John Wm. Houghton
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numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
John Wm. Houghton
@numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
1.3K followers 1.8K following 3.3K posts
Episcopal priest; school & seminary chaplain.
Writes on Tolkien, Bede, Hoosier history.
Dog, Beda.
Poems: https://a.co/d/0CneRK8
Thaumaturge of Annandale series: https://tinyurl.com/B087RS699Q
I-Númenóreo Taracáno Lisseryar: https://tinyurl.com/RKGandA
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numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
It’s just me & the dog here and he still gets an extra meal a couple of times a week.
40 pound white dog with fawn facial mask and perky ears lies on a brown carpet, next to an empty dish, staring accusingly at the camera.
January 5, 2026 at 1:51 AM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
Frango mint ice cream pie and a glass of ice tea on a white table cloth in the Marshall Field’s Walnut Room on State Street, Chicago.
January 2, 2026 at 11:23 PM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
Indeed, it’s possible (though not entirely practical) to just go into the Walnut Room for lunch (and Frangos).
Sketch map of the South Shore Line from South Bend Airport to Millennium Station, as posted outside Dune Park Station, before recent construction of the Monon corridor.
January 2, 2026 at 11:23 PM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
Repost with the most recent photo of your pet.
Attempting a selfie for next year’s Christmas card: head and shoulders of a 40 pound white dog with perky ears and fawn facial mask, blepping, are in left foreground; at right, behind the dog, oneself in a dark green cable knit sweater and tab-collar clerical shirt. Behind us on the left a brown couch and, at center, a Christmas tree w/ bubble lights, in front of drawn navy blue curtains.
January 2, 2026 at 2:33 PM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
I feel as though one certainly wants to make fewer changes than are customary for a biretta, but it’s not impossible. In the photo, I had taken the thing off to pronounce the benediction, then put it back on for the last choir piece, these announcements, and the retiring procession.
Self making announcements before the end of Lessons and Carols 2024 in the Hill School Alumni Chapel, wearing Canterbury cap, preaching bands, tippet with the chapel seal, Notre Dame doctoral hood, surplice and cassock.
December 25, 2025 at 11:47 PM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
And bringing the feast to a suitable close, a Balvenie old enough to vote.
On the same table cloth as the earlier photos, a bottle of 21 year old Balvenie portwood and a ruby red glass.
December 25, 2025 at 11:36 PM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
As promised.
A Christmas pudding on a cut glass plate with blue flames from brandy.
December 25, 2025 at 11:17 PM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
Theme for Christmas dinner here is chops: a bison ribeye, two lamb chops, a fillet, and a pork chop, all with Creole style Marchand du vin sauce, made with ham, garlic, and green onions. Not shown, Christmas pudding.
Bluesky has rotated the photo 90 degrees. Several plates on a Christmas themed table climb from c. 1950. Most prominent is a platter at the left with a carving knife and the meats described in the post. At the top (actually right) a gravy boat with the sauce and a glass of the Pinot Noir used in making it. A roasted sweet potato sits on the dinner plate, a smaller plate holds kidney bean and macaroni salads, and there is a bowl of fruit cocktail salad.
December 25, 2025 at 10:30 PM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
Christmas guests resting in my yard.
Three white tail deer lying down on the lawn in front of a row of 15’ arbor vitae.
December 25, 2025 at 4:40 PM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
Couldn’t get out to Mass tonight (no driving after dark), but here’s a sip for #ClergyMaltClub (this bottle was a gift from a former student).
Bottle of 17 year old Suntory Hibiki sitting next to a ruby red glass on an end table, with a doily. In the background, a brick fireplace with a chain of knitted miniature stockings, each bearing a letter, spelling out “Merry Christmas.”
December 25, 2025 at 1:43 AM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
Chiropractor: I don’t understand how you just dozed off with your legs twisted like that.

Me: . . .
Photo shows a white dog with perky ears and fawn markings taking up two-thirds of the room on the bottom half of a couch, crowding the human (under a green afghan) to twist awkwardly to the left.
December 24, 2025 at 6:53 PM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
Or chisel it from my tombstone.
Black granite tombstone reading in part “The Very Reverend Doctor.”
December 23, 2025 at 4:07 PM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
What is only halfway through its eight hour steaming time, should have been stirred up four weeks ago, and is my first time using Mary Berry’s recipe (butter) instead of Theodora FitzGibbon’s (suet)?
