RattleBag and Rhubarb

Ding-de-Dong Then I’ll Begin

Anna Dillon posted a tweet in tribute and thanks to the BBC on its 100th anniversary. My thank-you list would be a little different but it too would begin with Listen With Mother. It was my first radio program and was a part of a cherished time. To be accurate, I would have to rename it Listen with Father as…

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RattleBag and Rhubarb

Sports Report and the Spots of Time

It’s a late afternoon on a winter Saturday of my childhood. And that means the big Ferguson radio – the one that had the exotic place names on the dial – Hilversum, Strasbourg, Luxembourg, Limoges, Toulouse – is warmed up. The fire is lit, the coal scuttle is full and the kettle is on.  And my father – who was…

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Books, Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb, WW2

Much Ado About Deception and Delusion: Kate Atkinson’s Transcription and London 1940

The sandwich was no comfort, it was a pale limp thing a long way from the déjeuner sur l’herbe of her imagination. . . . Recently she had bought a new book, by Elizabeth David — A Book of Mediterranean Food. A hopeful purchase. The only olive oil she could find was sold in her local chemist in a small bottle. ‘For softening…

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