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R.I.P. in Switzerland

Posted in idiot category, It's my life, tagged freshly baked bread, frozen peas, pinkie and brain, Tesco, Twinings tea bags on June 20, 2010| 5 Comments »

What do plastic bags, packets of peas, Twinings foil bags and my brain have in common? …….they all live inside my head!!! Metaphorically that is and please note I said head, not brain. 🙂

So today I was standing in the kitchen making myself a cup of tea and mulling over the fact that I just love tea, even though from time to time I do defect to the otherside and enjoy a cup of coffee; tea is my first love.

So while waiting for the kettle to boil and the tea to draw (?), I read the story on the side of the Twinings teabag box. Twinings it seems have made their boxes with wood from responsibly managed forests and are recycleable, which in itself is not really that remarkable since many other cardboard boxes are also recycleable, but what is brilliant is that the foil bag inside the box that keep the bags fresh, is biodegradeable! And that is remarkable. The story on the side of the box goes like this: “Forests are remarkable; they help to sustain plants, animals and the climate. To help protect these places, we choose to use wood from responsibly managed forests to make our cartons. What might surprise you is that even the wrap around the teabags (which looks like foil) is in fact made from wood pulp from sustainable sources. This means it is full biodegradable, so pop it into your compost, along with your teabags and in a few months you will have ferliliser to help grow your own veg. If home composting is not possible please dispose of in the waste bin”. (where else?)

So that got me to thinking about plastic and peas and recycling. I read an article in the New Scientist just the other day (a fab magazine if you want some great reading matter) about how plastic is not as we previously thought, totally indestructible. In fact it does deteriorate and breakdown and eventually enters the mainstream of life via the oceanic creatures that we catch and eat. The article mentions significant pieces of art by Russian-born scultor Naum Gabo housed at the Tate Modern gallery in London that have started to crumble without warning.

I recall that last year I started my own campaign to avoid buying or using anything that came in or was made from plastic, so that I could do my bit for the plant. It was however, a futile attempt. On closer inspection I realised that I would have to walk around stark naked, never buy or eat anything and not be able to ride in or on any vehicle in order to avoid plastic. It is everywhere.
The BP oil spill comes to mind when I write about this because of course plastic is a derivative of oil. This then got me thinking about peas and I wondered if 99% of children growing up these days realise that peas come from a pod and not from a plastic packet. And should the saying “two peas in a pod” now become “two peas in a packet”?

I remember when I was a wee girl of about 7, my mother always shopped at the local greengrocers and we were able to choose ‘fresh, grown in the field behind the store’, produce. We bought carrots that smelled like carrots, and peas that came in a pod and had to be shelled. What fun that was and we usually ate more than eventually ended up in the pot!

So my endeavour to avoid plastic came to nil! We are surrounded by it.
I do hope that more and more companies will go the same route as Twinings and make their products biodegradable and meanwhile I will still avoid buying stuff in plastic wherever I can. Which leads me to why I hate Tesco’s. Yes, they are convenient, but they are also invasive, much like the plastic and you can’t get away from them. They could also send their staff on a customer relations/attitude course.   The reason I hate them is that they don’t give a toss. Buy a pint of milk, a loaf of bread, and various other items and you can be sure that the bread will end up at the bottom of the bag with the heavy stuff dumped on top. The staff never look at you – the view outside is of more interest, they leave trolleys and stuff all over the store and if you happen to walk by, it is no problem to barge into and past you on whatever errand they are about. The shame of it is that yes their prices are cheaper and in these days of escalating prices sometimes you have to cave in and buy stuff from them. Like plastic they are everywhere; invasive and do the same to our high streets that plastic does to the environment.
I remember the days (a sure sign of old age) when my younger sister and I used to walk to the store to buy a loaf of freshly baked bread that came in a brown paper bag, lasted 2 days (coz it tasted so good we ate it pronto) and cholesterol wasn’t even heard of.   Now, I can’t remember what a freshly baked loaf tastes, or even smells like anymore and am grateful just to be able to buy bread that will only expire after a week. In those days we used to have our milk delivered to the door and it tasted like milk, today milk has no taste.   It is completely mechanised from the poor cows that live in bulk in sheds all their lives, hooked up to machines, force fed and forced to mass produce babies so that we can buy it in yet another plastic bottle. Which got me to thinking about how weird it is getting old.
The age stuff relates to my memory…. I can remember with total clarity (or at least it seems that way) things that happened aeons ago, but bugger me if I can remember stuff I did yesterday. My brain has become a bit like a lump of swiss cheese. I have a theory for that though….a few weeks ago my Doctors told me that my cholesterol was above 5.0 and I had to get it back below. Now anyone who knows me knows I love my food and how much I hate dieting!   But I think my brain (the bit that’s left), has gotten in on the act and decided to keep me active and induce me to get fit. I’m upstairs and think of something I want to do or get from downstairs, so I dash down and no sooner do my feet hit the last step than the thought disappears in a pooff!   Gone! I stand in the middle of the kitchen like a dork, with my hand to my forehead desperately trying to remember what it was I was there for. And I know for sure that the second I give up and trudge back up the stairs, I will just reach the top and voila…… I have to get back down….quick, before the damn thought disappears again. This happens at least 10 times a day…I kid you not!!

