Spring is Finally Here....

It's official, spring is finally here and the weather supported that today with the sun shinning down upon us. With a spring in my step I had a short walk around my small harbour town to welcome spring. A time of renewal, rebirth and nature fully awaken from it's winter's sleep....

Flowers show their colours as they greet the sun..

Lambs frolic beside they mother on the warm, dry grass..

One of the first flowers to welcome spring..

Birds will prepare to have their young..

Skyies will soon be blue with fluffy white clouds..

Flowers dance under the sun-rays..

A proud rabbit greets spring with hope..

Butterflies will dance from flower to flower..

A Squirriel basks in the sun after his winter slumber..

The sea and beach calls to me, Spring is here

I am glad spring is finally here after the damp chilly few weeks of late. If today is a sign of things to come then this new season will be most welcome....

Until next time, take care...Hugs Chrissy

~~~~

The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet,
Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit,
In every street these tunes our ears do greet,
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
Spring! the sweet Spring!

~ Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908) ~
~~~~

Mother's Day Wishes...

Hello on Mother's Day, I hope you are all being spoilt today, grandmothers included. Me, I've been having a lazy day along with my hubby. Dinner will be had at home because I do not like crowded restaurants, which they will be today. Also, I feel that 'Mother's Day' should be every day..Do you hear that son..lol..Well, the sun has been shinning today for us so that's a blessing, a nice stroll along the beach could be the order of the day....

To My Mother:

For all the times you gently picked me up, When I fell down, For all the times you tied my shoes And tucked me into bed, Or needed something But put me first instead. For everything we shared, The dreams, the laughter, And the tears, I love you with a "Special Love" That deepens every year.

~ Author Unknown ~

Mom And Me:

Best friends forever mom and me picking flowers and climbing trees. A shoulder to cry on secrets to share, Warm hearts and hands that really care. ~ Author Unknown ~

Enjoy your day.

Until next time, take care...Hugs Chrissy xx

Happy St. Patrick's Day and the 'Gift of the Blarney'....

St. Patrick's Day

~~~~

Leprechauns peeking

Around a willow tree

Pussy willows waking

Longing to be free.
Colleens and shamrocks

And castles old and gray

Put them all together

To make St. Patrick's Day.

~~~~

A Happy St. Patrick's Day Greeting to you all and thanks for dropping by....

Being the daughter of a true Irish man today holds a special meaning for me, although now-a-days I usually spend this day quitely at home. Sadly my father is no longer alive but I remember many a St. Patrick's Day when my father returned home singing an Irish tune. Along with the songs my father had the 'Gift of the Blarney' for he would try and charm my mother after he had returned home late and in a very merry state..lol...

Speaking of 'the blarney', how many of you have kissed The Blarney Stone? I never have but would love to visit Blarney one day. However, judging by where the Blarney Stone is positioned I will be content with just visiting the castle....To be able to kiss the Blarney Stone itself you would require a very loyal and trustworthy companion, for he would have to hold your ankles while you lean back and downwards to grasp the iron rails, and if you're lucky be able to kiss the stone. Being only 5ft 3in with short legs I doubt even in my younger days I would have been able to achieve this difficult feat..lol..

View of the Blarney Stone from the ground ~ Photograph by Srleffler ~

The Blarney Stone is set within the castle of Blarney village, a few miles from the small City of Cork, Ireland. The castle seen today was built in 1446 after a fire destroyed the original building, which was built two centuries before....

Blarney Castle ~ Photograph by Urban Hafner ~

The origin of the stone is shrouded in mystery but legend says that it was a magical stone from the beginning.... There are many explanations for the Stone's origin, many of a biblical nature. It is also said that the Stone was possibly removed from Ireland and taken to Scotland and then returned to Ireland in 1314. The theory behind this statement is that the Stone was originally half of The Stone of Scone and was presented to Cormac McCarthy by Robert the Bruce in recognition of his support in The Battle of Bannockburn. McCarthy then installed the Stone in Blarney Castle, where it became known as The Blarney Stone. However, others say that it was the Lia Fail, a magical stone on which the kings of Ireland were crowned....Regardless of the why's and whatfor's, there is no disguising the fact that The Blarney Stone has a magical air about it....

‘’Ti s there’s the stone that whoever kisses
He never misses to grow eloquent;
Tis he may clamber to a lady’s chamber,
Or become a member of Parliament.
A noble spouter he’ll sure turn out, or
An out and outer to be let alone;
Don’t try to hinder him, or to bewilder him,
For he is pilgrim from the Blarney Stone’’
~ Francis Sylvester Mahony ~

The custom of kissing the Blarney Stone also has many theories for why it began and for how long it has been practiced. Why should kissing the stone give you ‘the Gift of the Gab’? One local legend claims that an old woman, saved from drowning by a king of Munster, rewarded him with a spell, that if he would kiss the stone on the castle’s top he would gain a speech that would win all to him....

