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Flustered Duck
@flusteredduck.bsky.social
220 followers 150 following 1.5K posts
Poetry fan, avid reader, provides editing and self-publishing services as well as transcription, based in Albany, Western Australia.
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Many medieval cicadas are only vaguely insect-like. This odd little beastie is from a 13th century French version of "Liber de natura rerum". It seems to have the prickles on its underside with which it was thought to absorb its food. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #beasts #cicada #cicadas
In a dark rectangular frame on a gilt background, a black insect with white spots along its spine and thin hair-like fronds on its underside appears to be hovering/swimming with four flat double-wings/fins extending from its sides. It has a sharply pointed rear and a blunted front with a very cross expression. It looks like a worm with wings/fins. Image from Bibliothèque Municipale de Valenciennes, MS 320 (Liber de natura rerum), folio 144r.
November 12, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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Epitaph: Neuve Chapelle by Heathcote William Garrod
Tell them at home, there’s nothing here to hide: We took our orders, asked no questions, died. *Neuve Chapelle: a three-day British offensive, March 1915. From: Hibberd, Dominic and Onions, John (e…
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November 12, 2025 at 1:35 AM
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This little green cicada is from a c1300-1325 version of "Der Naturen Bloeme" by Jacob van Maerlant (c1200-c1272). It seems to have a mouth which may explain its anxious expression as medieval cicadas were said to lack mouths . #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #beasts #cicada #cicadas
Looking to the right and sandwiched between sepia-coloured text, a worried-looking green bodied insect appears to be hovering. It has upraised dull green wings and a segmented pointed body. It appears to have four very substantial legs, although it may in fact be eight very thin legs. It also seems to have a strand of greenish hair (perhaps an antenna?) trailing down its face by its eye. It has a blunt nose with a line that looks like a mouth. Image from British Library, Additional MS 11390 (Der Naturen Bloeme), folio 70r.
November 11, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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An English Soldier’s Testament by Eliot Crawshay-Williams
If I come to die In this inhuman strife, I grudge it not if I, By laying down my life, Do aught at all to bring A day of charity, When pride of lord or king Unpowerful shall be To spend the nation’…
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November 11, 2025 at 1:35 AM
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Our medieval beast this week is the cicada which was thought to be born from a cuckoo's saliva. This image of five cicadas is from a 1447 French translation of "De proprietatibus rerum" by Bartholomeus Anglicus (1203-1272). #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #beasts #cicada #cicadas
Within a square gilt frame, on a red background sprigged with thin gold branches, five bug-eyed insects are in formation (three above, two below). The insects have veined gauzy white wings folded on their backs and brown striped dark yellow bodies with pointed rears. Their heads are obscured by enormous dark brown round eyes. Image from Bibliothèque d’Amiens Métropole (Bibliothèque Louis Aragon), Ms. 399 (Livre des propriétés des choses), folio 144r.
November 10, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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To My Mother by Anne Page
On flash her fingers busily, and swift the pattern grows, And fall the stitches evenly in neatly rounded rows. And softer eyes are smiling, but they never see at all The clumsy thread unwinding fro…
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November 10, 2025 at 1:35 AM
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A painting by Isidro Ancheta (1882-1946) is our writing prompt today. What is this young woman making so intently? #writingprompts #writingtips #writinglife #isidroancheta #artworks
A young woman with her dark hair in a bun at the back of her head is seated on the floor working on a large white cloth at a low table. She is wearing a long red skirt with a puffy shawl-style creamed top with long draping sleeves. The room around her looks like some sort of workroom with a bundle in a white cloth on a pile of material behind her, a basket with a trailing black cloth at one side and a higher table with stacks of books and a pinned out paper in front of her. There is a pair of black slippers at one side and a wooden step to the left of the shoes. The woman appears to be sitting beside a screened wall with a large window/opening showing a blue sky. Image by Isidro Ancheta (1882-1946) from Wikimedia Commons.