So here’s the thing….if you see ‘pinkie’ anywhere, please ask him to send ‘brain’ over to my house. I don’t care a bit about conquering the world but I do need his services….my brain has gone AWOL and is RestingInPeace somewhere in Switzerland disguised as a lump of cheese!

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my own ‘Springwatch’ moment

Posted in Fun Stuff, It's my life, tagged fledging blue tits, springwatch on June 8, 2010| Leave a Comment »

One thing is for sure….my life is not boring!

The last few days have been weird to say the least with two very early morning wake-up calls. (long story for another time). Needless to say I have been feeling somewhat like a zombie today.

So what a lovely surprise to have a ‘springwatch’ moment all of my own this morning. I was in the kitchen doing whatever I was doing when I heard a calamitious noise outside. A quick look out the window revealed a ‘fledging’. 🙂 Yes, my very own viewing of our resident family of Blue-Tits on their first outing.

Now I am taking a bit of licence here coz I am not exactly sure this was the first outing, nevertheless it was my first sighting of the chicks with Mama and Papa, and my word what a din!

I got some great, albeit somewhat blurry photos – (due to distance from where I was standing to where the family were perched).

The babies were so funny, landing in a flurry of wings onto the washline that is strung across the verandah, then flipping over upside down and hanging on for dear life. Mother Tit flapping about, pecking at the food and feeding the chicks in turn (depending who was nearest and squarking the loudest 🙂

Surprisingly, the babies were quite a bit larger than the parents, ever so very cute and boy did they make a din!!

here are the photos…(excuse the blurriness)

a blue-tit fledging

hey! I got here first...me first!!

the whole darn family is lined up..

hang on kids...grubs a coming

hiya Pop, what you doing down there?

oooppps....wheee this is fun 🙂

no worries Ma, feed me anyway

look Ma, no hands!

so Mother, you reckon he's for the circus then!

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Ahhh!!!! Coffee

Posted in It's my life, Travel, tagged Club loyalty card, Costa Coffee, Highgate, hooked on the internet, http://3daysinlondon.info/, internet, percolating coffee, tavel in London on June 4, 2010| 1 Comment »

What is it about the early morning smell of percolating coffee that sets the olifactory senses in a whirl and the tastebuds drooling!

I arrived back in Highgate this morning (Wedn June 2nd), a glorious summer day in London, bright and early (too early), so I stopped off at Costa Coffee to hook-up to the internet. As I walked through the doors I was assailed by the heavenly smell of percolating coffee.

Costa coffee in Highgate

I often visit Costa Coffee in Highgate (one of my favourite places in London) and meet up with friends, my business coach and sometimes my daughter (although we more often go to High Tea of Highgate). Coming back to the same place again and again is like the feeling you get when wearing a favourite jumper…warm and cosy, and I have been back so often that I have qualified for a Costa ‘Coffee Club’ loyalty card.

Costa Club loyalty card

Although I am a dedicated tea drinker, my favourite being Twinings English Breakfast, my day cannot start without the first mug of tea; like nectar on the tongue – there is something about the smell of percolating coffee that assails my senses.

So here I am hooked-up and hooked-on to the internet, enjoying the cosy ambiance of fellow patrons sitting relaxing, the quiet buzz of conversation and the heavenly smell of my cappucino.

