MollyBoy TV

 Edited for Disclaimer: March 2, 2026. Since I initially published this post, I've learned that perhaps the person running MollyBoy TV is either taking a break from this channel, and/or is starting another channel of interest and redirecting. At any rate, this post is NOT an endorsement of donating funds to him or to any influencer, for that matter. As always, take caution with your personal interactions. I published this post due to the enjoyment of watching his reactions to music that was relevant to myself and my generation, nothing else...and it was free. No funds, fees, or costs.. Thanks for reading. 

In my April blog post (Thrifting's Revival), I briefly mentioned how I'd gone down the rabbit hole of watching reaction videos/reels of a younger generation listening to music (from my generation) for the first time. I don't have a Youtube account (if I did, I'd subscribe to his channel) but there is one I do watch there regularly. 

MollyBoy TV is a young man from the United Kingdom. That's all I really know about him, other than the fact that he brings a breath of fresh air and genuineness to what he does. And that's reacting to music he's hearing for the first time. His facial reactions are glorious to watch, and he's also very knowledgeable. But what is so nice to see is a younger generation of individuals discovering for the first time music that was so important and relevant to me (often when I was his age or even younger). Great music and a greater appreciation for it. It appears he has many subscribers of my age bracket; perhaps it allows for a connection somehow that has gone missing. Music is a lifeline. It heals, soothes, supports, offers an understanding, and is open to interpretation. 

If I could offer song ideas to him, some would probably be: 

Journey: Any but particularly "Lights", or "When You Love a Woman", or "Wheel in the Sky", or "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin"

Anything from my blogpost of October 19, 2021 (The Playlist of My Youth). This can be viewed by clicking the highlighted link, or searching for the word 'playlist' in the search bar on the front page. I've even shared a few Youtube songs/clips throughout this blog (some have been removed, however, which I don't really understand since sharing is allowed here and no money is made).

And just for fun, I'd like to see his first listen to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" because his facial reactions would be off the charts and quite entertaining alone. 😊

Check out MollyBoy TV and subscribe to his channel if you're on Youtube. I'm so happy to have discovered it. Sharing one of his clips below; it can link you to his full channel. 

Victoria Holt

 

Victoria Holt wasn’t her actual name. Neither was Jean Plaidy, Philippa Carr, or any of the other monikers she was known to use. She was not someone who created aliases for disguise, but a woman, utilizing various pseudonyms, who happened to be one of the most prolific British authors of the twentieth century. 

Born Eleanor Alice Burford in 1906 (and later Eleanor Hibbert), she wrote over 200 novels, publishing several books per year in different genres employing eight different pen names. Her final novel as Victoria Holt was published in 1993, the year of her death.

It was the Victoria Holt series of books that I read and loved, with the first being Eleanor Hibbert’s first one written in this genre, Mistress of Mellyn. I discovered it in a school library and was hooked. Classified as Gothic Romance Suspense, the Holt books took place in the 19th century with the setting of many being Cornwall. In fact, there was much speculation at the time that Victoria Holt was actually Daphne du Maurier because Mistress of Mellyn was similar to du Maurier’s Rebecca. Obviously that wasn’t true, but the Holt series of books are similar in tone.  

I’ve long had a fascination with Cornwall in the UK which probably started with these books. I finally visited last year and the entire area is as beautiful as I imagined it to be. Ironically, it was in Cornwall that Burford (married to George Hibbert) came up with the name Jean Plaidy. The Hibberts lived in the town of Looe in Cornwall, overlooking Plaidy Beach during World War II. Eleanor Hibbert would later continue to spend her summers there. Again, I was so close. During my visit last fall, I enjoyed a day in Polperro, a ten minute drive (less than five miles) from Looe. I wish I’d known this information at the time; however, it is clear how the area influenced Hibbert’s books.

I’ve read all of the Victoria Holt novels, purchasing the newer ones when they were released, and finding the older ones in used bookstores. Some of the older books that I own are probably library copies, and I bought many of them at John K. King bookstore in Detroit, Michigan (which is worthy of its own blog post — I highly recommend a visit, for the experience if nothing else). But I love them all; I’ve read a few Plaidy and Carr books, too, but I have a lot of catching up to do in those genres. And I still collect the special hard copy and paperback books to own, even though I now read most books on my Kindle for convenience, especially when traveling. 