November 9, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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To a Dog by John Jay Chapman
Past happiness dissolves. It fades away, Ghost-like, in that dim attic of the mind To which the dreams of childhood are consigned. Here, withered garlands hang in slow decay, And trophies glimmer i…
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November 9, 2025 at 1:35 AM
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'"Last Friend Alive" by Caro Carver is a thriller featuring three friends on a beach holiday when long-buried secrets begin to come to light and their friendship takes a very dark turn. #bookrecommendations #tbrlist #carocarver #lastfriendalive
Book cover.
November 8, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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From a Trench by Maud Anna Bell
Out here the dogs of war run loose, Their whipper-in is Death; Across the spoilt and battered fields We hear their sobbing breath. The fields where grew the living corn Are heavy with our dead; Yet…
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November 8, 2025 at 1:35 AM
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Leave your editing and self-publishing to Jumble Publishing and Editing (jumblepublishing.com) so you can get out and about.
Image: Percy Thomas Macquoid (1852-1925). #jumblepublishing #publishing #selfpublishing #editing #percythomasmacquoid
A smiling woman in an elaborate yellow satin gown and feathered hat is curtsying to a smiling man in a green satin jacket and breeches sprawled on a cloth-covered sofa. He has an 18th century-style white powdered wig and is holding a saucer up in one hand from which a brown cat is eating as it balances on the back of the sofa. Two other cats are visible on a table behind the sofa, a white cat is lolling against the man's legs on the sofa, two white cats are curled on the floor by one of his feet, a tabby cat is on the floor by the sofa, a grey cat is eating from a saucer on the floor at the other side of the sofa and a black cat is just visible in the foreground. There is a very small black and white kitten between the man and the woman. Image by Percy Thomas Macquoid (1852-1924) from Wikimedia Commons.
November 7, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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A Veteran’s View by Charles Talbot Foxcroft
“You want to fight if you’ve the chance? You must be mad! You must be drunk! Romance!!! War’s run By a crew of damned clerks, on a set of damned stools! War’s won By a lot o…
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November 7, 2025 at 1:35 AM
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This particular medieval kingfisher is surprising in that it actually looks like a kingfisher as we know it, even to the colours. It is from the Alphonso Psalter, dated to 1284. #medievalbeasts #medievalmanuscripts #kingfisher #kingfishers
A blue-headed kingfisher with a raised orange-brown beak looking to the left. It has an orange-brown belly, folded greenish wings and a blue back and tail. It is surprisingly realistic and detailed even to the facial stripe of a pale fawn. Image from British Library, Additional MS 24686 (Alphonso Psalter), folio 11r.
November 6, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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Bad Classics by Talin Tahajian
Sauntering along, the boy looks up and sees a tree filled with angels, bright angelic wings bespangling every bough like stars. —Alexander Gilchrist I wake to the grayest, maddening light. Good mor…
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November 6, 2025 at 1:35 AM
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This delightfully cross-looking medieval kingfisher giving the viewer the side-eye as it stomps across the page is from Ann Walsh's Bestiary (dated 1400-1425) which is known for its whimsical drawings. #medievalbeasts #medievalmanuscripts #kingfisher #kingfishers
Between text on a manuscript page, a brown-winged blue bird with a firmly closed, long hooked brown beak is stomping across the page towards the right on large brown webbed feet. It appears to be giving the viewer the side-eye and appears to be scowling. It is unclear if it is walking on a shore or on the blue waves of the background. It is oddly rounded and short. Image from Kongelige Bibliotek, GKS 1633 4° (Bestiary of Ann Walsh), folio 36v.
November 5, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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Bonfire by Robert Thomas
All year I prepare for our October fire, gathering fuel that would have pleased you. I scavenge the desert for branches broken from your beloved Joshua trees, and risk picking a few yucca spikes. A…
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November 5, 2025 at 1:35 AM
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Medieval kingfishers were said to lay their eggs in the sand by the seashore at the height of the stormiest part of winter. While the kingfisher is incubating its eggs and tending to its young, the sea remains unnaturally calm. This kingfisher with its eggs is from a French bestiary (c1275).
