A little of this and that...

The Romans did not number days of a month sequentially from the first through the last day. Instead, they counted back from three fixed points of the month: the Nones (5th or 7th, depending on the length of the month), the Ides (13th or 15th), and the Kalends (1st) of the following month. The Ides occurred near the midpoint, on the 13th for most months, but on the 15th for March, May, July, and October. The Ides were supposed to be determined by the full moon, reflecting the lunar origin of the Roman calendar. On the earliest calendar, the Ides of March would have been the first full moon of the new year.[2]

So there you have it today s the ides of October

Just another piece of useless information

I’m reading a book called Mud Beneth My Boots. By Allan Marriott. I spotted it in the local library when I was browsing through the shelves looking for books set in the time my grandfather would have been at war 1914 1918.

The sub heading on the front page caught my eye.

A poignant memoir of the effects of war on a young New Zealander

 So of course I had to borrow it.

I’m always interested in reading about the experiences of real people rather than dry history books. And this one certainly fits the bill. And not only that , The Man’s grandfather was a member of the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces

"Fit the bill" appears to be a variation: the Oxford English Dictionary notes printed use of the expression "to fill the bill" as early as 1861; they expound its meaning as, "to fulfil the necessary requirements; to come up to the requisite standard" - a "bill" can have been any kind of written document, not only theatrical but any sort of advertisement, invoice, inventory, shipping label, sale catalogue, membership list, etc. etc.

I can certainly recommend it if you are at all interested in the era.