We may be a small country, but we're a great one, too  . . . We’re the country of Shakespeare, Churchill, the Beatles, Harry Potter. David Beckham's right foot. David Beckham's left foot . . .’ - Love Actually 2003

  Happy St George’s Day everyone :-)

Tis a beautiful day in Steph’s world. The sky, a cloud-less powder blue blanket, the sun bright and strong.  The garden alive with luscious greenery and baby buds awakening for the first time with spring.

The air smells fresh, clear, as though just one big gulp of oxygen would be enough to rejuvenate one entirely. The birds sing, the flag flaps in the breeze. And I can’t help but think, man I love it here.

There really is no place like home and this country, steeped in history, for which our ancestors fought and defended, will always be home to me.

Of course there is a lot that needs to be updated or changed entirely. (Not much we can do about the weather though, eh?! Lol)

Yet today, in order to demonstrate my immense pride and adoration for this tiny little land with big, big influences I’m going to be putting politics aside and focusing on all things positive. <3

So allow me to present you with this, my very own A-Z on all things to love about ENGLAND :-)

A-
*Accents. From the toffee-nosed, stiff-upper-lip, ‘BBC broadcaster’s’ voice to the sing-song Geordie accent. The ‘Combine Harvester’ country-bump-kin to the ‘Calm, down, calm down’ Liverpudlian sound. I love them all!


B–
*Bowler hats
*British Bull Dog
*Bacon (none quite as tasty as the English piggy) -
*The British Army. (I know, I know, 'British' not 'English' but I’m also highly proud of our United Kingdom and the Army definitely deserves to be here.) - Thoughts of our Army, past and present hero’s, those that lay their lives down everyday. As I said, I’m leaving the politics to the politicians (after all they need something, other than shopping, to do!) - but as an English citizen I am immensely proud of our Army.


C–
*Cream Tea’s. Mmmmmmm. ‘nuff said.
*Cadbury’s Chocolate. Just try to find better. I dare you.


D-
*Dandelions. Legend amongst the kids at school had it that these, cheerful weeds would make you wet the bed if picked. Yet when the season changed and the dandelion became the bearer of hundreds of fluffy white seedlings, they became quite magical. (We used to pick them, blow the seedlings, count how many breaths it took to clear the entire flower and then conclude that that number determined the time. (i.e—three breaths and it would be 3 o’clock, of course! Lol) ) - I don’t think Dandelions are exclusive to Britain, but nevertheless the countryside wouldn’t be the same without them.
*Dogs. We are a nation of dog lovers. Our four legged friends certainly are mans best friend. And to Englishmen they are so much more than that.

 
E-
*The English Rose. Pretty as a picture, our national flower is a symbol of love, pride and immense beauty.
*Eggs. I know, you can get them anywhere. But English eggs are always the yummiest.


F-
*Football. A universal language, perhaps, but nobody understands it better than the English. We invented it afterall.
*Fish and Chips and Mushy Peas. Perhaps it was our French friends that invented the concept, but we added the salt and vinegar and newspaper too :-)


G-
*Galaxy Minstrels.


H-
*History and Heritage.—We are steeped in history, with England being the birth place of so many influential characters, so many courageous battles, hero’s and villains. The English history is captivating and makes us the envy of the rest of the world.


I-
*Ice Cream Vans. The 99, the screwball, the knicker-bocker glory. (Nope, not what you think. Don’t be smutty.) delicious ice creams sold by smiley Italian men in brightly-coloured vans. Just the sound of the tinkering musical tune would be enough to have my little heart fluttering with excitement as a child. And now I watch my own daughter as she hears the approaching van of deliciousness. Magic.

J-
*Jelly with the aforementioned ice cream. (Jelly, jelly. By the way. Not ‘Jam’ jelly lol)


K-
*Kites. Oh heck, couldn’t think of one for ‘K’ - Kites will do :-)


L-
*Language. The English dictionary is absolutely legendary. We have the best language. What do Americans, Australians, New Zealands, Welsh, Irish, and countless others have in common?? They all speak, ENGLISH :-D


M-
*Manners :-) When it comes to common courtesy, etiquette and good manners, we have it down ;-) Oh yes, we know our P’s from our Q’s. Where else in the entire world would you find yourself arriving at a roundabout, in the same split-second as four other drivers, unsure as to who has the right of way and therefore, sitting patiently, smiling politely, and gesturing ‘you go first,’ ‘No, no, you go first.’ ‘No, you, I insist!’ lol
 *The Monarchy. Love ‘em, or loathe ‘em, there’s no arguing that we have one of the most amazing, influential, famous and legendary Royal Families of all time. 
 *Marmite.


