Leah-thais
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leah-thais.bsky.social
Leah-thais
@leah-thais.bsky.social
140 followers 170 following 180 posts
Anglo-German. Italy/France. Talk to me about your favourite novels, teaching English, women’s basketball, living, working & travelling in Europe, early medieval history (including elephants & camels!) good food & wine.
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leah-thais.bsky.social
Victorian cartoon (without original caption showing 2 women and a man seated in an open carriage. The woman on the far left is looking disdainfully, the man is holding his head in his hand.
December 16, 2025 at 8:23 AM
leah-thais.bsky.social
Should I be enjoying my coffee even more than usual?
#italy #coffee
An espresso macchiato. The design on the top appears to resemble a cock and balls.
December 11, 2025 at 12:12 PM
leah-thais.bsky.social
We recently found this in one of our books.
The “Baby” in question is now in his 30s!
A North Sea Ferries boarding card for the Rotterdam to Hull route, dated April 1993.
October 14, 2025 at 2:07 PM
leah-thais.bsky.social
Actually, I think there is a problem with this & it is that whoever controls the shopping doesn’t buy & cook the foods they don’t like (I know I didn’t when I was cooking for my kids) so it’s hardly fair to accuse children of being fussy if served something they don’t like.
In my household there was one healthy meal prepared for all to eat. If you didn’t want it you went hungry! No problem!
October 6, 2025 at 8:51 AM
leah-thais.bsky.social
Had not heard of the latter & am intrigued to read it!
Here is another book published by Princeton!
A copy of the book “The Emperor and the Elephant” by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby.
August 22, 2025 at 12:17 PM
leah-thais.bsky.social
There’s always one, isn’t there?
Photo shows a square with a clearly marked parking place for e-scooters at its edge and a row of scooters neatly parked within. There is plenty of space for more to park, but one has been left diagonally across one of the access points to the square.
August 1, 2025 at 9:02 AM
leah-thais.bsky.social
Look at this hopeful boy!
Covered market, Ventimiglia
A golden labrador is standing hopefully watching a butcher with a stall in the covered market clear away the last of the meat in his counter. The dog’s tail is mid wag. Although he is facing away from the camera, you can see that his nose is up, his ears are half perked & he is trying to look appealing. Despite this, the man is ignoring him.
June 6, 2025 at 10:11 AM
leah-thais.bsky.social
And one!
April 20, 2025 at 1:38 PM
leah-thais.bsky.social
Too paraphrase Chanel - “a little black car will become the uniform of all cats of good taste.”
#Caturday
A black cat is sitting on the roof of a grey car with black sunroof.
April 19, 2025 at 6:11 PM
leah-thais.bsky.social
A Gruyère & kumquat chutney sandwich #goodlunch
A Gruyère cheese & home made kumquat chutney sandwich.
April 15, 2025 at 11:21 AM
leah-thais.bsky.social
The place to be on #Caturday is the little medieval city of #Entrevaux
A tabby cat is looking to the right from behind leafless bushes. The photo is full of shades of grey and brown. A black cat is facing away from us, sitting in the sunshine on an old stone wall. To the left are olive trees and in the background, simple, old stone houses. A real armful of a marmalade cat is sitting in the sunshine on a little round table on a balcony. The railings and furniture are cream , but the peg basket in the background is yellow, and the table cloth is shades of orange, yellow and cream.
March 15, 2025 at 12:28 PM
leah-thais.bsky.social
Not supposed to judge a book by its cover - but this is one of your best!
The title of the book is “The Emperor and the Elephant” by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby. On a warm yellow background, a drawing of an elephant from 1892 stands in place of the word “elephant”.
March 12, 2025 at 7:01 AM
leah-thais.bsky.social
Had to stop & laugh!

Also reminded me of this at university:
Prof - Hands up who HASN’T read The Wasteland!
Only person who puts hand up is me.
I am berated & ordered to read it that night.
Prof - Hands up who HAS read Ulysses!
Only person who puts hand up is me. Everyone laughs & I am forgiven.
This is a billboard outside an English language bookshop. After saying that there are over 2,500 titles all in English, it goes on to add “Shoplifters will be made to read Ulysses”!