Cappucino with chocolate sprinkled on top 🙂

and yes I do take four sugars with my coffee, but I make up for it by not having sugar in my tea 🙂

I am back in Highgate for the next three months – in sha’a Allah, and love the feeling of visiting the same place again and again;

warm and cosy inside Costa coffee shop

That is the corner of my suitcase you can see in the foreground! I do indeed live like a gypsy, although these days it feels more like a tortoise 🙂

And just to make it perfect, in the background I can hear the sounds of ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon 🙂

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Cottenham, #Cambridgeshire, #UK

Posted in around the UK, Historical, Interesting articles, It's my life, Travel, tagged Calvin Coolidge American President, Cambridge Archaeological Unit, Cottenham, Cottenham Cambridgeshire, Cottenham Moat, English Heritage, great grested newts, http://www.cindyeve.worldventures.biz, http://www.twitter.com/notjustagranny/, lyrics to the song by John Denver, medieval monuments, Pond Farm Cottenham, Samuel Pepys, Saturday Night in Toldeo, Saxon settlement, they roll back the sidewalks at night, villages of the United Kingdom on May 30, 2010| 26 Comments »

On my ‘wish list’ was the desire to travel; and so I have, to villages and towns around the UK. Not quite what I had in mind when I sent the message to the ‘Universe’, but there you go. 🙂

The latest on my travels is what at first glance appears to be a rather non-descript little village named ‘Cottenham’.

Cottenham, Cambridgeshire

On arriving in Cottenham you could be forgiven for thinking that it looked rather dull, albeit lined with some pretty little houses and some fine examples of Georgian and Gothic architecture, there was nothing much else to excite the senses. It reminded me a bit of that song by John Denver; Saturday Night in Toledo. Some of the lyrics go: “they roll back the sidewalks at night”.

...they roll back the sidewalks at night

Ah! But wait, we have yet to discover what lies beneath!

Cottenham it seems has in fact existed since prehistoric times, and scattered discoveries of Mesolthic and Neolithic tools have been made. Now we are talking!

On a bend in the ‘High Street’, kind of halfway between here and there,

small part of the original settlement of Cottenham

on an area named the ‘pond’ of which there is currently no sign, are the markings of a very early ‘Roman’ settlement; now mostly built over with houses and buildings – the historic society has in fact been able to mark out the early boundaries of a formal settlement, long since disappeared into dust.

What the area looks like now:

what was the original Saxon settlement site, now built over

part of the medieval Crowlands Manor, now built up

Origin of the name Cottanham, appears to be Saxon, arising from the early English ‘Cotan’ for dwelling and ‘Ham’ for settlement. Most of the older houses along the High Street were at one time farmhouses.

The High Street, so named, is the longest in the country, measuring 1 & ¼ miles from the Green to the Church. The ‘Green’, a triangle of grass at one end of the village, is edged with lovely plane trees, planted in 1885 by Robert Ivatt, and was once the grazing ground for cattle, now an oasis of repose for the villagers, of which there are currently just over 5,000.

the Green at Cottenham, where they used to graze cows

Amongst the present inhabitants, many of whom are descendants of people who have lived here for centuries, are records of the Pepys family in the village since 1273 and the present Earl of Cottenham is a descendent of Samuel Pepys (the diarist) and recorder of the 1666 Fire of London.

Pepys house (Samuel Pepys; diarist used to live here)

Two thirds of Cottenham itself, was destroyed by fire in 1676 (mmm, seems perhaps we should take a closer look at Mr Pepys then!) The lady I was caring for has herself lived in the same house since the day she was born 84 years ago, and inherited the house from her parents.

Across from the Green and on the fork of two roads is the War Memorial – unveiled in 1921 in honour of fifty nine local men killed in the 1^st World War.

memorial to fallen villagers WW1

On closer exploration are many fine houses, some of which are centuries old:

Queenholme built 16^th century

The Wesleyan Chapel built 1864

The Gothic House built in the 1730s, was a red brick house, bought by the Ivatt family in 1770 and greatly altered around 1860 when the decorative chimneys were built.

Gothic House

front facade of the Gothic House

wisteria draped over the side of the Gothic House

detail above the front door

White Cottage – home to ancestors of Calvin Coolidge – American President 1923-29

White House (aptly named as it turns out)

As I explored the area on Sunday, I was drawn by the sound of bells pealing out their call to prayer! The ‘Parish Church of All Saints’; has evidence of a church on this site from the mid-10^th century.

