Do you find mid-January kind of bleak? The holidays are over, and I always feel a bit of a let-down. Putting away the decorations and what-have-you isn’t as fun as getting them out. Even the leftovers are usually all eaten up by now. (This year ours aren’t, yet, but that’s a different story.) As Charlie Brown might say, “Bleh.” But there are some good book deals out there this month, plus we’re not far from February now, the biggest month of the year for romance!
If you are looking for something new to read and you don’t mind reading “sweet” historicals, then check out this group of romances on special offer until January 20. You can find them here.
I think many of us here at the Riskies are on deadlines or involved in major projects presently. We are also, as we have been for the past year, pondering the future of this blog. Readership has definitely fallen off, but several of the regular Riskies have not been able to post this year and the rest of us haven’t been able to fill in with extra posts, for the most part. So there have been fewer posts to offer. Is that the reason for the fall-off, or is it just that blogs are less popular now than they used to be, before Twitter, Instagram, and so much else came along? I would guess it’s both….
At any rate, we are still here for now, and even if we decide to discontinue the blog at some point later this year, we don’t want the fabulous archive of all the past posts to disappear. We will certainly keep you posted if we decide to make changes.
In the meantime, happy mid-January, and happy reading! This is the very BEST time of year to curl up with a good story, the best antidote to the blah’s that I know of. What’s your favorite way to deal with mid-winter? Are you still here reading the blog?
New Year’s Eve has come and gone, and here we are, already three days into the new year. If you were hoping to increase your chances for a lucky year, it’s too late now for most of the folk lore and practices you might have tried!
The Risky Regencies blog has been around since 2005, so we have covered a lot of January beginnings by now. If you’re in the mood, scroll down through our archives list and pick some early January posts at random. Some themes are recurring –for instance, making resolutions for the new year, which Regency people seem to have done just as we do today. But some of the other old customs seem to have fallen by the wayside. In January of 2016 my post included quite a few gathered from a variety of cultures.
Just for fun, below is an excerpt from my 2018 December release, Lord of Misrule. The main characters are traveling on New Year’s Eve and must spend the night at an inn. Nevertheless, they make an attempt to honor a few old customs. How did you spend your New Year’s Eve? Did you try to follow any old practices to influence your year ahead?
“Tell me, what would you all have been doing to celebrate the new year in Little Macclow if I had not spirited you away?” Lord Forthhurst said, introducing a new line of conversation.
“Oh, playing
cards or charades, roasting chestnuts, singing or dancing, teasing each other
with puzzles and riddles to try our brains,” said Lady Anne.
“Dining on
plum puddings and mince pies. Listening for the peal of the bells to tell us
the new year has begun,” the Squire added.
“We might
have been entertaining any visitors in a similar manner,” Miss Tamworth said.
She had resumed her seat and turned her unfathomable blue eyes on him. “I had
considered asking you to be our midnight caller.”
“The old
first-footer custom?” He knew no one who followed it. Mostly it was practiced
up in the northern counties and Scotland.
Still, he was flattered. The first person to step into a house after the stroke
of midnight was supposed to bring luck and set the tone for a good and
prosperous year. He doubted he was a likely candidate for any such thing. “I am
honored, but why in heaven’s name would you ask me?”
“Oh, just
because it is considered much luckier if the visitor is a handsome man.” She
shrugged, her tone utterly off-handed.
He looked for
any sign that she was flirting. Catching her eye, he tested her with a devilish
grin. “Ah, so you admit that you find me handsome?”
Her frank,
clear gaze seemed perfectly in earnest. “I needn’t admit it–I say so quite
freely, Lord Forthhurst. It is simply a fact about you, one that must be
obvious to anyone with eyes. …”
…“’Tis a
shame you’ll not have the opportunity to be first-footer at the vicarage, Lord
Forthhurst,” Squire said, rescuing him from having to respond. “The vicar
serves a very tasty punch on New Year’s Eve that I suspect you would like. It
has rendered many a visitor barely able to make his way home again after
indulging.”
“That sounds
quite wicked for a vicar. Indeed, I am sorry to forego both the honor and the
pleasure.”
A short while later,
they decide to leave their private parlor to join in the revelry downstairs in
the public room.
“I think we
should all go down and celebrate the new year’s arrival with everyone else.”
She looked pointedly at Cassie and the viscount. “Did you bring new clothes to
wear?”
“New
clothes?” Lord Forthhurst tilted his head, looking bewildered. He clearly did
not know much about country customs.
“Yes, to
bring luck and prosperity in the new year.”
“I see. I’m
afraid I did not bring any.” He sounded unconvinced.
“I did not
have any to bring,” Cassie admitted.
