Shirley Mitchell
Location St Ives, Cambridgeshire
Activity
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
When the Kissing Cannot Stop
It was hard coming to terms with some of the conventions on my first stay in France. But I was there for eleven years so hopefully I got it right eventually.
… there's the business of kissing for instance. Kissing as a daily greeting I found a charming innovation. I loved watching my daughter leave the house for school and...
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
HERALDING THE COMING OF SPRING
One of the most charming traditions in France is the offering of a sprig of muguet to family and friends on the first of May. This is to bring good luck and in my case I found lilies-of-the-valley in a variety of pretty containers on my doorstep – from tradesmen who had done work for me, from little lads who had walked home...
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I've had both positive and negative experiences with some of my (oh dear, yes, I have quite a few) blogs on FB but have learned by trial and error (and in one case distress) which platforms to avoid (= to steer clear of) and have also picked up the tricks of the trade eg blocking individual bullies ...
The delightful feedback I receive from my modest number...
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Shirley Mitchell replied to Barbara C
Been there, done that ... so had a somewhat biased attitude even before plunging into someone else's "take" on one of my favourite haunts.
George often invited my daughter and I to his Sunday carrot cake picnic parties. Our sadness at his death is still too raw for any sensible appreciation of articles about him.
See what you mean about the...
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
Neither drew me in. Not surprising in the Music one but as a long-term fanI would have hoped for something more annoying or pleasing - not so bland.
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Shirley Mitchell replied to Barbara C
Thank you, Barbara C, for a thought-provoking hour on this soul-less Saturday. All interesting. Favourite = Gifted Girls
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Shirley Mitchell replied to Barbara Lister
@BarbaraLister I'm a sucker for anything to do with the East End. And as for Chaucer - love him - dare I say "in spite of" enforced study for A level English - well, to counteract that - "because of" his appearence in Anya Seton's KATHERINE ...
My convoluted way of saying THANK YOU, Barbara L for the link
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
Kate Adie - I SO admire and trust this woman PLUS appreciating her literary style
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
I am passionate about many topics. A vegetarian for 60+ years, a Socialist for most of my life ... these commitments frame my Outlook.
What makes me leap out of my fragile, aged ... and, yes, essentially shy shell ... is hearing folk pontificate about DYSLEXIA. A terribly abused term. I was there at its conception and watched so many self-appointed experts...
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Shirley Mitchell replied to Trina Saisi
Commiserations, Trina. Oh, oh, oh - that accursed BLOCK.
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
Week 3 = curate's egg
Have great hopes for Week 4 ...
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
Harrowing listening but so well done
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/24-hours-in-police-custody/on-demand/73855-002
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
See above
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That's more like it ... very good mini-lecture!
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Moi aussi. Well, French by marriage and something my French family, friends, colleagues et al could never explain to me - why so many Lords and Ladies remain in their chateaux to this day ...
May try doing a feature on this - but I will WRITE it in how ever many drafts it takes - then send out or destroy - but NOT PITCH IT.
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
'Tis very exciting when you are called in to have your photograph taken to be used at the head of your column
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Shirley Mitchell replied to Barbara Lister
INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM
and/orCOMMUNITY JOURNALISM ?
Someone "official" will probably post an actual link. I enjoyed both courses but am not reaping much from this one
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
Habit of lifetime - notepaper and pencil on bedside table. Used scribbled reminder this very morning. Electronic post-its lined up on right of screen. Very informal and would mean nothing to outsiders
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
... or just write the wretched piece, durnit ...
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With you there, Catherine. A pity there was not an ALL to vote for.
Also, I can plonk myself down at my computer, on an aeroplane seat (with an old envelope and a pencil), on my sofa (with a notebook and biro) and "open my mind" till an idea comes.
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Ditch the pitch ... is my advice. Just send in the completed text plus any drawings/photographs you have carefully produced.
You have done your research re which publications will be interested in your work, you have toiled and slaved and perfected every word. Trying to artificially present it is a bad idea.
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Yes, they often have their own agenda ...
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@MarkJackson How does one do that? Seems an extremely useful ploy
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Yes, RIP Hilary - though I did not "enjoy" her books I nevertheless "admired" them ...