All Saints Church

The existing church was built in the 15^th century, with a 100 ft tall church tower – and a sundial built into the side with the inscription – ‘time is short’.

'Time is short' inscription on the sundial

Across the road is the Old Rectory – dating back to the 16^th century. In 1644 the Rectory was given to Oliver Cromwell’s sister; Robina. (I guess no-one would have argued with that).

At that point the road leaves the village proper and now becomes Twentypence Road – which derives it’s name from a parcel of thirty acres of land on the Cottenham side of the River Ouse, as described in Richard Atkins survey of the Fens in 1604.

Twentypence Road

At one time there were four pumps in the village, and with all but one subsequently removed, the remaining pump – erected in 1864, was moved to the Green in 1985 along with the horse-trough.

water pump and horse trough

Cottenham was a treasure trove of old houses, ancient history and houses with stories behind their walls.

Although the main road through the village was quite busy during the day the villagers seemed to prefer a lighter form of transport

the villagers preferred mode of transport!

On the sidewalk was a sight common in these villages; a sign board with description of goods for sale. In this instance ‘Pink Peony plants’, unattended, left on a stand or in a box or wheelbarrow, and as is common the instructions for payment are: “please put money through the letterbox”.

'Pink peony plants' - leave money in the letterbox

One day I discovered a book that detailed the history of the village and had a fine old time digging a bit deeper.

85 High Street; house of Fred Stone – watch and clockmaker and music teacher

house of Fred Stone - watch and clock maker

next door was the old Jolly Millers public house – burnt down in 1898 (now rebuilt)

Jolly Millers pub

Pond Villa’s built in 1902, and the last houses in the village to be built from Cotteham brick

Pond Villas

120 High Street – Pond Farm; A group of fifty dissenting families, which called itself ‘The Church Congregation Society of the Protestant Dissenters of the Denomination of Independence’, worshipped in the barn behind this 17^th century Farmhouse. Pond Farm was also the site for meetings of the Ranters, or Primitive Methodists.

Pond Farm

The village was a delight in it’s various architechtural styles.

Ivy House

Before leaving I took a stroll over to the old Saxon area to see the moat

Cotttenham moat

Cottenham moat - a scheduled ancient monument

The area has been listed by English Heritage as a scheduled ancient monument. The moat contains a small breeding population of great crested newt, which is strictly protected under European legislation.

And that was my excursion to Cottenham, a quaint English village in Cambridgeshire, not too far from Cambridge and a treasure trove of ancient and new.

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aka a whale! :)

Posted in Fun Stuff, Inspiration, It's my life, tagged healthy body image, http://www.twitter.com/notjustagranny/, i want to be a whale, mermaids, shutterstock.com on May 17, 2010| 4 Comments »

I recently received this via an email from a friend; it is delightful:

Recently, in a large city in France , a poster featuring a young, thin and
tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said, “This summer, do you
want to be a mermaid or a whale?”

A middle-aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of
the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the
gym.

To Whom It May Concern,
Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious
humans.) They have an active sex life, get pregnant and have adorable baby
whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with
shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like
Patagonia , the Bering Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia . Whales are
wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures
and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected
and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don’t exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the
offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human?

They don’t have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them, not
to mention how could they have sex? Just look at them … where is IT?
Therefore, they don’t have kids either. Not to mention, who wants to get
close to a girl who smells like a fish store?

The choice is perfectly clear to me: I want to be a whale.

P..S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only
skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my
kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver, and a piece of chocolate
with my friends. With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much
information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it
distributes out to the rest of our bodies.So we aren’t heavy, we are
enormously cultured, educated and happy.
Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, ¨Good
grief, look how smart I am!¨

thanks to shutterstock.com for the picture 🙂

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clever Mr Magpie

Posted in Fun Stuff, It's my life, tagged fox, London, magpie on April 30, 2010| 2 Comments »

I just had to share this with you! I put some dog biscuits out for the fox this morning, as she sometimes wanders through the garden about midday, and usually has a squizz to see if there is any food on the verandah.

Anyhow, I noticed the biscuits had been disappearing, but I hadn’t seen the fox at all and wondered where they were going.