N-
*November. (I’m kinda clutching at straws here, on ‘N’ - so go with me on this one?) - Bonfire night. Guy Fawkes.—He was English. :-)

O-
*(Having spent at least 5 entire minutes contemplating a love for the letter ‘O’ I have admitted defeat. Cos English people don’t have to win all the time. (Unless you’re my husband, he’s an exception.)

P-
*Pickled Onions. Yummy!
*Pie, Mash & Liquor. (Though I reckon that’s a London thing! Haha!)
*The Pub. The proper pub that is. The home-from-home. ;-) Where English spend at least 70% of the entire Summer months. And winter too come to think of it.

Q-
*Queues. We bloody love ‘em. :-/ lol
*The Queen :-D

R-
*Rugby. Although perhaps I am the worst person to explain why. Muscly men and mud. Though I’m sure there’s much more to admire about the sport that we play so well. ;-)
*The rain. Because, erm, we know it oh-so well.
*Route Master Buses.


S-
*Sunshine!! Tis appreciated more so in this country than anywhere else! Lol
*Surf in Cornwall (in the Rain) lol
*Shepherds Pie. With Bisto Gravy. Ahhhh Bisto . . .
*Sarcasm. We have it down to perfection.

T–
*Team Spirit. We call it the ‘Dunkirk spirit'. Generally speaking we are a nation that looks after our neighbours. Especially in a tragedy, we (make tea) support and comfort one another like no other nation.

U-
*Umbrella’s—the must-have accessory for the Englishman (and woman, and child . . . )

V-
*Victory. Our grandparents, great-grandparents and ancestors, who fought so bravely for us and our Country.


W-
*The Weather. Hahahahaha (Told you we were good at sarcasm!)
*The World Cup. It’s coming home ;-)
* Our Wildlife. All creatures great and small. From the teeny-tiny dormouse, to the prickly hedgehog, the fox, the badger, the hare. England is home to some truly beautiful species.
* William Shakespeare. Who so was.

X-
* x x x  - Kisses. English boys are the best kissers. I know this as I have conducted extensive research. Somebody had to do it.

Y–
*The Yorkshire Dales—(Oh and Yorkshire puddings, Yorkshire tea, the Yorkshire accent.—Ha, should have done one of these on Yorkshire alone!)

Z-
Zed. I know it doesn’t rhyme with ‘G’ ‘P’ or ‘V’ and therefore doesn’t sound that great in the ‘Alphabet song’ we were taught as kids, bit it is a fabulous word all the same.

So there you have it. Thank you everyone, for your suggestions. I hope I didn’t miss anything out. And I also hope that my friends from all across the globe won’t be offended, (English girls don’t like to offend—well, this one certainly doesn’t) - but on a serious note, we live in a country that is so influenced by ‘political correctness’ and it’s got to the point where English people are afraid to fly their flags for fear of being deemed racist, offensive or otherwise rude. Yet we are the first nation to join in (and indeed accommodate) the celebrations for our friends from other nations.

I’m young, but I’m aware of the sacrifices that my ancestors made to secure this country, our beliefs and everything that we stand for. And I am so proud to call this place home. So I’m flying my flag high. Not to be controversial, but to show gratitude to those citizens before me and to demonstrate my patriotism.

And now a trip to the pub, to drink gallons of beer is of course required on a day as fine as this, and I won’t be letting anyone down :-) But before I head out, dressed from head to red-high-heeled toes in the colours of our flag I’d like to wish you once again a very happy St Georges Day. Wherever you are :-)

Steph x x x 

*Some of the above facts may not be entirely accurate. But hey, I have lots of celebrating to do, so might not have used as much time researching as I could have :-/ lol

- Feel free to add your own loves below x x x

 

My husband, Jay, hasn't exactly got, what you might call, a way with words. I mean, he tells hilarious jokes, (he never forgets a good punchline, unlike yours truly,) and he can do great accents, (my favourite is his Irish one, it's delicious -I would have married him in seconds if he'd used that on our first date!) and when he's working he uses a silver tongue in all his sales pitches. Yet when it comes to describing things Jay will almost always favour his own terms, sound affects and actions over the language of a standard Oxford English dictionary.


It took a while before Jay and I truly understood each other. Not that we have a lack of communication or anything, it's just that I am, in Jay's words, 'a posh Surrey tart,' with a love of the English language and he is a typical west -end London lad that knows and uses virtually every form of cockney rhyming slang ever invented, (and some that I'm pretty sure he's invented himself.)





You want me to give you an example don't you? Hmmmm, well he once called me and said,

'I've just gotta rub over me Baked Beans before we go out tonight. Should I wear my Scooby's or my Gloria Gaynors?'