A very large pot sits on the front left “burner” of an induction cooking top. A timer on the control panel below is counting down, currently at 3:55.
December 21, 2025 at 12:22 AM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
Walking Beda (very briefly) in the 19 F weather this afternoon, I saw the lake is beginning to freeze over—and saw swans on it for the first time in my life.
Everything is shades of light blue and grey. At the front, open water near the shore; then a tongue of ice, narrow at left side but quite wide at the right; beyond that, another stretch of open water, with ripples. A swan sits on the ice toward the right while its mate, in the waves at the edge of the ice shelf, considers joining it.
December 16, 2025 at 1:32 AM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
Beda is thinking, “This is another one of those Christmas card shots, isn’t it? When do the little antlers come out?”
40 pound white dog with fawn facial markings & perky ears standing on a braided rug, head turned to show his noble right profile, but with definite side-eye. In the background, we see the lower boughs of a Christmas tree.
December 16, 2025 at 1:15 AM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
Well, hurrah: it’s here! 1032 lovely pages of “please check this initial copy carefully and btw our printing prices are going up in February.” Add a 55% markup to the booksellers & readers are going to have to take out a loan. www.annandalemilitary.net
#allforannandale
Front of paperback book *Treble Magicke*, showing title, my name, and images of the three original volumes it comprises, all on a grey background. The book is lying on a festive red green and gold holiday plaid tablecloth. Spine of the same very thick book standing up on the same tablecloth: Annandale Military Academy coat of arms at the top and a square of the AMA tartan at the bottom.
December 10, 2025 at 9:36 PM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
It’s a Major Award.
The “fragile” leg lamp crossword puzzle award from _A Christmas Story_. The FIFA Peace Prize
December 6, 2025 at 3:18 AM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
My go-to explanation has become, “Chronos is what your clock says, kairos is what your dog knows.”
White dog with perky ears and fawn facial markings lies on brown carpet next to his empty food bowl, looking sadly at camera.
December 4, 2025 at 3:37 AM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
It’s not much to look at, but with pumpkin, sweet potato, rice, lentils & chickpeas, curry paste for flavor, topped with sour cream & pine nuts, it has to be nutritious.
Brown glop with sour cream and pine nuts in a white bowl.
December 3, 2025 at 10:35 PM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
His more usual position
The same white dog curled up next to my feet on the said couch, facing away from me; I am covered with a white and multi-color granny square afghan.
December 2, 2025 at 7:14 PM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
I would not have thought the house wolf could do this. . . .
40 pound white mutt with curly tail, perky ears, and fawn facial markings stands precariously on the back of a blue, green, and brown plaid sofa. He climbed up to look out the window behind the couch, but is now turning his head to survey the living room.
December 2, 2025 at 7:00 PM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
Nazi poster, imitating stone-carving, with gold letters “DER FÜHRER HAT IMMER RECHT”
December 2, 2025 at 5:30 PM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
My big moment:
Oneself, vested as in previous photo, standing between white potted poinsettias at top of chancel steps for the Benediction: in the Chancel, a choir in blue cassocks and white cottas, student officiant in black cassock and blue chimere/verger’s gown, choir director in blue cassock, surplice, and hood. In the back, the east wall of the chapel, with dark wainscoting and, higher up, two huge wreaths between three stained glass windows.
December 1, 2025 at 4:33 PM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
Funny story: my old school flew me back last year, the current chaplain being then in recovery from surgery, so that I could do the Chaplain’s part in lessons and carols. I am not sure anyone realized it’s just one paragraph.
Mirror selfie after Lessons and Carols, 2024, The Hill School Alumni Chapel: cassock, surplice, Notre Dame doctoral hood, tippet w/ Episcopal Church and school seals, cross, and preaching bands. Canterbury cap on a shelf in background.
December 1, 2025 at 4:10 PM
numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net
The first rule of Advent Club is “Finish the leftovers.”
A photo, inexplicably rotated 90 degrees, of a plate of Thanksgiving turkey, mashed potatoes, green peas, dressing, and gravy, with a small bowl of cranberry sauce and a pie plate with about a quarter of a mincemeat pie: all sitting on a 1950s era Christmas table cloth printed with Poinsettias and candles.
November 30, 2025 at 10:11 PM