Friday 29 April 2011

The Royal Wedding...

My Friday morning will be spent watching the royal wedding- the carriages, the wedding dress and the greenery and flowers decorating the Abbey...

In some ways it's a little like a Mills and Boon romance novel. The Prince meets an ordinary woman, all goes well until something forces them apart, but you know that in the end they will get back together because they can't live without each other, and there will be the happy ending.

I did say like a romance novel... :-)

Actually I remember where I was when the Groom's parents were wed, as their ceremony was watched by millions around the world.

I was on holiday in Stratford-upon-Avon for a week of RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) plays, and staying at a hotel across the road from the theatre. The guests were provided with a room with a tv in to watch the proceedings.
At lunch time I went out, it was a warm, bright day. The neatly trimmed grass of the riverside gardens was healthily green- and all the shops were closed and no one was around. There was silence.

If it had been the set of a 1950's science fiction film I could have been the sole surviving human being wandering around hopelessly looking for other people...

I couldn't even buy an ice-cream!

So congratulations to the the Prince and his Miss and may they have a long and happy life together...

Don't you love a happy ending?

Monday 25 April 2011

Spring is Here...

It's been a lovely few days over Easter- despite a little rain- and so many of the plants and flowers are blooming giving bursts of colour amid the greenery.

Did you know that you could find out what native species of trees and plants have grown in the area you live?  You can use the postcode database on the Natural History Museum website to find out. Very helpful if you want to plant native species in your garden...

You can find out about different plants- there's a long list of names. But I can see it would be a useful starting point if you were setting a scene sometime in the past and had your heroine picking wild flowers or herbs, even being presented with a bouquet- and you'd added in a flower that wouldn't or couldn't have been there at that time.

Meanwhile here are a few flowers from my garden, thought sadly my self-seeded bluebells are not the native species that were once so abundant in the woods of my childhood.

Bluebells,greenery,fence,plants,garden Bluebells Forever...


blossom,flowers,white,spring
                                                            And the Hawthorn Blooming