Which roughly translates to,



'I've just got to iron my jeans and should I wear my shoes? ('Scooby Doo's') or my trainers? '




Gradually, as time has rolled by, we've managed to find a compromise between our two languages so we can chat like any other couple, though I still use terms he finds hilarious and he still says things like, 'tune, by the way,' when a good song comes on the radio or, 'it ain't about that,' when he finds something he doesn't like so much.




One of my favourite characteristics that my gorgeous man possess though is his ability to do Blockbuster sound affects. Seriously he can make the strangest noises. He can simulate a car or a plane or any other motor for that matter, and can make machine-gun noises that wouldn't be out of place in any violent movie. I think it's a talent he shares with the majority of his kind, (the males species that is,) because I've noticed that lots of boys can do it. (Perhaps they learnt at the secret lessons boys had at school, the one where they also learnt to set their farts on fire and to make paper aeroplanes that really can fly?!)




Anyway the point is I am now pretty much used to the way he communicates and thus wasn't surprised when he just pointed out that instead of his life being, (*whistles* a happy tune,) it's more, ('dun, dun, DDDDUUURRRNNNN!!!')




(What he means to say is that instead of everything being easy and simple in his life, it always seems to be complicated and dramatic.)




And this, I'm afraid is where I have unknowingly influenced him. You see my life is always a little dramatic too, I almost always take the hard route and those things that old people are always on about, that are 'sent to test us,' always seem to be sent directly to me. (Perhaps I should redirect my mail?!)




Drama always seemed to follow me around, yet now it appears to want to follow Jay too. Which is why my husband is currently stranded approximately 170 miles from home up in Middlesbrough.




It's a long story, (which involves the loss of a car key and the lack of a spare,) and the conclusion is that instead of being home with Mummy and Leo, Daddy is wearing yesterdays clothes, smells like a tramp, (I imagine, because he forgot to take a towel to use after taking a shower,) and is awaiting the arrival of the spare key which should be with him before 9am tomorrow morning, (according to the very nice lady at the post office whom also kindly informed me that I'd forgotten to actually seal the envelope containing the spare key. Ooops.)




So anyhow I am now technically home alone. Little Leo is spending the night away with Nanny Sandie, (which was arranged during the bizarre hour during this afternoon when it was suggested that I would act as courier and rescue my hubby by taking the 4 hour (and £77!!!) train journey up to meet him,) and Lorelei is still down at Nanny Annie's (and I'm missing her like mad!)




I've got my Tilly and my Jack (both of whom act like Rottweilers, will keep away the burglars and thus will, for one night only, be allowed to sleep on my bed tonight!) – I've got my Tinkerbell (although she hasn't been home for a while, dirty little stop-out) and of course I have Woody and Lucky (the two ducks in the garden) but other than that I'm on my tod.




I'm a 21st century chick. An independant woman. I don't need a man. I enjoy my own company and will saviour this time alone. Ah who am I kidding?! I miss them all already. And I don't quite know what to do with myself.




I have toyed with the idea of drinking Jay's Stella's in the fridge and then belting out a few tunes on the karaoke machine (yep, we must be the only family in Britain to have a karaoke machine in our living room! lol) but singing solo to a couple of mutts seems a little sad, even for me.




I have also toyed with the idea of clearing Lorelei's room and getting cracking on the makeover I'm going to perform as a surprise for her when she returns home. (I've been all inspired by 60-minute makeover and have concluded if they can do a whole house in an hour (give or take the tea break they have half-way through, lazy buggers) I can certainly do a room in 2 weeks!) - Yet I just can't bring myself to tackle the mountains of bits of plastic and play-dough and broken or unused toys.




The telly is somehow displaying billions and billions of channels but still absolutely nothing worth watching and the housework is beckoning but I'm on strike. No way am I going to spend the evening scrubbing thank you very much. (Though I am aware that it is Wednesday and therefore I need to 'do the bins.' Yet since this is Jay's job I'm not really sure what, 'doing the bins' actually entails . . . anyone? lol)




I could go out. Except I have about a fiver in my bag and cash-card is up north. I could invite some friends over, (except we've nearly run out of toilet roll and I don't think it's very good etiquette to invite guests over and ask them to bring their own.)




What did I used to do before I became a Mummy and a Wife? It seems an age away . . . let's see . . . If i wasn't in the pub, or out dancing the night away I might have been in the gym, (Katy and I used to go together. We'd weigh ourselves first, then work-out, then weigh ourselves again, then go and have a Maccy D's to console ourselves on the discovery that we hadn't lost an ounce. Lol) – or failing that I think i would have been at home pampering and preening and beautifying myself.




Yep. That's what i'm gonna do. Stick my ipod on shuffle. Spend an hour in the tub. Deep-condition my hair. Exfoliate. Moisterise. Face-Mask. Slip into my softest PJ's and chill . . .




And just like that. Suddenly I'm not feeling quite so lonely after all ;-)