Ten Reasons I Should Have Been Invited to the Royal Wedding…

A grave error has occurred.  I didn’t receive my invitation to the Royal Wedding…I can’t imagine what must have happened to it!

Here’s why I should have been invited:

1. I have royal blood (sort of).  One of my earliest documented ancestors on my mother’s side, Ralph of Kingsley (his first name was actually spelled differently in Old English), was a deerkeeper for the British Royal Family in the 12th century.  Now I try to keep the deer out instead of in!

"I don't know Doris...I might not be able to make it over that fence!" (photo by Anna)

2. I have a lot of pictures of Prince William’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.  I collected stamps from the age of 9…the Queen is featured on stamps from not only Great Britain and Canada, but also dozens of other countries (those Brits get around!).  I wish I had more pictures of her on money though…

3. I love British comedy.  I grew up watching Monty Python, Fawlty Towers (I do a wicked Sybil impression: “BASIL! BASIL!”), and The Two Ronnies.  My Grandad was a Benny Hill fan.  Today I love Mr. Bean and The IT Crowd.  The Full Monty is still one of my favourite movies.

4. I’m a big fan of Elton John.  I’ve loved his music since the early 70s…his song, Levon, is one of my all-time top ten favourite songs.

The first Elton John album I bought...Captain Fantastic (photo from woostercollective.com)

5. I used to wear hats.  I had a lot of hats in the late 70s and early 80s, before I became aware that I looked stupid in them.

6. I once saved the Prince’s mother from a nasty concussion.  As a young Broadcast Journalism intern, I covered Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s visit to Ottawa in the summer of 1983.  My news director sent me out to try to get some tape of the Princess on her walkabout.  I’d never used a boom mike before, and it was swinging rather close to Diana’s head as I struggled to control it in the wind.  When the RCMP officer smacked the mike away, I didn’t try again!

Me as a young Broadcast Journalism student...do I look like the type of girl who would purposely try to decapitate a princess?

7. I laugh at Prince Charles’ jokes.  On the same tour of Ottawa, I was pleasantly surprised by how witty the Prince was…I wish I could remember the amusing anecdote he told as he addressed the throngs of people assembled to see him and his wife.

8. My daughter was also nicknamed “Wombat.” Apparently, Prince William’s parents called him by this affectionate nickname…my daughter, Kaylee, is four years younger than William, and I used to refer to her as “wombat” too.

My "Wombat" with her "Wombat"...(photo by Scott)

9. I make an awesome shepherd’s pie.  The kids beg me to make it for them, even though I’m the world’s slowest potato peeler…hamburger, onions, mashed potatoes, creamed corn…yummy!

10. I love tea.  I start every morning with a “cuppa”, and on weekends, might drink 4 or 5 cups a day.   I like mine with one milk, two sugar (which is probably sweeter than a proper Brit would like).  I am also partial to ice tea, which I drink in the summer time.

I’m sorry to have missed your wedding, Your Highnesses, but Hope has it on the PVR for when I get home tonight…Best wishes for a long and happy life together!

It’s Not My Style…

This past Saturday, my friend Amiable Amiable at Big Happy Nothing passed me The Stylish Blogger Award.  My friend, AA, is very sweet (be sure to check out her highly amusing blog!), but clearly delusional in bestowing this honour on a woman whose children have threatened kindly offered to suggest Style by Jury do a makeover on her (“They’d give you brand new pearly whites!” says Hope, hopefully).  Nevertheless, being the gracious sort (and not wanting to hurt AA’s feelings), I am proud to accept this award, and pass it along to other deserving bloggers.

Stylish Blogger Award

 

The requirements I must follow as an award recipient are as follows:

1. Write seven things about myself. 

I’ve decided (since I’m likely to repeat myself in my advanced age) to share with you seven little-known facts about me and my lack of style (Stacy and Clinton from What Not to Wear dream of getting their well-manicured hands on someone like me!). 

2. Present the award to six bloggers.

There are few people on my Blogroll who I haven’t already picked on honoured with various awards, but I will offer up some of my latest additions for your perusal.  I may lack that “je ne sais quoi,” but I’ve got a whack of stylish writers on my Blogroll!