“Well, I have
a splendid idea how to fix that,” Lady Anne declared, her hands sweeping up
into the air. “I shall loan Cassie one of my shawls, and Squire can loan Lord
Forthhurst one of his cravats. The items will be new–to you, at least. I feel
certain that will serve. Oh, do let us get ready, and then go down.”
Belated or not, I and my sister Riskies all wish you the very best in 2020. That includes lots of happy reading!
Do you like Christmas stories? Just wanted to alert everyone to this special promotion! If you love Christmas stories and read them even after the holiday is over (as I do!!), take a look at this group (yes, you’ll see Lord of Misrule is in there –look at me, I finally did some marketing!! LOL). They’re not all Regencies, but some are offering special prices. It runs through Dec 28. https://books.bookfunnel.com/christmas_stories/113qaxih2r
In addition, of course, I wanted to send everyone my best wishes for the holidays. I hope your days are filled with love and hope, the true gifts of the season and what Christmas is all about. Plus a new year filled with all the things that bring you joy!
Merry Christmas (to all who celebrate it) and happy holidays for whatever else you may be celebrating. Happy New Year to everyone from all of us here at the Risky Regencies blog!
I am the lady of this house, not an exalted country house, but a respectable one and I must not dally any further. I must prepare for Christmas, once again. It is a daunting task in this modern age – 1820. There is so much to do.
Once before I wrote about preparing for Christmas (see blog of 12/3/12). Alas, this year is no different…well, maybe slightly altered.
First I must check to see if Cook has prepared the Christmas pudding. She should have done so five days ago on Stir Up Sunday. I must discuss with her all the food we shall need for the holidays, because the rest of the family and some friends will gather here and they will stay through Twelfth Night.
I should send invitations to the families near here to come for a Christmas meal. I believe I shall have my daughter write them. She has a better hand than I. Soon it will be time to send the footmen out to gather greenery and we must hang a ball of mistletoe to generate some excitement during the party.
Then there are gifts to purchase. I shall make a list and have my husband’s people purchase them in London and send them to me here. Amazon, the butler in our London town house will see to it. And I must exert myself to embroider some handkerchiefs for everyone, because that is the sort of generous person I am.
Speaking of generous, we will also make up baskets of food for those less fortunate than we. I am certain the kitchen staff and maids might take an afternoon away from their duties to assist in filling the baskets. My dh, Lord P–, and I will, of course deliver them to the families. It will take the better part of the day.
It is such a busy time! What are you doing to prepare for the holidays??
I know one thing you can do. You can purchase my scribbling friend Darlene Gardner’s latest Christmas Romance, The Christmas Cupid. It is set 200 years in the future (2019), but I am certain you will love it.
Now I shall lie down for a bit. All this planning has quite exhausted me.
I originally posted this on November 10, 1914. I’m adapting it today, because….We need to remember!
Today is November 11, Veteran’s Day, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, and the 101th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. In the UK and the Commonwealth, November 11 is known as Remembrance Day.
888,246 Commonwealth lives were lost in World War I. 888,246. that’s a staggering number. Can you imagine? Everyone in the UK must have been personally affected by that war.
In 2014, the UK marked Remembrance Day in a truly remarkable way. At the Tower of London 888,246 ceramic poppies were planted, one for each life lost. The poppies could be purchased for 25 pounds each and will be sent to the donors in January.
I visited the Tower of London in September 2014 and saw the poppies that had been planted in the moat so far. You can see the individual poppies in this photo.
By November 11 the whole moat was filled. The poppies bled from a bastion window, arced above the Tower’s medieval causeway, flowed over the top of the walls and fill the moat with a sea of crimson.
The idea for this art project came from this poem:
Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red
The blood swept lands and seas of red, Where angels dare to tread. As God cried a tear of pain as the angels fell, Again and again. As the tears of mine fell to the ground To sleep with the flowers of red As any be dead My children see and work through fields of my Own with corn and wheat, Blessed by love so far from pain of my resting Fields so far from my love. It be time to put my hand up and end this pain Of living hell. to see the people around me Fall someone angel as the mist falls around And the rain so thick with black thunder I hear Over the clouds, to sleep forever and kiss The flower of my people gone before time To sleep and cry no more I put my hand up and see the land of red, This is my time to go over, I may not come back So sleep, kiss the boys for me
Today in the UK, think of the 888,246 lives represented in the Tower’s moat in 2014. Think, as well, of the 116,516 American dead in WWI. Or the one and a half million American lives lost in war beginning with our Civil War. Think of all the soldiers who have died in wars.
And honor them.
Do you have a particular person to remember on Veteran’s Day? Mine is my father, Col. Daniel J. Gaston, who spent a whole career in the army.
