Henry Lamb painted 'Bridge near Salisbury,' (1920) soon after returning from WW1, he won the Military Cross for his bravery in attending to wounded soldiers while under heavy enemy fire in Palestine in May 1918.

My new post, all about Fat Thursday and Polish-style doughnuts, is live! Please, subscribe or follow me on Substack, and if you like it, share - thank you! open.substack.com/pub/annatuck...

A reminder of one of the loveliest pairs of siblings in the dictionary: ‘muscle’ and ‘mouse’. To the Roman imagination, the flexed biceps of a (typically naked) athlete resembled a rodent scuttling under the skin. ‘Musculus’, in Latin, means ‘little mouse’.

Good morning!

Gender genocide in Afghanistan: "after the demise of the present generation of female doctors, midwives, surgeons and nurses who are still permitted to work, women will receive no medical aid whatsoever."

Good morning!

The Courtauld Gallery has a new exhibition of landscape drawings and watercolours by women artists working in Britain between 1760 and 1860. 'Rainbow over Patterdale Churchyard, Cumbria,' (1849) is by Fanny Blake. The show closes on 20 May.

I love everything about this story, not least the care and interest shown by the lorry driver.

When the flames form a dragon #Shetland #uphellyaa

For Holocaust Memorial Day, the extraordinary story of Peter Kien, the Jewish artist who depicted life in the Theresienstadt Ghetto and the 55 year-long battle to retrieve them. His artworks will now be held by the @wienerlibrary.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/article/517f...

Little Miss Marple and Mr. Poirot, from design by Adam Hargreaves.

New on the blog today, I've written about more of my favourite London novels. Including books by Anita Brookner, Elizabeth Bowen, Barbara Pym and many more! #BookSky #London 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/01/22/l...

Good morning!

Did you know Robert Burns had a beloved border collie called Luath (it means “fast, swift, quick” in Gaelic), whom he immortalised in his verse? Dill, being very “luath” this morning.

I feel seen.

I have rarely felt so seen

Sky News: Danish PM Mette Freideriksen’s note in the visitors book when she visited UK today

Biscoff’s conquest of the British food industry continues unabated. I couldn’t even try the ice-cream - both types were sold out.

Contemporary Polish painter Martha Zamarska #WomensArt #January

I know posting AI fails is old-hat now but today Google's AI summary has told me that Martin Landau the UK theatre producer is the same guy as Martin Landau the US actor and also that Bach begins with an F. I mean what are we fucking doing.

Good morning! Spot the collie.

Good morning! Frosty Figsbury Ring near Salisbury.

Happy Leftovers Day! As is the time-honoured tradition, I started the Boxing Day by eating leftovers: a boozy Italian trifle, which was a triumph. @nigella.bsky.social calls it “a summer trifle”,but it is so decadent & festive it works perfectly at Christmas. (Photo: toasted almond flakes on top)

Christmas Day morning.

This week on A Plate of Pierogi, I’ve had the pleasure of chatting to @Gabriela Houston, Polish-born author writing in English & based in Britain. Her fantasy novels for adults & children are rooted in Slavic folklore & mythology, so we spoke about those influences. open.substack.com/pub/annatuck...

Good morning!

Would totally buy.

Looking forward to visiting Dorchester and sitting next to Sylvia Townsend Warner and her cat. www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/2566232...

I went looking for Sylvia Townsend Warner and Valentine Ackland's joint grave a few years ago (during an obsession with local writers). Looking forward to visiting the statue of her when it's installed in a few days' time. uk.news.yahoo.com/best-selling...

The cancelled TV show you'll never stop thinking about.

Good morning!

Winifred Peck is excellent. Recommended.

It's on! Dean Street December Main Post is up, hope lots of people read some books and share their reviews! librofulltime.wordpress.com/2025/11/30/d... @deanstpress.bsky.social #booksky 📚💙 #deanstreetdecember25

Great culture can save lives. Literally. Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

Frozen rose in my garden, where it’s one degree Celsius above zero this morning.

A brilliant artist with a quite extraordinarily messy life

In Poland, dark and dreary November is bookended by two occasions that revolve around candlelight. I’ve already written about All Saints’ Day; this week, I explain what old-fashioned keys, candles and fortune-telling have to do with Scotland’s patron saint. open.substack.com/pub/annatuck...

In Rachel Cooke's words, David Tindle's 'Garden on the Edge of the Village,' (1976) 'depicts those few moments on a cold but bright winter’s day just before dusk... where a small bonfire still smokes; the sky is mottled, like an old enamel mug.'

For #RobertLouisStevensonDay (I'm running late I grant you) I give you D E Stevenson, 2nd cousin of RLS whose father disapproved of her writing so she did so in the attic of their Edinburgh house. She sold 7 million copies of her 40 novels. Yes, more than RLS. Gaun Dorothy. Where are the Women tho?

'Sharp women everywhere, I tell you: be pointy and proud.' One of my favourite Rachel Cooke reviews (there are so many to choose from). She was especially good at writing about group biography, having written one herself (Her Brilliant Career). What a fantastic critic she was, a one-off.

Terrible news: Rachel Cooke has died. She was 56. When I was lucky enough to commission her at The Observer, I wanted her to write everything. She was seriously witty and crystalline in her argument when being serious, which she was on a dazzling range of topics. observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Most people don't realise that this part of the chopping board is for storing your cherry tomatoes in prior to slicing.

This week, I’ve written about a series you might’ve missed, but shouldn’t: The Offer, and several of my lovely readers commented that they loved it so much they were going to watch it again. I also showed my readers some good boys & girls & the most beautiful Polish Christmas baubles.

📚 This week’s free Kindle! #FreeTillFriday The Fledgeling by Frances Faviell  #furrowedmiddlebrow #KindleUK #KindleUS #booksky www.amazon.com/Fledgeling-F...

New on the blog today, I've written about CROOKED CROSS by Sally Carson. A brilliant, terrifying novel about the rise of Nazism, the falling apart of a country’s codes of decency & the moral fortitude required to oppose persecution. Frighteningly timely. 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/11/09/c...

This is the Mametz Wood memorial in the Somme, France, sculpted by Welsh artist David Petersen. A red dragon faces the woods, clawing at barbed wire, in honour of the 38th (Welsh) Division who fought here in July 1916. #RemembranceSunday #Wales

Tomorrow is Forefathers’ Eve (Dziady). What is that, I hear you ask? I explain in my latest post: open.substack.com/pub/annatuck...

Today is Forefathers’ Eve (Dziady). What is that, I hear you ask? I explain in my latest post: open.substack.com/pub/annatuck...

A reader on Substack was kind enough to comment on my photo: “Absolutely stunning! You should print and frame that. 🤩”

RIP to the wonderful Prunella Scales, beautifully pictured here in February 1968.