3. Contact those people. 

Will do (just as soon as the post is up!).

4. Create a link back to the person who honored me. 

Done!

Seven Fashion Tips/Facts About Me I Hope No One Chooses to Follow:

1. My first (and second pair) of glasses were cat’s eyes: the first pink, the second blue.  I was seven…I thought they were cool!

Me with my Aunt Nancy's ponies, ca. 1968...a fashion plate even then...not!

2. I made my own halter tops in junior high from a simple trapezoid shape with drawstrings strung through the top and bottom…I was a 34A until I was 16. 

3. My parents didn’t have much money when I was growing up, and I bought all my own clothing from the time I was fourteen.  One of the things I desparately wanted was a pair of Levis jeans.  One day, a local store advertised in the newspaper that they had Levis for $3.99.  When I got to the store, the “on sale” jeans were actually cords, and they were burnt orange in colour.  I bought them anyway. 

4. In Grade 10, I recut a pair of hand-me-down bell bottom jeans (remember the really big bell bottoms popular in the mid-70’s?) and sewed them into a long granny-style skirt…I spent the rest of the year tripping over it!

5. I was not a “girly-girl” in high school, and rarely wore regular-length skirts.  Girls had to wear skirts for band though.  I found out (from a photograph in the yearbook) that I had played my flute in a band concert sitting in the front row with my legs wide open (lucky that I wore granny panties then, just like now!).

6. Before I had kids, I used to have money to buy shoes.  Shoes in Canada were always more expensive than they were in the U.S., so I’d wait until we went to the States to visit relatives to make my purchases.  On one such trip, I was thrilled to find a pair of pointy-toed suede cowboy boots for only $38 (they would have sold for over $100 in Canada at the time).  Some unkind people referred to my prized boots as “pickle-stabbers”!

7. In college, I went through a brief period where I wore hats all the time (it was the early ’80’s).  I built up quite a collection before I came to my senses and realized I wasn’t a “hat person.”

My Six Stylish Blogger Nominees:

The proper words in the proper places are the true definition of style.

–Jonathan Swift

I have chosen my victims winners with Jonathan’s quote in mind…please check them out if you don’t already know them:

1. Another Stir of the Spoon.  Jeanne and her husband, Curt, write one of two wife-husband blogs I follow (and they’re just as crazy about birds as Jim is!).  It is an eclectic mix of food, art, gardening, books and nature.  Just today, I learned about “real” ramen (as they do it in Japan), and “shino” glaze on pottery!

2. EduClaytion. Clay is the history professor we all wish we had in college…he makes history and pop culture fun!  There’s a rumour that the look of the “Flynn Rider” character in Tangled was modelled after him…the real Clay is definitely cooler and smarter than his cartoon twin!

Flynn Rider from Tangled…

3. Jumping in Mud Puddles.  I discovered Vickie after she was Freshly Pressed in mid-December…I kept reading because she cracks me up!  Vickie’s a fourth grade teacher in West Virginia.  One of my favourite posts of hers involves a lost ring. 

4. Life From the Trenches.  Amy used to write mostly about etiquette, but has expanded the scope of her blog in anticipation of her imminent return to the “away from home” workforce.  She recently took up a challenge presented by one of my commentators to do a post on flatulence etiquette (we may collaborate on a book, but don’t hold your breath…or maybe you should!).  Amy handles whatever she writes about with good sense sprinkled with a liberal dose of humour!  

5. Loose Leaf Notes.  Colleen is a poet, photographer, journalist, and a grandmother in Floyd, Virginia.  She shares my love of music and tea.  You never know what you’ll find when you visit Colleen…one of my favourites of her features is Thirteen Thursdays.

6. Reinventing The Event Horizon.  Kathy is an artist and creative writing teacher currently living in Haiti with her partner, Sara, who works with a NGO doing relief work.  Kathy accomplishes the seemingly-impossible task of finding beauty in the ruins of a country devastated by poverty and a series of natural disasters.  Her writing is always thought-provoking and honest (she will probably be honestly horrified to discover she’s “won” another award…she just got the Memetastic Award…more homework!).

I’m off to dust off a spot on the mantel…maybe we should get those fireplaces working again!