What is known however is when the word Blarney became part of the English language. It is claimed that on a visit by Queen Elizabeth 1 to Cormac Teige McCarthy, Lord of Blarney, she requested an oath of loyalty to retain occupancy of land. McCarthy apparently responded with ‘subtle diplomacy’ and the Queen proclaimed that he was giving her ‘a lot of blarney’, meaning ‘to placate with soft talk or to deceive without offending’....

The custom of ‘Kissing the Blarney Stone’ is known throughout the world, a stone on a castle’s parapet not that dissimilar to other stones in the area. A stone that is said ‘to endow whoever kisses it with the eternal gift of eloquence’ (solabharthact) – ‘The Gift of the Gab’.

Many of us have never seen the stone and most likely never will, yet we use the expression in our everyday lives and believe in its magic. That can’t be a bad thing in this day and age....

Hope you enjoyed your day, until next time take care...Hugs Chrissy xx

The Fairer Sex

Hello everyone, thanks for dropping by and hope you enjoyed International Women's Day, which has been celebrated every year on March 8 since 1909. When you look back in history we women were a gutsy lot. Not only in examples of strength and leadship but in many ways. As a woman who is proud to be a member of 'The Fairer Sex' I thought I would mention some of the women who left their mark in a world dominated men....

Cleopatra VII Philopator (Late 69 BC – August 12, 30 BC) was the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. Painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme

Boudica (d. AD 60 or 61) was queen of the British Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire. Boadicea Haranguing the Britons by John Opie

Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" (1412 – 30 May 1431), is a national heroineof France and a Roman Catholic saint. Joan at the coronation of Charles VII, by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres in 1854

Mary Wollstonecraft (27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was an eighteenth-century British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Mary Wollstonecraft by John Opie (c. 1797)

Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, was the most renowned and the longest-ruling female leader of Russia, reigning from 9 July 1762 until her death on 17 November 1796. Catherine II by Fyodor Rokotov

Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature.

Harriet Beecher Stowe (June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) was a depiction of life for African-Americans under slavery.

Clarissa Harlowe "Clara" Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912) was a pioneer American teacher, patent clerk, nurse, and humanitarian. She is best remembered for organizing the American Red Cross.

Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English poet who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional, and children's poems. She is best known for her long poem Goblin Market, her love poem Remember, and for the words of the Christmas carol In the Bleak Midwinter.

Louisa May Alcott (November 29, 1832 – March 6, 1888) was a seamstress, governess, abolitionist, feminist, nurse and American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women was set in the Alcott family home.

Elizabeth Forbes: 'The Half Holiday, Alec home from school'. Elizabeth Adela Forbes (1859–1912) was a Canadian painter who was primarily active in England (I could not find a picture of Elizabeth Forbes so I showed an example of her work)

There are many, many more women that I could have mentioned here but who to choose? What it does show is that against all odds and living in a male dominated society these women showed their worth....

Would we have been as strong and as committed to follow our dreams and destinies. I salute all women....

Until next time, take care....Hugs Chrissy xx

Happy St. Piran's Day To All Our Cornish Friends.....

Happy St. Piran's Day to all our Cornish friends across this land. I hope the weather stayed dry and sunny as it has been in Cornwall today......You may wonder why my blog has become all about saints recently due to the last few postings. It's just that February and March have been busy months for celebrating the lives of noted saints. And it would be very remiss of me not to mention St. Piran being as I live in Cornwall...lol..

St Piran's Day (Gool Peran) is held on March 5th every year and is a national day in Cornwall. Today celebrates the life of one of the patron saints of Cornwall, St. Piran, who is also the patron saint of tin miners....

A depiction of St. Piran in a stained glass window in Truro Cathedral. The window was donated by a benefactor in 1907...

Legend has it that St. Piran originated from Ireland in the 6th Century and was cast out to sea by the ‘Heathen Irish’. They had tied him to a mill-stone and rolled it over the edge of a cliff into a stormy sea, which immediately became calm. He then floated safely over the water to land upon the beach at Perranzabuloe (Porthpyran ), Cornwall....

Dunes at Penhale Sands and Perran Beach

Once here St. Piran was joined by many of his Christian converts and together they founded the Abbey of Lanpiran, with St. Piran becoming abbot...

Cathedral Church of Saint Peter, Exeter

It is said that at his death the remains of the Blessed Martin the Abbot, which he had brought from Ireland, were buried with him at Perranzabuloe. However His own remains were subsequently exhumed and redistributed to be venerated in various places, Exeter Cathedral for one...
Remains of St Piran's Old Church

Situated in a hollow in the sand dunes of Penhale Sands and Perran Beach is the site of the original building of St. Piran’s Oratory. It was probably built of wattle and daub and is thought to be the oldest Christian site in Cornwall. The Oratory was abandoned in the tenth century due to the encroachment of sand. At a later date a replacement church was built of stone further inland but was abandoned in 1795. The Old Church churchyard however was still used for burials until 1835 before the sand enveloped it...

