Burns Night!

Burns Night!

 

Normally I don't post on a Sunday, but as today is a special day in Scotland, I thought it appropriate to do a post about one of the best and most famous poets in Scotland.

 

Robbie Burns/ Rabbie Burns!

 

(Depends where you're from to how to you pronounce it!)

 

Mr Burns himself!

Many wonder why we have Burns night and why people host a Burns Supper.

Traditionally it is to celebrate his birthday, and to celebrate they have a supper, which both typically include haggis (a traditional Scottish dish celebrated by Burns in Address to a Haggis), Scotch whisky, and the recitation of Burns' poetry.

However, The first suppers were held in memoriam at Ayrshire at the end of the 18th century by Robert Burns' friends on 21 July, the anniversary of his death.

Later, they held the first Burns supper on what they thought was his birthday, 29 January, but in 1803 they discovered in Ayr parish records that his date of birth was 25 January 1759. Since then, suppers have been held on 25 January.

(For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burns_supper)


So here's to Robbie Burns and to all those celebrating have a glorious night!

Claire
x

 

My London Adventure!

My London Adventure!

 

Part 4: Royal Dresses and Clothing!

 

Hi again! Part 4 already! So much more I have to share with you!

So I'll get straight to it!

Last week I posted about my visit to Kensington Palace and I briefly mentioned that I visited the Royal dresses section!

 

Well, I felt that that particular section deserved a post of its own!

Unfortunately, because I have a mind like a sieve I can't remember all the facts about every piece, only a few, so this post may be more photo based!

 

Hope you enjoy the elegance of these classic pieces!

These first two dresses, were worn by Queen Elizabeth the 2nd, these were worn by her, not long after her Coronation. The first dress, she wore on a visit in 1953 on a visit to New Zealand. 

Queen's New Zealand dress.

 

The next set of dresses belonged to the Queen's Sister, Princess Margaret. One of the dresses, you'll probably guess which one, Margaret wore on a visit to India! All of her dresses that were on display, she wore during the 1950's era.

 

Princess Margaret's Indian Dress.

 

This set of dresses belonged to Princess Diana of Wales. I unfortunately don't have any information on these two dresses, but they are two of her most iconic dresses.

 

 

The next set of dresses belonged to Queen Victoria and there is a couple of outfits that belonged to Prince Albert!

The dresses of Victoria start from when she and Albert were just children, then there is a dress from her teenage years and lastly a dress that belonged to her and two outfits that were her children's; these outfits were the families mourning clothes after Prince Albert died.

 

Albert's iconic outfit.

Family's mourning clothes.

Lastly, is the mourning clothes of King William the 3rd, after his wife and co-ruler Queen Mary the 2nd Died.

King William the 3rd.

See you in a week's time for my next instalment!

Bye!

Claire
x

 



THE 'ME TIME' TAG!!

Here we go with the 'Me-Time' Tag! This is the first one I have ever done! So thank you to Underland to Wonderland for the tag!

 

 

 

1. What do you watch or read during me-time?
I tend to watch YouTube, Family Guy/ American Dad and Friends. All these shows are my favourites! I tend to read anything that has vampires in it or anime. MY favourites are Vampire Academy and Anything by Cassandra Clare.


2. What do you wear during me-time?
If I’m not wearing jogging bottoms and a hoodie, I’m usually in my PJs.


3. What are your me-time beauty products?
I usually use Radox bubble bath, normally it’s either the sleep easy or stress relief bubble bath. (I only use these as I can’t use anything else; I have very sensitive skin!)


4. Current favourite nail polish?
I don’t have any nails right now, but when I do grow them out I use Collection nail varnish. (Previously Collection 2000) I go for dark colours like purples and blues. The two I use the most are Blurple and Sonic Blue!


5. What do you eat or drink during me-time?
I quite like to have a 500ml bottle of Pepsi-Max and I normally like having Malteasers and a bag of Flaming Hot Monster Munch. If I have a long time to myself I like to have pizza ha!


6. Current favourite candle?
My Current favourite candle is a Yankee candle that is called Midnight Oasis. I like the smell of it, but it’s hard to describe. I also like having Lavender candles.

7. Do you ever have outdoor me-time?
Yes! If I’m not out walking and having adventures with my friends Danielle and Baker, I’m usually out wondering with my Best Friend Sarah, (When she’s back here!) I sometimes like going for a walk on my own, usually it helps to clear my head!


8. Would you ever go see a movie alone?
Yes I would! And I have done in the past. When I first went to University I tended to go to the cinema on Saturday by myself and go see a film, then do a bit of retail therapy. Movies that I have seen on my own are: New Moon, Eclipse, The Fantastic Mr Fox, Titanic 3D and Disney’s A Christmas Carol.


9. Favourite online shop?
I’d say my favourite online shop; if it can be classed as a shop; is Café Press. The site is great for designing your own T-Shirts and Jumpers etc. It may cost to get the items shipped from the USA but it’s worth it to get the design I want.


10. Anything to add? What else do you do during me-time?
Things I do during me time, I’m new to blogging, so now I have a lot of posts that I do during me time! I also like playing Sims 3 on my laptop, so I play that in my me-time. I also like to create characters and sketch them ready for stories that I have in my head (One day I may write a book!) I also like to sit and study history books, especially books relating to WW1 or the Tudors!

 

And I now tag:

Tanya’s Tea Party

Throwback Thursday!

Throwback Thursday!

 

In this weeks post I'm going back to December 2011 again!

 

We're off to Cumbria! To visit Grasmere, the home of William Wordsworth!

 

I have visited this small village in the Lake District many times as a child and as an adult!

