Good Morning and Happy Saint George's Day!
Today in England (and a little part of the Texas Hill Country!) the feast day of Saint George is being variously celebrated. Our national saint, George, was first mentioned in British sources by the Venerable Bede in the seventh century A.D. as a warrior saint who frequently came to the aid of troubled Brits in military distress.
Another national hero of ours (not quite a saint), Will Shakespeare invokes George before the battle of Agincourt, "Follow your spirit, cry "God for Harry, England and St. George". Rousing stuff, enough to make you want to belt out a few verses of "Jerusalem" - which in actual fact IS another St. George's day activity the likes of which is enough to reduce ex-pats like me to tears!
St. George eventually made his way to the New World also as his
flag
was flown above/on the Mayflower as it arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts. I think (unless someone corrects me) that it stopped there though and none of the more 'modern' St. George's day celebrations have crossed my radar while living here. I haven't, for example, seen any St. George's day
Morris dancing or Punch and Judy shows.
Ah well, I will celebrate the best way I can by wearing my red rose in my lapel and of course by drinking tea. Mind you, a 21st century addition to tradition might be in order by visiting the Cath Kidston page where red items of the day are prominently showcased in George's honor! http://www.cathkidston.co.uk
Happy Saint George's Day Y'all!
It's corny I know and any men who follow this blog will already have tuned out, but here is a picture of my lovely Cath bag together with my friend's new Cath bag at our recent church retreat! A beautiful sight! (Both the retreat and the bags!)
Another beautiful sight would be my order from Cath Kidston arriving some time soon. For heaven's sake! I placed that order on February 19th and today is March 11th and nairy a sign of this order. I ADORE this product and am impressed by their kind and polite customer service but I think I must have become impatient in my old age. I think 3 weeks is a long time to wait for an order to arrive!
Out of a sense of sheet altruism and knowing that this product has to be shipped from England which apparently takes an annoyingly long time, I offered the nice people at Cath Kidston the use of my 2000 square foot barn as a warehouse here in the States so that their customer base over here doesn't have to wait so flaming long for an order. Funnily enough I have heard nothing from them in this regard!
Grhhhh. Rant over. I still love Cath and will place another order soon so if you want to order anything (link to website is at top of blog) let me know and we can split the shipping. It might get here before Easter..........
On a less shallow note, I heard the birds singing today and it made me think of England. Not that birds don't sing here but I spend so much of my day in a building or a car with all the associated white noise that I guess I rarely hear the birdies. I used to love the birds in my back garden in England. Black birds, thrushes, robins (real English robins - check picture), sparrows, chaffinches - they all make such beautiful music. In England you can hear birds either from the inside of your house with the windows open (without fear of letting the air conditioning out or some nasty flying and stinging insect in) or while you are walking (yes, walking!) around town instead of having to drive everywhere! I miss bird song!
Robert Browning says it best in Home Thoughts from Abroad - and yes I know it's not April yet!
Oh to be in England
Now that April's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England - now!
And after April, when May follows,
And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!
Hark! where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops - at the bent spray's edge -
That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recaptureThe first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children's dower
- Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower
Have a great Spring Break all of you! 9 days of not having to get up at 4:45 sounds good to me! Hope to see some of you soon!
Am so excited! New Cath Kidston bag has finally arrived after getting lost and touring the whole USA before it got here! It's a gorgeous saddle bag and I have already had loads of positive comments upon it - just like my other Cath bags. I know at least one other lady who has ordered a bag recently based on seeing mine. Soon there will be a load of happy Cath Kidston-toting ladies in this little corner of Texas! Wish she did an oilcloth Union Jack bag then I could really fly the flag here in the Hill Country!
I had a significant birthday yesterday and it made me both reflective and nostalgic. Even though I like it here I am really homesick for England and wish my kiddoes had more opportunity to experience English things and explore that part of their heritage. Seeing as my opportunities to return to Blighty are non existant in the future I have decided to spend the next year consciously raising their awareness of English things - food, art, books, history, traditions. "English Stuff" that I totally took for granted and didn't appreciate at all. I hope they'll have fun, learn a little and remember their batty mother doing this when they too hit their own significant birthdays.
So today on Day One of this English year we hit the ground running with breakfast. Robertson's Golden Shred marmalade on toast! They loved it as I would expect from discerning Marmite-eating children. Hope they don't want it every day though as it's jolly expensive and hard to find - might have to ask Mum how she makes her marmalade from Seville oranges. After basketball and the official opening of our fab new library here in our small rural Texas town, daughter #1 and I decided to continue with the foodie theme by donning our pinnies (aprons) and making jam tarts, Shepherds' Pie and her Great Grandmother's "Cut and Come Again" cake, a recipe brought over from Sussex. All turned out beautifully and the Shepherds' Pie in particular was wolfed down which caused stirrings of guilt for the less-than-home made food that my kids often have to eat as their Mum works full time. Squashing that thought quickly, I promise to become proficient on how to upload pictures of these English events as they unfold. Day 1 was lots of fun. Off to see what English programs we can find on the telly! More anon!
