Immediately after the last Post, I received congratulations from Jetpack, telling me I’ve now written 200 posts. Due to my odd numbering of Small World Posts I’d not realised.

But before I get to 2026 proper, already a quarter through, a round-up of some things I’ve not mentioned so far.

After telling you about the carnyx we saw in Edinburgh (Post 182 of September 2025), it was announced recently that another has been found at an archaeological dig in Norfolk in the UK. The one we saw had been ‘restored’ but this new one is described as the most complete one found in Europe. I’m hoping it will go on display somewhere then we’ll be able to visit and compare.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr7jvj8d39eo

We had a few cultural events at the end of last year. I went to see the Marie Antoinette exhibition at the V&A. I didn’t read the title well enough: it was Marie Antionette Style with very little of her actual belongings. ‘She might have worn something like this, she possibly owned that’. Nevertheless, it was interesting and made me glad not to be living in those times. Not least because who knows how or when you’d meet your end. There was a guillotine blade on display reputed to be the one that was used on Marie Antionette.

A safer evening involved going to my favourite independent book shop, Bailey Hill Bookshop in Castle Cary, for the launch of Alex Ballinger’s book about Phyllis Dalton MBE, costume designer for many great films.

https://baileyhillbookshop.com/

Alex, who works at the shop, started in the film industry before deciding on a quieter life (possibly). He met Phyllis as one of the regular bookshop customers and didn’t initially realise who she was: once he did, he spent years interviewing her and investigating her archives. The story of how the book came to be written and all the details that went into it (colours in each chapter referencing the costumes for that film) made for a fascinating evening.

https://phyllisdalton.co.uk/

We attended two very different pre-Christmas concerts by students, the first at Hurtwood House, where one of the three Fs is studying for her A levels, then Cadogan Hall in London to see the some of the students from Guildford School of Acting, part of the University of Surrey. The first was the 1972 musical Pippin, which we had not heard of. It has won awards and been staged in Broadway and the West End.

https://broadway.fandom.com/wiki/Pippin_(Musical)

The other event was ’West End Does: Christmas’ in early December and was full of seasonal songs to get us in the mood for the forthcoming festivities. Just wandering around London at that time of year is fun, with all the lights and people bustling from one shop to another with bags of goodies. Since then the UK weather seems determined to make us all feel very depressed. (As I type the sun has shone for the second consecutive day this year, hoorah!).

I very rarely give up on a book, but one of my Christmas presents from 2023 (Post 158 of May 2024) defeated me. Coming in at 966 pages and with the last sentence reading “reader, listen to the circumstances recorded in the subsequent chapter”, I decided that The Dream of the Red Chamber was just too long. I hadn’t known this was only Volume 1. It’s one of world literature’s greatest novels and one of the four classic Chinese books, so I did try hard. However, with over 30 main characters and 400 minor ones, many with similar names, I kept losing track of who was who.

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Dream_of_the_Red_Chamber

We didn’t celebrate my birthday in a big way but I did get cakes for lunch and dinner.

I received book earrings and cards with either books or cats (or both). I’m going to need to find new interests, to keep everyone on their toes.

The Letters pages in The Times have recently been occupied with book collections and what happens to them after you die. People were warning their descendants not to hastily dispose of their library, one claiming to use £50 notes as bookmarks and one that a substantial amount was hidden in their 2000 or so books. After their death, the son went through every single book before throwing them out, having found nothing. A friend then asked if they’d checked the spines! I can assure anyone searching my books that there will be nothing more exciting than an old bookmark.

How often do you change the mattress on your bed? There has been some discussion in the media on when to do so. We were finding that ours was developing a hollow in the middle so decided it was time. JD went off to try some out and ordered one he considered suitable. My mistake, if I’d gone with him we would possibly have realised that it was too springy and meant that we didn’t sleep well. Not only that but it was huge when put onto the divan base we had. You needed to pole-vault into bed. He spent a few weeks creating a new base with plywood (or similar) which is much better, but still not ideal.

There was a 60-day period when you could swap it for another (once you’d had it for 30 days, so they obviously expect you to need time to adjust). On Day 31 JD called to ask for it to be replaced with a firmer one. The first problem was that, although he’d been into the shop to decide, he had actually ordered it online. He tried to return it online but after talking with a few people he was told he’d have to go to the shop. Even then, he went through about three departments before someone saw sense and agreed to sort it out. Meanwhile, the mattress cover that had been supplied was defective: that was rectified pretty quickly other than them sending a single cover and telling us that was what we’d bought, until JD sent them a copy of their order summary. Which at first they could not open as their software did not support it? A new double cover has now arrived, we’re just waiting for the new mattress to see if all is as it should be.

I created a new dessert the other weekend. The rhubarb was growing well so I said I’d stew some up and put onto it a blob of Marsala mascarpone we had in the freezer. Come pudding time, I doled out the rhubarb, took the defrosted cream and spooned it on top. As I did so I thought it didn’t smell quite right. In fact, it smelt like the hummus I’d made the same time as the cream, so I tasted it. We had a delightful Middle Eastern inspired rhubarb and cannellini bean dessert! The freezer list (of course we have one, don’t you?) was checked: the mascarpone should have been in drawer two and the savoury in drawer one. I’ve yet to find the cream, there must have been a re-arrangement when I wasn’t looking. I wonder what interesting combination we’ll be eating next time?

Much more reliable are my cocktails. Here’s one if you’re feeling adventurous, possibly a bit late as it was a Valentine cocktail based on Difford’s ‘A rose by any other name’. Using the rose liqueur I referenced in Post 132 (February 2022) and the crème de violette in Post 169 (February 2025), you need 50 ml brandy, 25 red vermouth, 10 of the rose and 5 of the violette then a dash of chocolate bitters. This sounded rather strong so I mixed it up, poured a dollop in a champagne glass and topped it up with champagne. Unlike the previous time I used the creme de violette, JD seemed to enjoy it (compare the photo in Post 169).

As I’ve already mentioned, the weather this year has been horrendous in the UK, rain every day. Happily, we’ve now had a few days of sun and the spring flowers are out. Long may it last!