Category Archives: Stories

We all tell stories and Jennifer Stevenson tells a great one in ‘Solstice’ which Grey reviews for us here: ‘The reader somehow senses that everything Dawn sees, each action she takes, even her name, has a deeper significance. She’s not just playing … Continue reading →

Snow, especially heavy snow falling without any wind, quiets everything. And we’ve had such going on for three days now. It certainly changes the rhythms of this Scottish Estate! Every Winter season, and sometimes late in Autumn as happened this … Continue reading →

I had an exemplary kedgeree for my breakfast this morning along with a lovely lapsang souchong tea. Now if you’re reading this in the States, you might be puzzled as to what I ate. And when you hear what it … Continue reading →

Gus, here. All Hallow’s Eve is less than a week away, and the Staff is deep in preparations. Mind you, a lot of those are just fun and games: putting up decorations and scurrying around with secret costume plans. Some of … Continue reading →

There are certain winter foods that I look forward to every year and which the Kinrowan kitchen serves just often enough that hardly anyone wearies of them. One such food is finnan haddie. It’s a traditional Scottish fish dish made … Continue reading →

Whisht! Hush now, will you, shhhh! Quick, over here, let’s go in the hallway under the window … outside the kitchen! Oh, dear me, that’s better! Have a seat, Miss Denise seems to be elsewhere, this is her favorite place … Continue reading →

Dear Svetlana, Glad to hear that your trip to Ukrainian speaking Canada went well. It’s amazing how much of their culture, including language, they’ve retained, as it’s well over a century since their ancestors settled there! So you want know … Continue reading →

A letter from the journal of Alexandra Margaret Quinn, Head Gardener here in the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India, to her friend who … Continue reading →