Category Archives: Stories

What’s New for the 23rd of February: ’De Herinacio: On the hedgehog’, Don’t Talk About It by Australian expat Ruby Boot, live Irish Music from De Dannan & Skara Brae, Hobos, Mary-Sues, Live from Here replaces Prairie Home Companion and other matters

Most times we only see things for the way we are. But we’re good at lying to ourselves. Sometimes we need somebody who’s not living in our skin to point out how things really are.  ― Charles de Lint’s The … Continue reading →

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A Kinrowan Estate story: Skating and Other Pleasures

One of the great pleasures of winter at this Scottish estate is ice skating and other ice-related activities. That’s all done on the Mill Pond, made possible by the restoration of the mill dam for generating low head hydro power … Continue reading →

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What’s New for the 29th of December: New Riders of The Purple Sage, Beatrix Potter’s gardens, German chocolate bars, Anime, Northumbrian music, Garner’s The Owl Service, Welsh mythology and quite a bit more!

That Blod-woman was pretty poor,” said Roger, “however you look at it.” “No,” said Huw. “She was made for her lord. Nobody is asking her if she wants him. It is bitter twisting to be shut up with a person … Continue reading →

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A Travels Abroad story: Reykjavik, or busking in the cold

One of the finest ales I’ve ever encountered was while I was busking in Reykjavik one cold November day when it getting far too cold to make a profit. I looked around and saw a pub near the corner where … Continue reading →

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A Kinrowan Estate story: Bloody bones, and not much else

Like visiting musicians who get food, drink, and a place to sleep, storytellers are treated in the same manner. So it was that a storyteller looking a lot like John Hurt’s character in Jim Henson’s The Storyteller came to be … Continue reading →

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What’s New for the 1st of December: An Irish Music guide, Gingerbread, Amano Artisan Chocolate, Frank Zappa live, de Lint’s Crow Girls, Asimov’s Foundation trilogy, two live music cuts, a guide to Irish music and much more

  We keep our cats as happy as we can. — Anna Nimmhaus Remember I mentioned recently that we got snow? Well now it’s quite different, as it’s a steady, icy rain and a gusting wind which has kept every … Continue reading →

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What’s New for the 29th of September: A Glen Cook series, a novel that comes with its own soundtrack, people with ‘special powers,’ … and Maddy Dances, Danish jazz, the folklore of bees, and other bits and bobs as well

The novel should be understood as a structure built to accommodate the greatest possible amount of cool stuff. — Steven Brust in this Strange Horizons interview The Huddled Masses Ensemble just sent us several cases of Pendle Witches Brew, an ale with a thick, malty, … Continue reading →

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A Kinrowan Estate story: Waltzing Matilda

Her full name was Matilda Anna Grace O’Reilly. Her friends called her Maddie, but many knew her simply as a fiddler named Waltzing Matilda. Her passion was waltzes, both playing existing ones and composing new ones. Her tale is like so … Continue reading →

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What’s New for the 24th of September: Traffic’s version of ‘John Barleycorn’, Dissing neo-paganism, Vess’ Book of Ballads and Sagas and other matters

If I told you the whole story, your head would burst. There is no one story, there are branches, rooms… corridors, dead ends. — The Storyteller as played by a John Hurt in Jim Henson’s The Storyteller It’s definitely not Summer here … Continue reading →

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A Kinrowan Estate story: Elven Contradance Band

It was one of the oddest contradance bands I had the privilege to call for, as it was comprised solely of musicians from across the Border. Now the Elves tell us next to nothing about their culture, so what we … Continue reading →

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