March 11, 2025 at 2:42 PM
leah-thais.bsky.social
A #Caturday story in 4 parts:
A tabby cat is enjoying a good old roll on a sunny path. That’s enough rolling around - the cat stalks to the right to find a cozy corner. Cozy corner found, only the cat’s tail is visible. Photographer (me!) has moved round to see the cat turning to get comfortable, thus posing beautifully between Mediterranean plants against a stone wall.
March 8, 2025 at 12:15 PM
leah-thais.bsky.social
Happy #Caturday to everyone with cattitude!
A black cat is defecating in a raised flowerbed. His back is turned on a combined bin and plastic bag dispenser next to the fliwerbed, which bears the words “hygiène canine” (dog hygiene).
March 8, 2025 at 11:40 AM
leah-thais.bsky.social
My friend gave me a bag full of citrus fruit from her garden. The kumquats went into the freezer to use in drinks instead of ice cubes. The oranges & lemons are filling the kitchen with their scent!
A large transparent bowl full of oranges & lemons.
February 22, 2025 at 11:58 AM
leah-thais.bsky.social
Sunday on the Prom
From behind we see an older lady, smartly dressed in a dark blue coat, riding a tricycle as she takes her Yorkshire terrier for a walk. The sun is shining. In the background palm trees and blue sea can be seen. A couple walking towards the camera are smiling at the lady and her dog.
February 16, 2025 at 1:19 PM
leah-thais.bsky.social
Happy #Caturday from Portugal
A predominantly white cat, with some black and pale brown patches, is half lying, half leaning against a white wall, on a cobbled street.
February 15, 2025 at 6:51 PM
leah-thais.bsky.social
Two of my favourites!
Two glasses containing 2 frozen kumquats 20cl red vermouth, 30cl Cynar, topped with Prosecco to taste. (We call this a Victor.) Gin and tonic with frozen kumquats instead of ice cubes.
February 9, 2025 at 2:30 PM
leah-thais.bsky.social
January 16, 2025 at 7:10 AM
leah-thais.bsky.social
Today I walked from Ventimiglia to Bordighera & back. Mostly right by the sea, away from cars, with lots of places to find coffee, lunch & ice cream, this is a great walk! (Not at its best in summer, because there is no shade).
A mother & small child are walking along the broad path, the mother pushing a scooter. In the background are the sea & a layer of clouds , then blue sky. The winter sun (not seen) is beginning to set. The setting sun adds a warm orange glow to sky and sea. Standing on a bridge over the river at the very small section of the walk that is not right by the sea. In the distance are mountains. Trees on either side of the river look autumnal (despite it being January). On the bridge, looking in the other direction, towards the sea. The sky is blue, but the sun will soon be setting, as the horizon is yellow. Airplane trails cross in the sky.
January 7, 2025 at 8:15 PM
leah-thais.bsky.social
Never been so close to a magpie - or knew that this black & white bird had so many colours!
A magpie sitting on the back rest of a park bench. A magpie sitting on the back rest of a park bench. Its folded wings & tail are visible. There is blue on the wings & green on the tail.
January 5, 2025 at 8:52 PM
leah-thais.bsky.social
Neighbours politely ignoring each other? Or a couple not speaking?
#Nice
A mustard yellow apartment building against a blue sky. While the bottom of the building is in shade, the top two floors have sun. To the left, a woman sits on the right hand side of a balcony. To the right, a man sits on the left hand side of a separate, identical balcony. They have their backs to each other.
January 2, 2025 at 10:37 AM
leah-thais.bsky.social
Not having cold feet while I drink Glühwein is never going to get old!
Photo shows the “Pyramide de Noël” at Nice Christmas market. In the distance is a palm tree silhouetted against the setting sun.
December 5, 2024 at 5:35 PM
leah-thais.bsky.social
Fabulous!
And sent me looking to enjoy again photos of my Grade 8 classes’ illustrations of Blake’s poems!
The photo shows a display on the wall of a school corridor of students’ illustrations of Blake’s “Tyger, Tyger”. The idea was that the illustration should meaningfully support what the student thought that Blake was trying to say (and this was explained in a short rationale.) The photo shows a display on the wall of a classroom of students’ illustrations of poems chosen from “Songs of Innocence”.The idea was that the illustration should meaningfully support what the student thought that Blake was trying to say.
December 2, 2024 at 4:36 PM