So I am sitting here writing and something caught my eye. I looked up and there was the Magpie….picked up a biscuit, flew over to the birdbath and dropped it into the water!!!! Then he flew back a few seconds later and picked the biscuit up out the water! 🙂

How clever is that! I wasn’t quick enough with the camera to catch him at the waterbowl but nevertheless I got him on the verandah near the foxes plate. Clever chappie.

it was the magpie, nicked the biscuits!

ooo and there goes the fox, through the garden right on time and the biscuits have gone! 😦

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How to NOT go sledding :)

Posted in Fun Stuff, Holidays, idiot category, It's my life, Travel, tagged having fun in the snow, news of the snow in london, sledding in london, snow in the uk on April 27, 2010| 3 Comments »

Ok, so I know the snow was a pain for a lot of people….but boy oh boy did we (my daughter and I) have fun. Here is an example of how to NOT go sledding!!!

In case you are wondering….that is my ‘delightful’ daughter laughing in the background!!

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…..twetiquette

Posted in career, Fun Stuff, It's my life, tagged @mention, how to have a conversation on twitter, http://www.twitter.com/notjustagranny/, put the social back into media, quotes, relationships, retweet a quote, retweets, social media and what it means, Twitter on April 26, 2010| Leave a Comment »

You may or may not know it yet, but I love twitter. To me it is one of the best internet inventions ever….well besides the internet of course 🙂

I’ve said before that I could quite happily spend the whole day on twitter; following links, retweeting quotes, chatting to friends around the world, connecting with new friends I noticed mentioned by current friends, having a laugh at the jokes, responding to mentions, having a peek into someone else’s life: finding out what they like, who they don’t like, what they think of Tiger Woods, who is visiting starbucks, who loves tea, who has been where, whose kids are on spring break, photo’s of gorgeous places, who is sitting on a carribean beach, what is happening 6,000 miles away, who is passionate about which cause, who supports those causes, who is selling what, and why, who writes poetry, whose baby has just been born, whose birthday it is, celebrating their achievements, who is passionate about their garden, who shares my interest in travel, which people lean towards religion and who doesn’t and much much more…….you know what I mean.

And this got me to thinking about the etiquette of twitter, about how it is we get to connect with the people behind the profiles and I wondered if twetiquette is the same as etiquette and do the same rules apply when we are relatively anonymous behind a computer screen as opposed to being face to face.

Etiquette (pronounced [,eti’ket]) is a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group. The French word étiquette, signifying ticket (of admission, etc.) first appeared in English in 1750.

So if I understand that correctly; etiquette in simple terms is a code of behaviour within a social class or group. How then is etiquette practised in the world of twitter.

In a normal social setting it is good etiquette to introduce yourself, to shake hands in greeting (or whatever the correct social norm would be in your any particular country), to engage in polite conversation, to enquire after someones health and if you feel comfortable in the environment you then engage further and enquire as to career or family ties, do they participate in a sport, what sort of music they enjoy and so through a repartee of conversation within the norm of a social setting you get to find out more about the person you are communicating with.

On twitter your introduction is your profile: you have an opportunity to introduce yourself. I come along, I have a look and if we speak the same language or like similar things we then ‘follow’ : we shake hands.

Next I post a tweet that I am about to go on holiday or I re-tweet an interesting link you have posted about travel tips or an exciting destination – you respond and as we engage so we get to learn more about one another: conversation.

Then perhaps a friend comes along and we think the person we are with might like to meet them, so we introduce them: @mention the person and if possible we say why aka #ff or #followfriday

Sometimes over the course of time we find that the things they say aka ‘tweet’ are of no real interest, so we move on : unfollow

When we first meet a new person in a normal social settings we dont just jump in with the company’s latest advert : marketing links

And I dislike the idea of ‘automated’ following programmes to build numbers : running down the street ‘shouting..be my friend’?!

So here is my idea of twetiquette:

Follow = I like you and think we may have things in common

Retweet your post = I find your post interesting and would like to share it with others

@mention you and comment on something you said previously = conversation

Click on a link you posted = taking an interest in what you have to say

Retweet the link = I think other people might also be interested

Retweet a comment you made eg a quote = repartee

#followfriday = I think youre a great person and would like to introduce you to my other friends

So, those are just some of my ideas! What are your thoughts on the matter?

