Thank you for your sympathy during our few days of phonelessness! Once the annoyance and disbelief had worn off (how can someone get away with stealing probably hundreds of metres of copper cable from under the ground?) we actually made the most of the peace and quiet.
The garden is looking colourful and much tidier, and we re-discovered the temptations of our local garden centre and nursery. On Sunday we went down to Leeds to see Verity and Chris, and their cute little Ponyo. Readers of The Hazel Tree will recognise Ponyo because she is an occasional guest star in Purdey’s column, ‘A Room with a Shrew’.
Her Royal Fluffiness
I had wanted to go and look at a beautiful Norman church on the outskirts of Leeds, which was the setting for a wedding where Verity and Chris were the photographers. It is described as “one of the best and most complete Norman churches in Yorkshire”. Sadly, it was also one of the most locked – there were three doors and we tried them all, but apparently admission is limited to Wednesdays, Thursdays and times of worship. It was also tipping with rain, which didn’t really help!
Church of St John the Baptist at Adel, showing a beautiful Norman archway and an unmoveable oak door
Last night we indulged in a little bit of patriotism and watched the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert on TV. I don’t think we’ll see the likes of that again any time soon… the Band of the Scots Guards parting to reveal Robbie Williams (genius!) in uniformed splendour, electrifying everyone with ‘Let Me Entertain You’; Madness belting out ‘Our House’ from the roof of Buckingham Palace; Tom Jones rocking the crowd with ‘Delilah’ and proving that his voice has stood the test of time; Peter Kaye, dressed as a Beefeater, making everyone clap along to ‘We Are Family’ (mad, but inspired); Elton John dancing around with Cliff Richard and Shirley Bassey as Paul McCartney yelled ‘Ob La Di, Ob La Da.’ Really, where else?!
I must admit I had to take a break on a few occasions (what happened with Sir Cliff? – not good!) and some of the so-called comedians were a bit like rabbits in the headlights. By contrast, Prince Charles showed a pretty good command of a mind-blowingly big crowd in The Mall and captured the mood of the nation. The roar that he raised from the audience in support of Prince Philip, who is recovering in hospital, must have been felt from the top of Nelson’s column to the depths of the underground stations. It’s rumoured that the Queen was wearing discreet earplugs, but I can’t say I can blame her.
British people aren’t known for outbursts of patriotic fervour. When it happens, however, the results can be spectacular. This last weekend has made me – and millions of Brits worldwide – proud of our heritage.
The Thames and Houses of Parliament from the London Eye
Welcome back to cyberspace Jo. My internet speed here has been sluggish all day and I wondered whether the thieves had pulled the cable out all the way from your village to mine!
When I was growing up England was always known as the “Mother Country” and the Queen is still our Monarch despite mutterings about NZ becoming a republic. We’ve had a lot of footage here of the celebrations you have been enjoying in UK.
Sadly a nasty weather system hitting us means we won’t get to observe the Transit of Venus….another link to Britain with Captain James Cook heading this way in 1769 to observe a very special alignment.
I certainly hope not, Lyn, that would be a lot of cable! We’ve enjoyed the Thanksgiving Service today in St Paul’s, and just watched the flypast over the balcony of Buckingham Palace. It’s hard to do anything else, really!
That’s a shame about the weather… I think we will fare little better though.
Welcome back!
Her Royal Fluffiness look great!!
It looks that you had a great show there for Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
Thank you! Ponyo is a beautiful cat. She doesn’t go outside but she has lots of friends who come and look at her through the window. Yes, we’re still watching the Jubilee celebrations – quite a show!
Thanks for the links – I missed the whole thing, so I was able to play a little catch-up.
I’m so glad you’re back in cyberspace, connected to us by your lovely writings.
Thank you for your lovely comment, Viv! Glad you were able to watch some of the concert through the links. The service in St Paul’s today was spectacular, but in a different way.
Welcome back Jo, it sound like the Jubilee was quite an event!!! Love the arch to the church and Her Royal Fluffiness is a pretty one. I can see why she has lots of friends!
Thanks, David! It was a very big event, and brought out a lot of British spirit – which was needed, because it rained a lot! Yes, Ponyo is a lovely lady, and she knows it, too!
Hear hear! I’ve just watched the highlights of the concert and it was marvellous. Sir Tom is quite incredible, I don’t think he hit one duff note (in sharp contrast to Sir Paul). I feel unusually patriotic now, God Save the Queen.
I’m very glad to hear you’ve resumed normal service, are they offering you any compensation for the inconvenience? Not their fault, admittedly, but it would be a nice gesture if they lopped a few quid off your next bill or something.
It was a great shame that the church was locked, I’d have been miffed about that too as it looks a most interesting building. Verity’s cat is unbelievable fluffy!
I agree about Sir Paul (and unfortunately, Sir Elton to a certain extent!) Their songs are still good though. Weren’t the fireworks and light show just amazing?!
Yes, we shall be seeking compensation! I’m pretty sure we’re entitled to it. Perhaps it was a good job it was a long weekend!
The firewords were indeed fantastic. I always worry for the organisers of such events in case some technical hitch occurs, but it’s amazing how they get it down to such a fine art; it’s not as if they can have a trial run. Sir Elton was a bit flat, yes, but I agree that the songs are still great. The person who surprised me most was young Mr Williams. Has he been taking singing lessons? I don’t think I’ve ever heard him sing so well, I was most impressed.
I hope you get your compensation, telephone companies must take out insurance that covers them against this sort of thing happening, so I think it’s worth pushing for.
I love your comment about Young Mr Williams. Oh dear, I’ve just seen online that he is 10 years younger than me. Anyway, yes, he is a fantastic singer and songwriter! He deserved to be top of the bill.
Ugh- sorry to hear about the copper thieves, we have them here in the States too. I watched some of the Jubilee too!
I’ve always enjoyed the history of the United Kingdom- it’s too bad that you couldn’t get into that wonderful church!
I know – but there’s always another time! Hopefully in better weather, too. Thanks for your comment!
It was a wonderful celebration. God save the Queen!!
Agreed. Thanks for your comment!
Jo, welcome back online. Sorry to hear about the terrible theft. Glad you enjoyed the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert on TV.
Thanks, Rayya! Yes, we are back online again now thank goodness.
Well, that was just the catch-me-up I needed! I watched none of the celebration (for some unfathomable reason), so the hand picked clips were fun to watch. Thanks for the excellent selection! Glad you are back up and running!
Thanks very much, Ann! It’s not often that real British sentiment comes out in public, and in such numbers, but the Jubilee was special. I’m glad to see the Duke of Edinburgh is now accompanying the Queen on her visits – he’s known to hate ‘molly-coddling’ and his spell in hospital must have infuriated him.