There is limited information on Eleanor Hibbert’s personal life, but by the time of her death in 1993 Hibbert had sold 75 million books translated in 20 languages under the name Victoria Holt alone. I highly recommend this fabulous author. 

Beautiful South West England

 In October, I vacationed in an area of England I'd never seen...the south west portion. It covered the counties of Wiltshire, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, and Gloucestershire. 

I visited Stonehenge, Salisbury, Lyme Regis (on the Jurassic Coast), Exeter, Dartmoor and Dartmoor National Park, Widecombe in the Moor, Plymouth (and the Mayflower Steps), Polperro, Charlestown (filming location for Poldark), Falmouth, Jamaica Inn, St. Michael's Mount, Penzance, the Minack Theatre, Land's End, St. Ives, Port Isaac (filming location for Doc Martin), Altarnun, Tintagel, Bath (Roman Baths), the Cotswolds, and Castle Combe. 

Insert deep breath. Simply mentioning the areas doesn't do the tour justice. It was filled with beautiful scenery, incredible history, pleasant surprises, agreeable weather (for the most part), good food, and an excellent tour guide. Hopefully I will be able to focus future blog posts on some of the stops, etc. I'm very grateful for the experience and it was wonderful. For now, I'm sharing some screen shots of photos that can be found on my Pixels and Fine Art America sites. To view higher resolution images, please visit veronica-batterson.pixels.com. Any and all purchases, shares, shout-outs are always greatly appreciated.

Hoping everyone in the US has a safe and happy Thanksgiving Day in a couple of weeks. 

The Little Boltons

 

Twenty years ago, while visiting London with my family, we stayed in a flat on a street called The Little Boltons. Located in the Brompton District of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, I remember the location being convenient to the Earl’s Court Tube Station (which we utilized a number of times), Kensington Palace, and the Victoria and Albert Museum; it was also a nice change from hotels in commercial areas. It’s a neighborhood, and a wonderful place to stay if traveling with children as we were at the time. 

 The Little Boltons form part of the Boltons Conservation Area built between 1850 and 1870, with The Boltons (mansions at a much greater price) to the east. The word ‘little’ is deceptive. A Maisonette (main floor and ground level residence) on this road is currently listed for sale at £6,950,000. This neighborhood is described as being premiere property in the city of London, and I assume most aren’t leased as short-term rentals.

Our stay was in a beautiful semi-detached house, with four flats occupying the structure. Entrance was through the front door for all residents, then each flat had its own private entrance once inside. There was one flat per floor.  A lovely garden was shared via the back courtyard. 

Early in our visit, the resident of the main floor flat greeted us as we returned from a day of sightseeing. I remember her kindness, and the welcome manner she exuded to a couple of American tourists with young children in tow. She invited us inside her home, chatting about the city, and inquiring of our interests and what we had planned for our visit. The traditional furnishings gracing her reception room, the elegant fireplace directly opposite the door, and the beautiful bay window overlooking the front of the residence remain clear in my mind. Imagine inviting complete strangers into your home; an invitation not extended very often two decades ago, but certainly a rare event in today’s world. 

Her name was Shelley Vaughan Williams. I recall mentioning my interest in writing and someday hoping to publish a book. She was very interested, encouraging, and eventually disclosed that she penned one, as well. Entitled When Gazelles Leap, and published in 1997, the book is an anthology of poetry and prose, written after she sustained a critical brain aneurysm. She graciously gave us a copy, inscribing it with a personal message. 

I wish there had been enough time to get to know her; if instant access to information around the world had been available then, it would have been easier to do. She was an accomplished woman, and according to her bio in the book, “Profoundly Pro-American”. This might explain her interest in us. Shelley Vaughan Williams passed in 2016 at the age of 87. 

As for the neighborhood, a search on Google (as I did for researching this post) will reveal the number of prominent people who have at one time owned one of the mansions in The Boltons. However, my husband and I were surprised at discovering someone who called The Little Boltons home at one time. 

