Author Archives: carolinemmurray

The Shortest Day

Posted on 21/12/2015 by carolinemmurray

As the sun was (briefly) shining just now on the shortest day of the year, I took the opportunity to nip into the garden between cake icing and (yet more) mince pie making, to record what is still flowering after … Continue reading →

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Herod, That Moody King

Posted on 16/12/2015 by carolinemmurray

Last Christmas, the Cambridge Library Collection reissued Songs of the Nativity, Being Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern, edited by William Henry Husk (1814–87), a solicitor’s clerk and amateur singer who was librarian of the Sacred Harmonic Society in London. (He … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Literature, Music, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Meeting Venus

Posted on 11/12/2015 by carolinemmurray

I had come across Jules Sébastien César Dumont D’Urville when we reissued his Voyage au Pole Sud et dans l’Océanie sur les corvettes l’Astrolabe et la Zélée: Exécuté par ordre du roi pendant les années 1837–1838–1839–1840 (in 10 volumes: the … Continue reading →

Posted in Exploration, History, Natural history | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Professor Hedgehog Does Retail!

Posted on 06/12/2015 by carolinemmurray

Some of my readers will know that I try to support a charity working in Tanzania, EdUKaid. I have regularly done some fundraising at my (now ex-) workplace, but decided this year to bring my offerings to a wider audience. … Continue reading →

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The Naming of Birds

Posted on 30/11/2015 by carolinemmurray

‘Oh look!’ I remarked, ‘There’s a great tit on the fat balls!’ My Canadian visitor sounded taken aback: ‘That’s not the sort of thing you hear every day!’ On the contrary, you hear it quite a lot in my house … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature, Natural history | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Plant of the Month: November

Posted on 27/11/2015 by carolinemmurray

It’s the beech! But why? Surely it’s at its best in spring, when the pale green, downy leaves unfurl from the elegant, tapering buds? At this time of year, buttery Gingko biloba, the exotic Osage orange, or even hazel, with … Continue reading →

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Object of the Month: November

Posted on 24/11/2015 by carolinemmurray

This month’s object is a bit of a cheat. It is held by the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, but is not currently on display – nor, according to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, when he viewed it in 1833, should it ever have … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Cambridge, History, Museums and Galleries, Music | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Ghostly Vegetables (Part 3)

Posted on 18/11/2015 by carolinemmurray

Returning to Charles Jones, and the continuing existence (or not) of the varieties he chose to photograph, we have now arrived at flowers and fruit. Of the images selected to be shown in the book, there are twenty flowers and … Continue reading →

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The Lord Mayor’s Show

Posted on 15/11/2015 by carolinemmurray

Him Indoors was let out today (14 November) because he has a ticket for the Lord Mayor’s Show. For us non-Londoners, this is an event which falls sometime between Guy Fawkes and Advent, stops all the traffic in London, and … Continue reading →

Posted in History, London | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Dried Flowers

Posted on 12/11/2015 by carolinemmurray

Just back from a brilliant tour of the Cambridge University Herbarium, in the Sainsbury Laboratory next to, but not formally connected to, the Cambridge University Botanic Garden. Many thanks to Christine Bartram, the Chief Herbarium Technician, for making us so … Continue reading →

Posted in Botany, Cambridge, Gardens | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments