Monday, May 14, 2012

Robin Hood.............

The Arrow and the Song
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I shot an arrow into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where; For, so swiftly it flew, the sight Could not follow it in its flight. I breathed a song into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where; For who has sight so keen and strong, That it can follow the flight of song? Long, long afterward, in an oak I found the arrow, still unbroke; And the song, from beginning to end, I found again in the heart of a friend.
Photobucket Robin Hood..........was it his real name? Probably not. Robin of Loxley? I don't know. I do believe he was a real person though. In fact there were bones found exactly where they would have been had Robin been buried where the arrow landed. I read somewhere that the theory was tested and that bones were found. I also think there is now a tomb there, or a marker at least. It was a long time ago that I read up on this. Here are a few of my favourite Robin Hood's. Photobucket Richrd Todd one of the first and best. Many others but I did not like most of them. Photobucket Photobucket Kevin Kostner...Prince of Thieves. 70d84135 Photobucket Russell Crowe as...Robin Hood. Robin-Hood-2033 Rob the Rich to feed the poor? Not exactly. At this point in English history the land was in turmoil. Invaded by the French..... William of Normandy had a heavy hand. He had to. The English would not take defeat lightly and wanted no foreign King with a foreign language. Much like when The White people took America, the English either assimilated or died. The lands were taken from original land owners and given to Norman barons. So it was that some rose up to fight a battle of guerrilla warfare. They took not from the rich but from those who had taken everything from them. They gave back to those who had lost everything. So a legend was born and has lasted until now. Who can not love such a person? We need hero's and Robin was that.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Moonbeams and starlight..............

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Moonbeams and Starlight.
Stardust sprinkled in the sky,twinkles brightly.......I wonder why? Millions of worlds we'll never know. Shine down on us...forever so. Something magic in the air!! Brilliant light can not compare. The lesser light that rules the night. Always there, Constant, bright. She moves in never ending phase. Unlike the sun who rules the days. Her icy light touches the heart, weaves her magic to depart. As day is sure to follow night. Moon gives way to greater light. Evening comes again...moon rise. Wax and wane controls the tide. Stars again like diamond bright. Welcome again another night.
JKS May 2012
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Thursday, May 10, 2012

Magical raindrops.................

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Magical Raindrops
Magical raindrops that sparkle and shine, brighter than diamonds that come from a mine. Bright little jewels caught up in sunbeam. Makes the young girl inside of me dream. Dream of a misty fairy glade, Sparkles on every sunlit blade. Helps that child inside of me see, a fairy that rides on a bumble bee. I hear the buzz from flower to flower As I lay in the magical fairy bower. I drift into a dreamy haze, Oh how I miss those long sunny days. Childhood soon gives way to real life. Soon I became a mother and wife. Hard to remember those wonderful days When dewdrops sparkled in the suns warm blaze.
JKS May 2012
Photobucket Not my own photography this time, but I have found some wonderful pictures on Photobucket and although I can not give credit to the real photographers I thank them for sharing their work. If anyone will email I will give credit here because I do believe it is real art. The poem is my own. 1254128061B95cmE-1 How does one capture such a thing as this? I have much to learn. beauty-1 This is incredible don't you think? BeautifulDewDrops2

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Boots in the garden.................

Boots the cat has been enjoying the freedom of the garden. She has lost weight and is now rather sleek. She spends a lot of time just watching the holes the Chipmunks have made. She also dozes under the bird feeders. I watch her.............the Chickadee ignore her and I don't think she will take on a Blue Jay. If she does good luck. Here she is under the feeders on the deck dozing.............I had fun with this picture 101_0275-001 when I went out the other day she came and laid out on the path, the poodles went to see what she was doing and she started to play with them. 101_0217 They get all excited when she bats them with her paws. (declawed) she does it ever so gentle when she is just kidding. When she is not she gives them a nice smart slap. I imagine their little cheeks glowing. 101_0217-1 By far her favourite though is to lay in the sun. She will curl up on a garden seat cushion or on the bench on the front porch. The other day she must have been in the shrubs out front because I was filling the fountain with the hose, must have sprayed the shrubs because a very indignant cat came hurriedly out. Must have found a warm spot to hide and hope for a Chipmunk to come along. 101_0276-001

Monday, May 7, 2012

Some Days...............

Some days just knock ya out. Photobucket Don't you love watching a little one sleep. The hand on the blankie and his stuffies near by. The best part of the day for me as it does not happen often. He does not normally take a nap. He was snuggled up with me and I was playing with his hair, he just nodded off. I managed to disentangle myself and move to another seat. I could not resist taking the pictures. Photobucket It about the only time that little mouth is ever shut, when he is sleeping. Photobucket

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Little boy in the sand box...............

Well today did not go as planned. I had really hoped to work in the garden. I have a lot of planting to do, but it rained this morning. No matter we went to get me a couple of new Shepherd's hooks. I have the bird feeders up near the deck now so I can take pictures of the birds. Anyway after that Gerry made the sand box. He had gone to get the materials in the morning but as it had been raining we did nothing till later. Well it cleared up long enough to get that done at least and I got my bird feeders hung up. 101_0121 There is Tristen with his new sand box, a seat big enough for two. I wonder how long the sand will stay where it belongs ? Already he has been taking in his house to "cook". He does so love it when we pretend to eat his offerings. I asked for a cup of tea and he brought out a cup of sand, face proudly beaming. He loved helping "Dah" by holding the nails and giving him them as needed. 101_0126 Here he is busy cooking up a meal for us......He does need some boys to play with. That's OK I guess we will cultivate his softer side, he certainly needs that. 101_0139 Just look at that beaming face. 101_0138

Friday, April 27, 2012

May Day...........

May Day is celebrated in England and other countries in Europe and around the world. Some have made it into a military celebration, showing off their "wealth in arms". I think of it as a day to celebrate Spring. I suppose in many ways the scene in the movie "Camelot" would be how I think of it. The blossoms are out in the hedgerows. The trees are blooming, Apple and Cherry blossoms and the Blackthorn and Hawthorne. The earth awakens and renews. The birds are nesting and the babies are being born in the woods and forests. Baby bunnies, the fawns and the kits in the Fox's den. Such beauty and renewal. No wonder the old Pagan religions dwelt so much upon the Springtime. John_Collier_Queen_Guinevres_Maying (john colliers Queen Guinevres Maying) May Day is related to the Celtic festival of Beltane. It marks the end of the unfarmable winter half of the year in the Northern hemisphere. Flora was the Roman goddess of flowers and so it stands to reason that flowers are a huge part of it. Roodmas was a Christian Mass celebrated in England at midnight on May 1. In our village we celebrated the crowning of the Queen of the May. She would be paraded through the village with her attendants and be crowned on the village green. It is celebrated with Morris Dancers and the Maypole dancing Much of this tradition derives from the pagan and Anglo-Saxon customs and many Celtic traditions. Queen_of_the_May_in_June_-_geographorguk_-_1346819 May blossom, the flower of the May tree. May Day has been a traditional day of festivities throughout the centuries. It is most associated with towns and villages celebrating springtime fertility and revelry with village fetes and community gatherings. Since the reform of the General Roman Catholic Calendar, May 1st is the Feast of St Philip & St James, they became the patron saints of workers. Seeding has been completed by this date and it was convenient to give farm labourers a day off. Perhaps the most significant of the traditions is the Maypole, around which traditional dancers circle with ribbons. mayday_1819459c Morris Dancers are a rather strange and an olde worlde sort of thing. They are funny and clever and usually do their dances outside a pub from what I have seen. Although I admit often on the village green when the Fete is in progress May-Day-around-the-world-morris-dancers- I hope this ancient tradition does not go the way of so many others. Its such a shame to see things pass away after centuries of enjoyment. I love tradition when its good and pretty and brings a community together for fun and fellowship as does May Day.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

April Afternoon....................

Laura came and got Tristen yesterday, she took him to play at her house while I took a shower and did a little work. A nice opportunity for them to share some Grandma time together. They came back around noon so that we could go to the park. We went for a walk first because we thought once he saw the playground we would not get a chance to walk much. So we set off into the woods. It was a nice cool day but bright and sunny. 107_0051-1 A bit cool down by the ponds, especially when there was water both sides of the trail. Too muddy yet to walk along the edge. 107_0061-2 We met a very nice lady on the walking path, she was walking her lovely dog. Tristen loves big dogs and she let him throw the ball for her. He was delighted that the dog kept coming back for him to throw them again. He sort of wanted the bat and said "I need that" and so we had to direct him over to the playground. 107_0070 We found a tree with two holes in it. Something a little boy would just have to explore. He just had to stick his hands in through the holes 107_0065 107_0066-1 We found this Holly bush. Well I thought it was Holly but I didn't know once I saw the yellow flowers. I must look it up now 107_0064-1 We went on over to visit a Killdeer and show Tristen her eggs. She was very nice about it and once she knew we intended no harm she waited till we had viewed her nest from a safe distance and then settled back on the nest. I have posted pictures in my Garden Journal. 107_0082 107_0075 We also showed him a big ants nest and I think he may have been a little more intrigued with that. He certainly would have stuck his hands in if we had allowed it.
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After we left the park we took him to visit Granddad (Daddy to him) and he was thrilled to look around the house being built. He will have fun going over there this summer watching the house being built. He loved getting on the back hoe and it was a job to winkle him back out again. Granddad had to get aboard and pry him loose. 107_0093 107_0098 After a long afternoon out they dropped me off at home to start supper and Laura took him home to play with Reina, she had been a bit ticked to have to go to school while Tristen got to go out. Well he stayed for supper there and came home a very content and tired little boy.