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
A Ruth Rendell I am just getting into. One of those where the murderer is revealed immediately and then his character analysed chapter by chapter.
The room he lives in says so much about him - spotless, respectable outwardly but despite all his faddy housekeeping it is underneath a mouldy-cornered, unattractive space ...
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Shirley Mitchell replied to Judi Boutle
@MarkJackson Love this little chapel cum barn Took classes there on field trips and after the usual giggling and shuffling those who chose to stand on the preacher's stone really seemed to soak up the sense of "what happened here all those years ago."
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
My most recent "features" have appeared in a local news sheet and they defy much of what is being expounded here. For a start they are SHORT - sometimes less than 500 words. I often provide a drawing which hopefully accounts for further information on the subject.
I suppose there is a hook - sometimes the time of year, sometimes a memory sparked off by an...
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
Beware. Interviewers often have their own agendas and some go as far as to "trick" you into ging the answers they want ...
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
"By golly, she reminds me of me"
JOHN WAYNE IN True grit
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Sure does, Linda. Some fun thankfully but a change of country and a loss of precious daughter ate t' other side of the coin.
Hope to meet up on another course - am delving into screenwriting next ... -
You have to pay for that kind of access, Vivienne - but you probably know that.
It is a big disappointment to me, one of the founder members ... -
Shirley Mitchell made a comment
At last an accessible author. No me, me, me in his answers. A real, honest WRITER, believably involved in his craft. Thank you, Mr R. Off to immerse myself in your book.
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
"... clearing a space for individuals to articulate themselves in their own linguistic register, without a narrator who might attempt to either interpret or neutralise their words, can carry tremendous political force."
Do SO agree with this ... am off to my sofa to think about it even more ...
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
"Effie's in de coal hole" - so long since I read SILAS MARNER so this might not be strictly accurate but, boy, did this snippet communicate so much ...
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Oh dear, how annoying when there are no "he said/she shouted/ they groaned"s and I have to count back up the page to discover just who said what and to whom ... Hilary Mantel was struck off my reading list for this habit in particular
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Oh dear, how annoying when there are no "he said/she shouted/ they groaned"s and I have to count back up the page to discover just who said what and to whom ... Hilary Mantel was struck off my reading list for this habit in particular
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Shirley Mitchell replied to Mary R
Sarah Harrison, Ruth Rendell, Iris Murdoch and Joanna Trollope do this butting -in business very well. Dickens, though the master of the monologue sometimes gets this group conversation going.
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Shirley Mitchell replied to Steve C
You have re-inforced my resolve NOT to read this book, Steve.
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
I'm going to read a (free) sample on my Kindle - out of duty to FL - certainly not out of admiration having read the LOOK INSIDE extract.
Probably will not purchase the book as am not interested in reading about explicit sex seasoned with swearing ...
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Shirley Mitchell replied to Pamela C
That's it exactly, Pamela. Dickens loved his characters, good or bad. Joyce seems at best disinterested, at worst contemptuous
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@JanHill What a crafty way of conveying your feelings about soc,Jan. :-)
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Shirley Mitchell replied to Sharon Smith
@JaneSaunte Do tell, Jane.
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Shirley Mitchell replied to Jill Rogoff
A long-time favourite of mine - and very avant-garde (oops, please forgive the tautology there)
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Shirley Mitchell replied to Jill Rogoff
Love it that you and your daughter do that. Was the same for me and my precious daughter ...
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Shirley Mitchell replied to dee french
Lovely way of looking at it
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Shirley Mitchell replied to Dawn Blackmore
Thx for reposting
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Shirley Mitchell replied to Graham Stephens
Hi there, Graham. Thanks for replying in such a good-natured way.
There is a slide rule AND a set of Napier's bones in my desk drawer and yet I am fairly fluent in Computer speak but hopeless at Sudoko. :-) -
Shirley Mitchell replied to Graham Stephens
Is this "photo-shopped"?
Or tongue-in-cheek?
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Shirley Mitchell replied to Jill Rogoff
She is still an insensitive spoiled brat at the end of the story.
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
Oh, that nasty little spoiled bitch Emma!
