!
It may surprise you to read about my visit to our local church, since this is the blog of the pagan housewife. There are people in our communities who identify as pagan Christians, however, since paganism was simply an ancient form of worship before Christianity came to the UK all those centuries ago. Indeed, Christianity and paganism mingled and wove together many of the popular festivals that we are familiar with today, and now we are fortunate in that we can openly celebrate those that feel right to the individual.
So it was that last weekend I accompanied my elder daughter and our young neighbour to our local CofE church, St Michael and All Angels church in Middlewich. I love the congregation in this church, and indeed, many of them are my friends from the school yard and various parent/child groups that I have attended in recent years…
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December 2, 2016
Do we need Alien invasion to bring us to our senses? I hope not.
There is only one race: the human race.
I have just come back from my birth country, Czech Republic. I like going there, Prague is beautiful, and I have many good friends there.
However, I can see the same nationalistic shift there as in other countries. Far right parties- small but growing, people constantly talking about the Islamist threat, the racism towards Roma, or, as most Czechs call them, Gypsies. The generalisations, the fear.
There is an old competition where Czech people vote for the most popular pop and rock musicians. It is called Zlaty Slavik- Gold Nightingale. This year, an obviously fascist group called Ortel got the Silver. I looked at you tube, listened to their songs. It was shocking. The lyrics are clever, just skirting the boundary of legality. Manipulating people’s frustration and fear. The disaffected, unsuccessful people who want change. People who don’t feel part of the society. It seems to be happening everywhere, Brexit…
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November 21, 2016
“LAZY BOY’S” CLOSE UP
Just needed to share these wonderful photos a bit wider. Enjoy!
He really is lazy.He likes to lay down & munch on the grass close to him. When he can’t find anymore close by,he gets up,moves over & lays down again. He’s a funny but lazy Bruin.
Your Bigotry Makes Me Stronger.
This is a very well written piece. The author uses it to open the pressure valve on her personal pressure cooker, but she tells us a lot about herself and the cruel world that she encountered. Her last line tells me that she will stand strong against the winds of hatred and she will thrive on the nourishing beauty of our planet.
My followers already know my views on prejudice.
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” — Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
Today I was pushed to write this. I grew up in South Africa and watched the seeds of change flourish whilst multiculturalism spread its arms around every skin color we gave birth to. It was a truly unique and precious gift. But somewhere along the way things went horribly wrong. Nelson Mandela fought for peace and freedom. Not for one race, but all races. Color was inconsequential. As it should be. If you punch me in the face, it hurts. If you cut me with your blade, I bleed. My color, your color…makes no difference to the fact that we bleed the same, we need the same things to survive and we all die…
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November 20, 2016
Review: When Pleasure Blooms
When Pleasure Blooms by Lance Greenfield
I cannot review or rate this book, as I wrote it, but here is a bit of background information on where some of the stories came from.
The signature story, When Pleasure Blooms, just sprang into my head one day as I looked at an almost perfect flower, and thought how sensual it was. I challenged myself to expand that thought, to make it bloom, into an extraordinary story about a rare plant which is truly sensual and is capable of exuding pleasure.
Many parts of Mary Had A Naval Virgin are based upon events in my own life. I actually was a naval officer cadet, and I did hitch down to my shipmate’s home in Kent. And we really did hitch a ride with a man who was almost exactly as I describe him. The events up to a point in the story which you’ll easily discern when you read it, even the dialogue, actually happened! And it really was hilarious at the time.
I suppose I could’ve taken An African Massage a lot further than the short story that it is.
[It would have been nice to have Natalie visit Tony in London and see the sights, plus a little bit more.][It would have been nice to have Natalie visit Tony in London and see the sights, plus a little bit more. (hide spoiler)]
Highland Roots expanded as I wrote, and I started to fall in love with both of the principle characters, Fiona and Bruce. There is so much of me and my own roots in this story too. It could easily have become a novel, but I decided to leave it there and move on.
As for On The Altar, it is absolutely NOT a male fantasy, as some have suggested. This was based on a recurring dream which was described to me in about three lines by a Goodreads friend in North America. She told me that she used to wake up from this dream at exactly the same point every night. That point will be easy to find when you read the story. She’d wake up feeling both very scared and very aroused. [She told me that her juices would be flowing, and she’d sometimes reach into her bedside cabinet drawer to get her “rabbit” and use it whilst she imagined what could happen next. (hide spo She never told me exactly what she imagined would happen next, but she was delighted with the way that I finished the story off for her. So this is actually a female fantasy from a professional woman.
[There’s an epilogue to that story. When I sent her my first draft, she read it at her desk and had to run off to the ladies half way through and finish reading it in a cubicle! That made me laugh! I can just imagine the scene in a legal company’s office!]
[There’s an epilogue to that story. When I sent her my first draft, she read it at her desk and had to run off to the ladies half way through and finish reading it in a cubicle! That made me laugh! I can just imagine the scene in a legal company’s office! (hide spoiler)]
I created the book covers for each of the stories myself. I know that they are not up to top-of-the-market standards, but I can’t help feeling rather pleased with them.