At the corner of Old Brompton Road and The Little Boltons, Lady Diana Spencer lived for two years in 60 Coleherne Court while engaged to Prince Charles. Her parents bought the flat for her, which she shared with three roommates. All of the paparazzi photographs of her at the time outside of her apartment were less than a two-minute walk from where we stayed. As my husband asked once I told him of the discovery, “How many times did we walk past it?” We didn’t know at the time, as there were no markers indicating it. Her death occurred in 1997, four years before we stayed there. I read that a marker is in the works to commemorate what would’ve been her 60^th birthday. 

To end, a poem from When Gazelles Leap by Shelley Vaughan Williams.

 

The Inbetween

How do we live and how do we die?

What happens in between?

A child or two who grows away

A marriage or not,

Forget-me-not,

And rue and rosemary.

 

But sometimes inbetween

The monotony proceeding

A star shoots up in the vast night sky

Brave force of love and being

And moonlight, moon-bright,

The inbetween

Is suddenly a rosary.

Boxing Day

(The following source is credited to the Farmers' Almanac.)

"Each year, on December 26th, several countries around the world celebrate a holiday known as Boxing Day. It is officially recognized in Commonwealth countries (places like the United Kingdom, Australia, and our neighbors to the north, Canada). Americans see this holiday on the calendars, but few know what Boxing Day represents.

In fact, even though this holiday has been officially recognized in the UK and Canada since 1871, many of the people who celebrate it each year are unclear on what it means or how it came about. 

Good King Wenceslas

The traditional Christmas carol “Good King Wenceslas” tells the story of one of the possible origins of Boxing Day. The events of this carol take place on December 26th, which also happens to be the Feast of St. Stephen. In the song, Wenceslas, a 10th century Duke of Bohemia, sees a poor man and he decides to help this man. The Duke enlists the help of his page in gathering food, wine, and firewood, boxing it all up so that they can take it to the peasant. Then, Wenceslas and his page brave a blizzard to deliver the boxes of goods.

Legend holds that Wenceslas’ actions started a tradition in which churchgoers would donate money during the Advent. Then, on the day after Christmas, the boxes of money would be broken open and distributed among the poor. After decades of carrying out this (un)boxing tradition, December 26 became known as Boxing Day.

Employee Bonus Day?

Another tradition says that it originates from the practice of the aristocracy giving their employees bonuses and presents on the day after Christmas. As the stories go, employees would take their boxes home and open them up with their families, hence Boxing Day.

What We Do Know About Boxing Day

We may not know precisely how this holiday came to be, but we do know one thing: The first recorded mention of Boxing Day comes from a 1830s version of the Oxford English Dictionary. The definition given is “The first week-day after Christmas-day, observed as a holiday on which post-men, errand-boys, and servants of various kinds expect to receive a Christmas-box.

In other words, according to this definition, Boxing Day is a day to recognize all the service people in your life by leaving them Christmas presents. This year, if you want to celebrate Boxing Day the right way, make sure to leave a box of goodies for delivery people, the sanitation worker, and all the other people that make life easier for everyone."

(Per the Farmers' Almanac)

New Photographs on Fine Art America from Scotland and England

I returned from a trip to the UK a couple of weeks ago, and it seems all I've done since is relive the wonderful vacation through photographs.  The better ones are being added to my Fine Art America account and I'd like to share the link and a few samples here (higher resolution images are available on the site only).

The new web address is www.veronica-batterson.pixels.com and the latest images were taken in Scotland, including Edinburgh, the Highlands, St. Andrews, Loch Ness and a few small coastal towns; a few have been added from a visit to London, England, as well.  More will be added as I can get to them, but I hope visitors like what is there now.  Fine Art America offers so many items to purchase: from prints (in various formats, framed or unframed), duvets, pillows, t-shirts, tote bags, shower curtains, towels, to cell phone covers and more.  They offer full returns, too, if a buyer isn't satisfied with his/her purchase.

Please take a look, and if you make a purchase, let me know. Thanks to all who have already done so.  I appreciate it.  Now it's time to finish that final round of edits on my book, Williamsburg Hill.