The Survey of Cornwall by Richard Carew

The noted 17th century antiquary, Richard Carew 1555 -1620, wrote:
‘St Piran too well brooketh his name in Sabuloe: for the sand carried up by the north wind from the seashore daily continueth covering and marring the land adjoinant, so as the distress of this deluge drove the inhabitants to remove their church. Howbeit when it meeteth with any crossing brook, the same (by a secret apathy) restraineth and barreth his farther encroaching that way. It was in consequence of this notion that the inhabitants, thinking such situation secure, removed their church only about 300 yards, it being on the opposite side of the brook'....

Building covering the partly excavated St Piran's Oratory in 1952

The oratory site was excavated in 1910 but the remains of the stone building were once again buried in the sand. The site of St Piran's Old Church and the 10th century cross next to it was excavated in 1919....

Perranzabuloe parish church, St. Piran

The old church was partially dismantled and the materials used to build a new church further inland. It was dedicated to St. Piran in July 1805...

St. Piran Cornish Flag

Many events will take place throughout cornwall today with the St. Piran flag (Baner Peran) flying proudly across the county. The flag is used by Cornish people as a symbol of identity...

St. Piran's Cross

The largest event will take place in Perranzabuloe where thousands of people will march across the dunes to St. Piran’s Cross. People are generally dressed in black, white and gold and carrying the St. Piran flag. Daffodils are also carried and placed at the cross. A play, in Cornish, of the Life of St. Piran will also be enacted at this event....

St. Piran's Day parade at Penzance 2006

Places, sites and holy wells have been named after St. Piran, with churches at Perranzabuloe and Perranarworthal dedicated to him...

Mount St. Piran in Banff National Park near Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada. It was named in 1894 by Samual E.S. Allen after St. Piran...

Hope you all enjoyed your day....

Until next time, take care...Hugs Chrissy xx

Happy St. David's Day....

Hello and Happy St. David’s Day to our Welsh friends...I had hoped to post earlier in the evening but we had a power cut here in Cornwall, even the street lights were out. So I’m hoping this will actually be posted on the day itself but it may Friday morning already...
Each year on March 1st St. David’s Day is celebrated throughout Wales and no doubt across the world by Welsh people. The first of March was chosen in remembrance of St. David who died on this day and what is believed to be in 589...

Stained glass window in Jesus College Chapel, Oxford, showing St David. Late 19th century.

St. David (Dewi Sant) was born towards the end of the fifth century and he founded a Celtic monastic community at Glyn Rhosyn (The Vale of Roses) on the western headland of Pembrokeshire. This foundation became a Christian Shrine and St. David’s Cathedral stands on this spot today.....

St David's Cathedral, Pembrokeshire, Wales

As St. David lay dying he uttered the following words to his tearful monks...
'Brothers be ye constant. The yoke which with single mind ye have taken, bear ye to the end; and whatsoever ye have seen with me and heard, keep and fulfil'.

The Welsh Flag

For centuries St. David was regognised as a national patron saint of Wales and March 1st was declared a national day of celebration in Wales in the 18th century. This day means so much to the Welsh people that they wanted it to be a bank holiday and were prepared to forgo another one for it to be so. In 2006 a poll was conducted which showed that 87% of people in Wales wanted this day to be a bank holiday. In 2007 a petition to this effect was rejected by the office of the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair...

St David's Day celebrations, Cardiff Bay, 2008 (Dathliadau Dydd Gwyl Dewi, Bae Caerdydd, 2008)

Every year parades are held in Wales to commemorate St. David. The largest is held in Cardiff and is formally attended by either the British monarch or the Prince of Wales....
Children take part in school concerts with recitation and singing and Welsh regiments of the British army take part in the celebrations. Welsh people will wear the national emblems of Wales in there lapel, either the Daffodil, a Welsh symbol, or a Leek, St. David’s personal symbol....

Daffodil field in South East Cornwall

Leek field in Houthulst, Belgium

Younger girls sometimes wear tradition Welsh costumes to school on St. David's Day....

Two Welsh women in traditional rural costume, outside a cottage, with spinning wheel. 1890-1900

The costume comprises of a long woollen skirt, white blouse, woollen shawl and Welsh hat...

Welsh Woman wearing a Welsh Hat, photographed outside Caerphilly Tourist Information Centre

The tradition Welsh soup or broth called Cawl (pronounced kaul) is prepared, usually with lamb leeks, and eaten on St. David’s Day....

St. David's Flag

The Flag of St. David plays an important part in the celebrations and can be seen flying throughout Wales. It is also seen flying alongside the Welsh flag in parades...

St Davids Day celebrations 2007, St Mary Street, Cardiff, Wales

I hope you enjoyed your celebrations and if it's Friday morning already you are probably in bed...lol...

Until next time, take care...Hugs Chrissy xx