Good conversation is to be found in THE RADIANT WAY by MARGARET DRABBLE. Liz, Alix and Esther reveal their true selves through their honest discussions - they seldom boast, often confess and understand each other very deeply.
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I'm thinking of following his diet :-)
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Yes, Rebus is rather special - what a diet; what tortures he goes through, what stubborn methods ... but he always gets his villain
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Oh yes, the ultra humble Jane
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
Katherine ( Anya Seton). I've read this GO TO book so many times I think I know her inside and out. I see her, feel with her, blend into her backgrounds - from draughty small manor house to sumptuous London palaces. I could draw her clothes , taste her food, love her loved ones, hate her enemies.
Oddly I can never hear her voice ...
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Is that "Parson" a (funny) deliberate mistake, George?
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Shirley Mitchell replied to VEE SHAW
Oh yes, Elizabeth Gaskell - definitive.
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Shirley Mitchell replied to Cristina W
Good example. Great book. Gifted author.
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
Supreme example of being manipulated ( and rather resenting it) by the flashback technique = Kate Atkinson's "Life after Life" and "A God in Ruins" where the reader finds he/she has been duped because a pilot was actually killed in an event halfway through the book and therefor the rest of the story and a dozen characters one has come to "enjoy" could not...
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
3 "go to" favourites ...
Katherine by Anya Seton - original text (updates have the best bits missing)
The Valley of Decision by Marcia Davenport - I find something new every time I read it
Random Harvest - the book uses different time sequence to the film (which I also love - my daughter and I could recite the dialogue word for word) so is a good exercise... -
@JulieMilner
With you on Wolf Hall, Julie. The conversations in particular were so frustrating to read - had to keep counting backwards to discover who was speaking.
The Mantel fans couldn't see what i was getting at when I explained this to a Group. -
"Italic was not, however, the dominant form of handwriting in Elizabethan and early Stuart England. It gradually made its way into England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and it took a considerable time for italic to replace the older "native" hand (originally from France), a late gothic cursive known as secretary hand. Secretary is not easily...
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
How does Hamlet regard the actors?
WITH RESPECT,TEMPERED WITH PRESERVING HIMSELF FROM THEIR JUDGEMENT OF HIMSELF
How does Polonius regard the actors?
WITH CONTEMPT. HE CONSIDERS HIMSELF THEIR SUPERIOR
What are the actors going to perform?
THE MURDER OF GONZAGO
What is Hamlet trying to achieve by having them perform it?
TRICK HIS UNCLE... -
Shirley Mitchell made a comment
I know it is not helpful to feel offended - but I do resent the phrase "if indeed it ever has been."
If this is the case the work of thousands of preceptors is reduced to ashes.
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
Sounds familiar.
This was asked a dozen times during my (wonderful) time in the classroom.
Radical overhaul? Nah."Persuading" young people to let teachers help them master the basic skills with which to even BEGIN to LEARN will always be the first aim. Get that right and you can extend and develop further instruction as discoveries and concepts arrive...
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
Informative.
If a bit disillusioning (disappointing?) ... -
@HannahBarker
... or maybe Sutton-Scarsdale Hall in Derbyshire which would surely be an even better Thornfield. -
Shirley Mitchell made a comment
Sutton-Scarsdale Hall in Derbyshire
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I lived in Pangbourne when some of P and P was being filmed at Basildon Park
Judy Dench stayed in the pub and many of my neighbours were emplyed as extras -
Choose your moment with care. I was turned away because FILMING was in progress
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@AllisonAllen
Often walked to Wingfiled Manor with my Dad. In fact we left a note tucked into one of the crumbling walls - this is some eighty years ago - please let me know if you find it.
Haddon Hazll is a JOY. -
Recommend both. For contrast if nothing else.
(And there is plenty "else")
Enjoy -
Shirley Mitchell made a comment
Connection somewhat contrived and not really necessary
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What does ‘Bunbury’ refer to? [Hint: You may need to search the internet for the term]
An invented person to act as an alibiConsider the use of family terms (brother, aunt, husbands, wives), how stable are these terms?
Don't get the gist of this questionLook at the references to marriage. Does it look like a fragile social contract?...
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"Consider the tensions between the country and the city. How are they expressed?"