Grasmere is situated on the River Rothay which flows into Grasmere Lake. The Village is over looked by Helms Crag.

 

Snowy View of Helms Crag!

William Wordsworth resided here for 14 years and lived in Dove Cottage!

Dove Cottage!

His family and himself are buried in Churchyard of St Oswald's Church.
 
 

 St Oswald's Church (Photo taken by Catherine Taylor.) 
 
 

 Sign at the gates to the churchyard.
 
 
 
Head stone of William Wordsworth and His Wife Mary.
 
 

Head Stone of Dorothy Wordsworth, William's sister,
who was also a Writer.
 
While Wordsworth lived here in Grasmere, his friend and poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge also visited and stayed with the Wordsworth family. It is also said that while walking over the fells in the area, he muttered stanzas of his most famous poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
 
Wordsworth described the village as "the loveliest spot that man hath ever found."
 
 Wordsworth later sold Dove Cottage to friend and poet Thomas de Quincey as the Wordsworth family moved into a bigger house in the village. However Dove Cottage is his most famous residence, which is now open to the public to see and is run by the Wordsworth Trust.
 
While living here he wrote this selection of poems;  "Ode: Intimations of Immortality", "Ode to Duty", "My Heart Leaps Up" and "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.
 
I was lucky enough to visit this lovely village in December 2011, I went here on a trip with the University, as we were studying Romanticism and Wordsworth!

Cat & Myself outside Dove Cottage!
(We are slightly nuts haha!)

That's all for this time, hope you liked it and would visit Grasmere yourself!

Claire
x

 

 

Bucket List!

Bucket List!

Hi again folks! Week 3 of my bucket list already!

Time to crack on with the next 5!

 

11.) Go to the London Dungeons! If you've been following my blog recently you'll see that I have completed this one! For people that don't know me, I am Dungeons MAD! I have nearly been to all the UK Dungeons, until they added Warwick Castle! Anyway I have been to 4 of the UK dungeons, some more than once! (Post about all my visits will be coming up in Throwback Thursday!)

 

12.) Visit the Vatican City! I am in no way a religious person, but I do have a slight fascination with religion, probably the more historic side of it! I also studied RE at GCSE and A-Level, so to actually visit where the Pope resides would be good. (Plus, its links to Dan Brown's Angels and Demons haha!)

 

13.) Visit Mary Arden's Farm! After all I am a literature fan and an English Graduate! Mary Arden's farm is the farm that belonged to Shakespeare's Mother and her family! When I visited Stratford-upon-Avon this was one place we never had to time to visit :( So this is a MUST!

 

14.) See the Grave of Oscar Wilde! My blog is so named after one of his quotes and my tagline is also another of his quotes! He is also one of my favourite literary icons, so again this is something I must do!

 

15.) Visit Hobbiton! I am a big fan of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, so I would love to travel across the globe to see the creation left by Peter Jackson!

 

That's it this week!

 

Claire

x



This Week In History Series!

This Week In History: Week 4!

 

Unfortunately this week the events aren't very detailed as there aren't many facts about each one.

 

January 19^th: 1809 - Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston. He was an author and best known for Pit & the Pendulum and The Raven.

January 20^th: 1936 - George V, King of Britain, died at the age of 70. He passed away at Sandringham House in Norfolk. Making his Son Edward Britain’s new King, King Edward VIII.

King George V

January 21^st: 1924 - Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin, a Russian Revolutionary leader, died of a stroke at the age of 53.

January 22^nd: 1953 - Arthur Miller's play the "Crucible," premieres on stage in New York City.

January 23^rd:  1989 - Salvador Dalí, the Catalan artist passed away.

 

One of Dali's painting.

January 24^th: 1943 - Hitler ordered German troops at Stalingrad to fight to the death.

January 25^th: 1533 - England's King Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn, his 2nd wife. She was the mother of Queen Elizabeth I.

Anne Boleyn.

 

That's it for this week!
See you next time
For
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My London Adventure!

My London Adventure!

 

Part 3:Kensington Palace!

Off we go again! This week we are off to Kensington Palace! This Palace is so beautiful, not just on the outside, but also inside! I'm not into the Royals, but I do love my history, hence the visit!

 

Entrance to the Palace!

Gates to the Palace!

Statue of King William the 3rd!
 
The Palace is split into 4 sections for visiting, so we started with The King's Staircase!
It's painted so grandly and looks very regal!

We then carried on up the stairs to look around the King's apartments and have a look at the grand rooms that were on this floor. Every room had a different painting on the ceiling!

This is only one small section of the ceiling in one room!

After visiting this part of the Palace, we headed along to see the Queen's Apartments, which have all be changed since the time of Queen Mary the 2nd as Queen Victoria changed the palace when she resided there! But even so, it's still a lovely looking apartment!

 Queen Mary's Bed.

Room before the Queen's bed room.

After this section, we visited the Royal Dresses, but I'm leaving that for another day!
So after here we visited......
The Victoria and Albert exhibition!
Within this exhibition, there was everything on display from Victoria's childhood right through to her older years with Prince Albert. Victoria spent most of her childhood and adult years in this palace.

Bust of Prince Albert.

 One room that stood out most to me, was the Nursery! The toys that Victoria's children played with were in glass cases and there were busts of some of the children. The Wall of the Nursery is just so beautiful!

This photo shows Victoria's family tree, which is on the Nursery's biggest wall.

Kensington Palace is definitely worth a visit, the beauty of the architecture and the history behind every piece of furniture is amazing!

Also The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry still reside there today!


See you in a week's time for my next instalment!

Bye!

Claire
x