The Queen's English

“March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb”. ~Proverb.

The word ‘March’ comes from the Roman ‘Martius’.This was originally the first month of the Roman calendar and was named after Mars, the god of war.

The Anglo-Saxons called this month Hlyd monath which means Stormy month, or Hraed monath which means Rugged month.

Crocus sativus, from the Latin adjective crocatus, meaning saffron. Hence the name ‘Saffron Crocus’.

Crocus are best known for producing the spice saffron. Only a small part of the saffron flower—the stigmata—is actually used for the spice. So it takes some 75,000 saffron flowers to make just one pound of spice. Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world, quality saffron can cost around $3,000 for just two pounds.

Leeds Castle, Maidstone, Kent, England.

During its 900 year history, Leeds Castle has been a Norman stronghold, the private property of six of England’s medieval Queens and a palace used by Henry VIII. In the 1930s the castle was a playground for the rich and famous, as Lady Baillie, the last private owner, entertained high society down from London for the weekends.

Set in 500 acres of beautiful parkland and glorious gardens and maze, the castle offers visitors a glimpse of its rich past with a fine collection of art, porcelain and furniture.

“Was it the smile of early spring That made my bosom glow? ‘Twas sweet, but neither sun nor wind Could raise my spirit so.

Was it some feeling of delight, All vague and undefined? No, 'twas a rapture deep and strong, Expanding in the mind!”

~Anne Bronte, 'In Memory of A Happy Day in February’

Happy Burns Night!

O my Luve’s like a red, red rose, That’s newly sprung in June: O my Luve’s like the melodie, That’s sweetly play’d in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonie lass, So deep in luve am I; And I will luve thee still, my dear, Till a’ the seas gang dry.

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi’ the sun; And I will luve thee still, my dear, While the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare-thee-weel, my only Luve! And fare-thee-weel, a while! And I will come again, my Luve, Tho’ ‘twere ten thousand mile!

Kilchurn Castle, Loch Awe, Argyll and Bute, Scotland.

Kilchurn Castle is a ruined structure on a rocky peninsula at the northeastern end of Loch Awe, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.

Kilchurn was built in the mid-1400s, and it remained the base of the mighty Campbells of Glenorchy for 150 years. After the first Jacobite Rising of 1689, Kilchurn was converted into a garrison stronghold, but was abandoned by the end of the 1700s. Its five-storey tower house dominates the complex, with a lower hall, courtyard and barracks below  It contains the oldest surviving barracks on the British mainland.  

“Winter is the time for comfort - it is the time for home.”

The Embankment, London.

The Embankment stretches from Westminster Bridge and The Houses of Parliament to Blackfriars Bridge.

Designed in 1870 by renowned British town planner Joseph Bazalgette,its construction was implemented by the Metropolitan Board of Works to ease the congestion on The Strand and Fleet Street.

“Nature chose for a tool, not the earthquake or lightning to rend and split asunder, not the stormy torrent or eroding rain, but the tender snow-flowers noiselessly falling through unnumbered centuries.”

The Sun Had Closed The Winter’s Day” (1903) oil painting, By Joseph Farquharson.(1846-1935)

“I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old, familiar carols play, And wild and sweet the words repeat Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

“When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things—not the great occasions—give off the greatest glow of happiness.”

December days … as Christmas time draws near; brings family warmth, and friendship’s joyful cheer, from memory’s store so many days to bless and cherish so in quiet thankfulness.

“Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveller, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home! ”