A large white bird facing to the right. It has a long curved neck and a large open brown beak. It is standing on sand with three white eggs by its big webbed feet. It looks more like a pelican than a kingfisher and has very stylised feathers. It seems to be balancing on its back claw with its webbed feet hovering above the sand. Image from Bibliothèque Nationale de France, lat. 3630, folio 87v.
November 4, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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Bonfire Opera by Danusha Laméris
In those days, there was a woman in our circle who was known, not only for her beauty, but for taking off all her clothes and singing opera. And sure enough, as the night wore on and the stars emer…
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November 4, 2025 at 1:35 AM
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This week's medieval beast is the kingfisher which may (or may not) be the same as the modern bird of the same name. It is commonly shown reaching back to its own tail feathers as in this image from the Aberdeen Bestiary (c1200). #medievalbeasts #medievalmanuscripts #kingfisher #kingfishers
A large, rather thin, bird with detailed feathers with a long neck reaching back over its raised wings to its tail feathers. It is blue white colour and has a long curved teethed orange-brown beak. It has large webbed orange-brown feet. It is shown in a red and blue ring on a gilt background in a red and white frame. Image from Aberdeen University Library, Univ. Lib. MS 24 (Aberdeen Bestiary), folio 54v.
November 3, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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The Philosophy of Pitchforks by Sue Owen
In the dark pit of hell, I imagine that the pitchfork comes in pretty handy to hurl the evil ones into their pitch-black places, hurls, flings, and tosses them down as a part of their permanent tor…
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November 3, 2025 at 1:35 AM
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Our writing prompt this week is older than it looks as it is from the 17th century by an unknown Northern Italian artist. What story are you going to write to explain this amazing figure? #writingprompts #writingtips #writinglife #artworks
Against a vaguely classical sunset background, a vaguely feminine figure is lolling on the floor, leaning against a stone step. The figure is made up of flowers, fruits and vegetables and its hands (made of peapods) are holding a basket of more vegetables. It is wearing a necklace and bracelets of vegetable-beads as well as a flower wreaths around its head and draped over its shoulders. Image by an unknown Northern Italian artist (17th century) from Wikimedia Commons.
November 2, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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The Open Rehearsal by Marie C. Jones
Like the sorcerer the sanctum sanctorum of his study (as if a hundred pairs of eyes weren’t trained on him and watching, no buzz and clatter of musicians assembling clarinets like plumbers, a…
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November 2, 2025 at 1:35 AM
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"Slayers of Old" by Jim C. Hines is an urban fantasy featuring three Chosen Ones forced out of retirement to save the world yet again. #bookrecommendations #tbrlist #slayersofold #jimchines #urbanfantasy #fantasy
Book cover.
November 1, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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Prayer on All Saints’ Day by Malcolm Cowley
Mother, lying there in the old Allegheny Cemetery, last in the family plot? I stood there on that overcast November day; I have never gone back. Graves played no part in our Swedenborgian family, w…
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November 1, 2025 at 1:35 AM
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Jumble Publishing and Editing (jumblepublishing.com) can handle your editing and self-publishing so you have time to catch up with the grandchildren.
Image: Jacob Gløersen (1852–1912). #jumblepublishing #publishing #selfpublishing #editing #jacobgløersen
An elderly woman with a blue scarf over her hair wearing a red-trimmed green/grey shawl over a white-aproned dark skirt is seated at a folding table busy with some handcraft while a young girl with a long braid of fair hair down her back is kneeling beside her looking out through the window. The girl is wearing a long-sleeved striped gown and a red-backed waistcoat with a grey (?fur) trim. The window is covered by sheer lacy curtains and has potplants on the sill. A dark grandfather clock is behind the woman in the corner and there is a dark wooden chest of drawers to one side with a white lacy cloth on its top as well as a red-velvet covered, gold trimmed casket, a small blue vase and a large oil lamp. A landscape painting is on the wall above the chest. The walls and floor are uncovered wood. Image by Jacob Gløersen (1852–1912) from Wikimedia Commons.
October 31, 2025 at 2:00 AM