Now THAT'S a Shepherd

Everyone has probably already seen this. I usually am a bit late to the party. But I can't help saluting these crazy Welshmen and their sheep (and dogs!). Genius.

Christmastime Is Here

The merriest of Christmases to all of you! Sometime today, amid all the eggnog quaffing and paper ripping and squabbles with siblings or parents, take a few moments to breathe. If you can step outside into the icy air, do it. If your air is warm and balmy, still do it. May your day be filled with peace and love and quiet.

Sometimes it really does pay to lie back, and think of England.

image: Keswick, Cumbria, England. Copyright Alan Cleaver. Creative Commons license.

Britain Comes to Kansas

Yes, even here in the humble American Midwest, we remember fondly our British roots. It wasn't until this year that I realized that the Daughters of the British Empire host a British fair every year just a couple of miles from my own house. We had jugglers, jesters, a royal court, and of course a fine cream tea. Thanks much to Queen's Pantry of Leavenworth, Kansas, and Brits of Lawrence for bringing so many yummy treats for us to buy.

 

The dancer above is from the Clanna Eireann Celtic dance troupe. Note how the Queen and Prince William watch from a respectful distance.

Review: MARY POPPINS by P.L. Travers

Middle-grade fantasy
Harcourt, 2006 (originally published 1934)
224 pages  $12.95
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Why am I so wild about Mary that I award her the coveted five out of five stars? It may be childhood sentimentality, I admit. My mother used to read Mary Poppins as well as Mary Poppins Comes Back aloud to us in the car on long vacations. Nothing could hold me as mesmerized. I so wanted a nanny who could serve tea on the ceiling or rescue me from the nasty characters inside a Royal Doulton bowl. I was devastated every time Mary left, even knowing she would come back. I loved her because she wasn't sugary sweet (the lovely Julie Andrews notwithstanding); magic was part of who she was and she saw no nonsense in it. So what if extraordinary things happened whenever Mary was around? Children still had to go to bed on time and drink their cod liver oil (though when Mary administered it, it was somehow delicious).

I envisioned that one day I would live on Cherry Tree Lane, where the cherry trees danced down the center of the street with houses running down one side and the park on the other. This book was probably the beginning of my deep and abiding love of all things English.