Monday, April 23, 2012

St George's Day.................

Today is St George's Day. Apparently it's no longer a big deal in England these days. That is a shame. The Scots celebrate St Andrew's Day, the Irish St Patrick's Day and the Welsh St David's Day. So why do the English not make a stand. It's considered nationalistic and even racist to say one is English. Or so I am told. Well, I am English, I was born in England and English I will be until I die. While I no longer live there that does not change a thing.
Its time for true English people to stand up and be counted. The red cross of St George is the English flag, flown by Francis Drake, Walter Raleigh and even the Mayflower. The union Jack is made up of the flags of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales it is the British flag.

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Why did we choose St George as our Patron Saint? He was a Roman soldier after all. We are not the only country to hold him up as a National Saint. I do understand that innocent blood has been shed under the Cross of St George, especially during the crusades. Now with many of those peoples from those countries now living there, well that is where the racism comes in I would suppose. However........it is after all England. They knew our history and chose to live there despite that. We have our history, good and bad. A lot of bad things have been done in the name of Christianity but it is still our history. While the current immigrants choose to live there and make it their homeland, I do not believe that it means giving up what makes England well.....England.
St. George was born in Syria around 275 AD and never set foot in England.
George was born to a Christian family and became a great warrior. Roman emperors tried to get him to denounce his Christianity but he refused to and he eventually died a martyr. St George and the Dragon is the motif most people associate with him. The tale is that there was a dragon threatening a state and each day it demanded more and more sacrifice.
George eventually killed the dragon because the dragon's next victim was a princess and George loved her.


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St George was declared patron saint on England in 1348 but it wasn't until 1415 that St George's Day was declared a national feast day and holiday in England
As crusaders returned to England they brought with them tales of St George's great bravery and his reputation grew. During the 14th Century, English soldiers wore a sign of St George and he was promoted to Patron Saint of England when Henry V led his army to victory at Agincourt.
For God, Harry, England and St George.............the battle cry.
Well maybe that is all in the past but it is still our history, still our national pride and I believe in tradition. Wear the red rose of England and St George and fly the English flag. Make it a national holiday just as the others do on their Saints Day.

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Saturday, April 21, 2012

Honour.........

I wonder in this modern world if Honour means anything anymore. Back in the 11th century there was a lady who was married to the Earl of Mercia his name was Leofric. Back in those days, actually up to the very recent past, a woman was owned by her husband. She was not allowed to own property or have an opinion. Her thoughts and her opinions were that of her Father and when she married, those of her husband. He could beat her and do as he pleased, imprison her even. She had no say in local or national affairs.
So it was that Leofric was expected to bring in a large amount of taxes for the King, Edward the Confessor. This was a terrible hardship for those who relied upon the Earl for their living. The landowners were at the Kings mercy and command.
Leofric must have loved his wife very much. When the towns people went to her for help she confronted her husband. Something unheard of. She asked that he lower the taxes............he agreed to this if she were to ride naked through the town on horseback. She agreed, I am sure much to his surprise.He probably said it by way of saying "I don't think so, no way" but having said it, he had to live by his word.
So the legend was born and passed down through the ages.
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It is said that out of respect for their lady, the towns folk stayed inside as she rode naked down the streets of Coventry with only her long hair to protect her modesty. Remember the story of "Peeping Tom". He was a tailor who was struck blind because he looked.
Lady Godiva was also a generous benefactor of the people of Coventry
She founded a Benedictine monastery in the city in 1043, which through her generosity became one of the richest in the land. Up until the 17th century, Coventry also boasted a number of tax exemptions, which some claim to have derived from Leofric’s concession.
To me she showed true courage in standing up for those less fortunate. She took her position as the Lady to improve the lives of the less fortunate and took a great chance in confronting her husband and my default the King.

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The people of Coventry erected a statue in her honour. History records her story but does not really get into the bravery of the act. The true HONOUR of her decision and commitment.