I don't understand this question so will look how others answered"How does the scene explore the failure of politeness?"
Cecily frames her questions with conventioal courtesy BUT follows them up with spiteful disregard - sugaring the tea when sugar has been refused/... -
Excellent.
My head is spinning - but in a good way.
Such food for thought .... -
The tone of the passage. How does this compare or contrast with the opening tone of the tale?
Less commercial/worldly. More surreal/fairytaleish
References to religion. Virginia has just saved Sir Simon’s soul and is described as saintly. See how this introduces a theme of spirituality which challenges the more material references to money in...
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I did not read your post, Claire (nor any pots for that matter) before "echoing" it with my own
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I tool the "natural" from Lord C to mean "crude.".
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I tool the "natural" remark by Lord C to mean "crude."
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
Consider the different types of authority (ie titles) in the passage. Can we relate them to ideas about history and nation?
Bluebloods and Intelligentia. This type of subserviance has ALMOST disappeared now.
What do you make of its tone? Is it comic? Do you see a seriousness beneath the comedy?
Yes, funny but judgemental
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I am both. Traditional publishing came first - after a long, hard struggle and hundreds of rejection slips. Then another kind of hard work - Doing it Myself.
There are different satisfactions with each method.I have also edited novels for two friends - one has had a fair amount of success - the other hardly any recognition. Yet I found both (very...
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
Not sure about this.
Will try to keep an open mind but on a first listen to Ms Fitzmaurice my hackles rose and I thought .... this contravenes
1) the principles of FL ( MY FL to be more precise)
2) the principles of my life at this moment (retired, independent, do what I like, when I like, how I like) -
Shirley Mitchell made a comment
Marvellous
(Presentation AND artefacts)
Thank you, Jacky. -
Shirley Mitchell made a comment
I know the three Derbyshire houses very well. I have visited them since childhood and feel a bit propritorial about them. Haddon Hall is my favourite. The historical atmposphere is breathable i_n every room and all corners of the gounds. The wistaria is magnificent.
I was priveleged to live in a country mansion when studying for my teaching diploma. TRENT...
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
Happy to see three Derbyshire houses featured. I know them all well;
I am also priveleged to have been housed in a country mansion when it was the campus of my college - Trent Park, Hertfordshire;
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
Like Linda and a few others I too am the White Rabbit from Wonderland. From a first glance I can't think what took me so long - this is the kind of thing FL does best .....
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Family Group Sheet apparently. Had to look it up. $till bemused ...
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I must admit it was a shock to see an ancestor's father designated as "the lodger".
Later, I laughed.
Even later I reflected on all the possibilities this brief bit of information presented ... -
Nicknames became almost "official" in my family - even on certified documents. Hence I always knew my gran as DAISY until I was "grow'd up" enough to be told her real name.
(DAISY , it turned out, was what my Grandpa started calling her because "their song" was "Daisy, Daisy, give me your aanswer do ..." ) -
It SHOULD be - right date to go with my original comment - but no, we are not there yet.
Nevertheless, I am really enjoying listening to all these podcasts.. I LOVE Radio Four - saved my sanity when I was living in France ... -
Came across this - a good discussion but not the one I was referring to
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To be going on with ....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinderella#Asian_versions
The BBC site is proving extremely UN userfriendly
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I'll try to find it on the BBC hub, Sarah and then will post the link
I may be gone for some time ... :-)
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
I have rent books, business records and letters - all in handwriting, of course, some in pencil. But my most treasured "document" is a recipe book - recipe in its widest sense - including home-made remedies for many illnesses, cleaning tips and gardening advice as well as kitchen lore;
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
"CyndisList has a list of webpages with free downloadable FGSs and trees. "
Can't make head nor tail of this ....
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Shirley Mitchell made a comment
I have done some research into my family history - resulting in a book based on the life of my maternal grandmother. There are always gaps in information gleaned but I had no trouble (nor conscience-driven angst) about inventing/improvising material as I was very close to Grandma Daisy and , I le to think, her confidante.
I nevertheless acknowledge an ongoing... -
Shirley Mitchell replied to Shirley Mitchell
Ab - so- lute- ly
