Lesser-known morsels of olden day stuff
Search for morsels
Now happily on Mastodon you can follow me there!
Netsuke & Gashapon toys Ancient Japanese treasures and modern collectibles
Netsuke are uniquely Japanese and sublime in their beauty. They are tiny objects carved of ivory, ceramic, wood, tortoise-shell, gold or many other materials. They tell the story of the culture of Japan during the old Edo period and before. Netsuke featured fishermen and farmers, who rubbed shoulders with scholars, samurai warriors, royalty and even…
Continue Reading
Captain Seeks a Sea-Going Cat to Sign on for a Trip Around the World, New York Times (1922)
Captain Edwin Dyason, master of the freighter Woodfield will welcome any ablebodied seafaring cat wishing to join the crew of his vessel, sailing today for Manila and China. “We missed the ship’s cat shortly after we put into port here,” said the Captain. “Her name was Cleopatra. She joined on in Fremantle, Australia and did…
Continue Reading
Travel: The Beautiful Terrace Windows of Triana, Sevilla
Back in 2010 during a particularly sweltering summer, I visited Andalucia and soaked in the beautiful architecture in Sevilla. The best way to see all of the charming neighbourhoods and historic monuments was going the tourist routes with an open-top bus. This also afforded me excellent views onto all of the terrace houses with their…
Continue Reading
Beautiful maps & beautiful Welsh tales: The Mabinogion
The Mabinogion is a magical and mythical Celtic classic from the thirteenth century or earlier. It’s thoroughly Welsh and is considered a masterpiece of medieval literature. The Mabinogion has given rise to all of the stories by Tolkien, Le Guin, Martin and countless more. The stories are the very genesis of the Arthurian tales of…
Continue Reading
Ancient Fable: St. Francis of Assisi and the injured wolf
13th century Italian saint, St Francis of Assisi never understood earth as being a garden of resources over which we have dominion. Instead, he saw the earth as a mother or a sister who governs us.
Continue Reading
Japan’s 72 gossamer-light and poetic microseasons
The traditional seasons in Japan are marked out by impercetibly small changes in nature across 72 miniature seasons in a year, each lasting 5 days and reflecting the fleeting, impermanent and diaphanous beauty of nature and all of its wonders. There are 24 divisions or sekki in the calendar that are split into 72 kō…
Continue Reading
Hanako the 226 year old koi
Hanako means flower girl in Japanese. Hanako lived the majority of her life in the pure spring waters of a pond at the foot of Mt Ontake near Oppara. It’s believed that the purity and relative isolation of the pond contributed to her longevity. Hanako lived through the English colonising of both Australia and New…
Continue Reading
How real women dressed over the ages
A lot of fuss and attention is given to how wealthy women dressed in ancient times. Yet for every affluent woman there would be 10 other women of more humble origins, toiling and working in low paid and thankless jobs. Here are some really incredible videos that showcase how these women dressed over time. Women…
Continue Reading
Omnia tempus habent: a delightful medieval rhyming calendar
Omnia tempus habent – All things have their season. Ecclesiastes Here is a medieval rhyming calendar outlining the labours of the months in the fields, dating from 14th century England. The mis-spelling of the words reflects their Old English origins. Discovered via the fun and enjoyable book Weatherland: Writers and artists under English skies by…
Continue Reading
Poetry and music from the film ‘Wings of Desire’ (Der Himmel uber Berlin)
One of my favourite films of all time is the Wim Wenders film The Wings of Desire known in German as Der Himmel uber Berlin. It won the Best Film at Cannes in 1987. Some of the magic of this film comes from the music (Nick Cave, U2), the acting (Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin) and…
Continue Reading
Thirty great medieval epithets for people and beasts
Why do we say a gaggle of geese, a flock of sheep, a pride of lions or a swarm of bees? Well it harks back to medieval times when sportsmen grouped together collectives of beasties to refer to them in movement or attributing a quality to them – presumably while the poor creatures ran away…
Continue Reading
A Brief History of Auckland’s 53 Volatile Volcanoes
There are approximately 53 volcanoes in Auckland, which have over thousands of years produced an array of interesting lagoons, tuft rings and lava flows in Auckland city. The biggest, most active and most visible volcano – Rangitoto sits on an island of the same name in Auckland harbour.
Continue Reading
The ancient and elusive fairisle of Hy Brasil
Hy Brasil is a mysterious phantom island that was thought to exist off the west coast of Ireland in the Atlantic Ocean for hundreds of years. The area being nautically challenging for seafarers, it was an elusive and mysterious place, hailed in pre-Christian times as being the Celtic Elysium or land of promise. During Christian…
Continue Reading
Before Time Began: Latin Quotes on Ancient Sundials
Ancient sundials of Greece, Egypt and Babylon often featured provocative and emotional expressions in Latin. They were succinct and powerful calls to action which were designed to waken up the senses and peel back the blinkers on what really matters. These concise messages highlighted the passing of time, mortality, life, death and enjoying one’s brief…
Continue Reading
The Most Exquisite Tiny Books in the World
For all of the bookworms, here are some of the most exquisitely rendered miniature books in the world. As a warm up, here’s a picture of the bombed-out Holland House library in London during WW2. The message was loud and clear. Readers won’t be perturbed from doing what they love, no matter what else is…
Continue ReadingSomething went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Content Catnip 
You must be logged in to post a comment.