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another rainy day in paradise

Posted in It's my life, Travel, tagged another rainy day in paradise, autumn, british standard time, daffodils, http://calane55.worldventuresdreamtrips.com/, mother nature, northern hemisphere, pagan rituals, snowdrops, spring, spring forward autumn back, summer, volcanoes, weather in the uk, winter on April 25, 2010| 2 Comments »

Spring forward; Autumn back! Finally after 9 ‘springs’, I have got it. The clocks went forward on 28th March BST (British Standard Time). What this really means is that urgh! we have to get up an hour earlier than the day before. Now this is not much of a surprise since it happens every year, as the days get light earlier and yay it means summer is on the way! We hope 🙂

Sunday 28th March was meant to herald the advent of Spring! Or so one would think. We had a burst of sun for an hour or so and then the rain fell; no surprise there! After living in the UK for the last 9 years plus, I finally get why the Brits are so fixated on the weather. It’s the promise of sunshine that keeps the eye on the heavens and gives the weatherman such a bad rep when we are faced with another rainy day. I actually started writing this blog on the 7th April. I did not get to finish it that day and saved it to draft with the intention of posting it the next day…..however, our ever fickle Mother Nature decided differently and the very next day was sunny and bright and so it has stayed ever since…..till today!!! So finally I can get to post this blog….it is raining!

One of the things that I love about the UK (and there are many) is that the seasons are so distinctive. Unlike in South Africa where the days tends to blend and autumn is noted by cooler days and spring goes unnoticed except for the blossoms; here in the UK and I am sure in many other parts of the northern hemisphere, the seasons are quite distinctive.

Autumn is a glorious display of vibrant glowing colours; reds, yellows, gold and orange. The days are brisk and windy, sending dried leaves scurrying about in whirls of colour. The days shorten imperceptibly till suddenly you notice it’s dark by 5pm! Misty days wrap skeletal trees in cloaks of mystery, the very sensible birdlife leave for sunnier climes and furry creatues both large and small burrow into cozy nests and snooze the colder days away.

Winter arrives with a flourish! No politeness there…it just arrives – bang, one day you wake up and it’s bloody cold. The temperatures drop and the folk in more northern countries send their icy winds our way. The weatherman gets it in the ear and nothing he has to say is of any good cheer. Like a baby’s bum, it’s wet and windy; and cold. Urgh. The days deepen, the nights linger and getting up out of a cozy bed in the morning’s is hell….especially if you don’t have central heating. Now clever me, my job entails living in old people’s homes and since they always feel the cold, the heating is usually (with one or two exceptions) way up high. In an attempt to consider the planet and the ecology I spend a fair amount of time turning thermometers down 🙂

Then the snow arrives! Chaos decends and the kids go wild!!! No school; hooray! After centuries of snow in winter, you would think that the government has figured out it needs to put plans in place to deal with this. But no, it always comes as a big surprise “Oh my gosh! Look at that it snowed!” The country is torn between joy & annoyance. Businesses lose money and people go out to play.

Winter seems to last forever, long dark nights, short days and cold that seeps into the bones sending shivers along the spine. Scarves and gloves, boots and jackets, thermals and caps. No romantic liasons then! Coughs, colds and sneezes abound, kleenex makes a killing for sure.

Then suddenly, the days start to lengthen and Spring arrives with an array of colours, buds unfurl and the days are brightened by splashes of colour, snowdrops carpet the ground

snowdrops herald the approach of spring

and daffodils brighten even the dullest of days with their sunny dispositions.

daffodils with their sunny faces

The world seems to stretch her arms in response to the warm stirring of the suns rays. Spring heralds ancient pagan festivals and rituals, to welcome the promise of summer.

And then we have summer! Or do we. Occassionally we have a rush of hot sunny days, when the parks are filled with lazy picnics, the beaches crowded with folk, eager to catch the sun’s rays before it dissappears behind the clouds. So here’s hoping for a nice hot sunny summer. The last 2 weeks have, except for the advent of the volcanic eruption and resulting ashy air been fabulous! Blue skies, nary a cloud in sight and everyone went out to picnic.

And now we have returned pretty much to normal….overcast and rain. It’s great to have such dependable weather 🙂

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Who was St George?

Posted in Fun Stuff, Historical, It's my life, tagged 23 April, England's National Day, Golden Legend, googles front page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_George, http://www.google.co.uk/, patron saint of england, St George and the Dragon, St Georges Day, Winston Churchill on April 23, 2010| 3 Comments »

St George on Google 🙂

Most countries which observe St George’s Day celebrate it on April 23, the traditionally accepted date of Saint George’s death in 303 AD.

St George’s Day is celebrated by the several nations, kingdoms, countries, and cities of which Saint George is the patron saint. St George’s Day is also England’s National Day.

Saint George is the patron saint of some important cities, mainly belonging to the territories added to the old kingdoms of Castille, Leon and Aragon in the historic period of the “Reconquista”.

The legend

St. George and the Dragon, wood sculpture by Bernt Notke in Stockholm’s Storkyrkan

St. George and the Dragon in Stockholm’s Gamla stan

Woodcut frontispiece of Alexander Barclay, Lyfe of Seynt George (Westminster, 1515)

According to the Golden Legend the narrative episode of Saint George and the Dragon took place in a place he called “Silene,” in Libya; the Golden Legend is the first to place this legend in Libya as a sufficiently exotic locale, where a dragon might be imagined. In the tenth-century Georgian narrative, the place is the fictional city of Lasia, and it is the godless Emperor who is Selinus.

The town had a pond, as large as a lake, where a plague-bearing dragon dwelled that envenomed all the countryside. To appease the dragon, the people of Silene used to feed it two sheep every day, and when the sheep failed, they fed it their children, chosen by lottery.

It happened that the lot fell on the king’s daughter. The king, distraught with grief, told the people they could have all his gold and silver and half of his kingdom if his daughter were spared; the people refused. The daughter was sent out to the lake, decked out as a bride, to be fed to the dragon.

Saint George by chance rode past the lake. The princess, trembling, sought to send him away, but George vowed to remain.

The dragon reared out of the lake while they were conversing. Saint George fortified himself with the Sign of the Cross, charged it on horseback with his lance and gave it a grievous wound. Then he called to the princess to throw him her girdle, and he put it around the dragon’s neck. When she did so, the dragon followed the girl like a meek beast on a leash. She and Saint George led the dragon back to the city of Silene, where it terrified the people at its approach. But Saint George called out to them, saying that if they consented to become Christians and be baptised, he would slay the dragon before them.

The king and the people of Silene converted to Christianity, George slew the dragon, and the body was carted out of the city on four ox-carts. “Fifteen thousand men baptized, without women and children.” On the site where the dragon died, the king built a church to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint George, and from its altar a spring arose whose waters cured all disease.

Traditionally, the swordwith which St. George slew the dragon was called Ascalon, a name recalling the city of Ashkelon, Israel. From this tradition, the name Ascalon was used by Winston Churchill for his personal aircraft during World War II (records at Bletchley Park), since St. George is the Patron Saint of England.

How cool is that! Thanks to Wikipedia for the above….a font of information as always. This story has fascinated me ever since I discovered that my birthday falls on the day of the Patron Saint of England, especially as I so love England. It is quite thrilling. 🙂

So who was St George?

Quick Facts about St George

Born in Turkey (in Cappadocia)
Lived in 3rd century
His parents were Christian
Became a Roman soldier
Protested against Rome’s persecution of Christians
Imprisoned and tortured, but stayed true to his faith
Beheaded at Lydda in Palestine

St. George is believed to have been born in Cappadocia (now Eastern Turkey) in the year A.D. 270. He was a Christian. At the age of seventeen he joined the Roman army and soon became renowned for his bravery. He served under a pagan Emperor but never forgot his Christian faith.

When the pagan Emperor Diocletian started persecuting Christians, St. George pleaded with the Emperor to spare their lives. However, St. George’s pleas fell on deaf ears and it is thought that the Emperor Diocletian tried to make St. George deny his faith in Christ, by torturing him. St George showed incredible courage and faith and was finally beheaded near Lydda in Palestine on 23 April, 303.

In 1222, the Council of Oxford declared April 23 to be St George’s Day and he replaced Edward the Confessor as England’s patron saint in the 14th century. In 1415, April 23 was made a national feast day.

my thanks to woodlands-junior for the info

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