This week...a week for England

I know I have been very bad at my blogging on this blog...life has a way of intervening. But today....I just had too! Too many things about this day....

First of all...today is St. George's Day, and St. George is the symbol of England...not the Union Jack....

 Which is thy symbol of the United Kingdom, but this is the flag of England...it's the symbol on the National teams of England. St. George is the patron saint of England and believed to have dies on April 23rd. He is thought to have been a Roman soldier, and, of course...reputed to have killed a dragon.....

 This is a Dunoon, England bone china mug we have at Time Was Antiques with the ubiquitous image of the St. George Cross, symbol of England...so...

April 23rd is also famous in England because it is celebrated as Shakespeare's birthday...

 which is a big deal in parts of England...especially Stratford-upon-Avon where he lived...big celebrations there this weekend....this Shakespeare teapot is from our archives...

And April 23rd in the anniversary of the founding of the Coldstream Guards, a unit of the Queen' Own Guards brigade of 5 units, and special to us because it was my husband's old unit. For more on the guards, I have posted previously about it HERE

And April 21st is the actual birthday of Queen Elizabeth II...89 this year, and still out riding. For a great photos stream of her life, click on the photo or HERE for more photos from The Telegraph.co.uk....and of course, a new baby is due soon as well...

Jason Bell photo of Prince George, son of William and Catherine, Duke and Duchess Of Cambridge, on his christening day....So a special day all around. Hope yours is brilliant, and that you celebrate with a nice cuppa!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Shamrock Items

Wishing you all a Happy St. Patrick's day...with an antique postcard!

St. Patrick's Day was celebrated today by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Catherine, with the Irish Guards at Mons Barracks in Aldershot...

Which is an annual tradition with the Royal family....the Irish Guards being one of the 5 brigades of the Queen's Guards...

And in honour of St. Patrick's Day...I looked out some shamrock themed items from Time Was Antiques....

Like this 1960s Irish Belleek creamer in the Shamrock pattern, or....

a Belleek Shamrock sugar bowl or sugar basin from the 1960s with a basket weave pattern...or...

 an Aynsley, England 1930-1940s Shamrock patterned teacup trio...or...

This Shelley Dainty Shamrock teacup and saucer.

 What ever you do this St. Patrick's Day...hopefully including a cup of Irish Breakfast tea...may it make your Irish Eyes smile...!

Deal Of The Day March 9, 2015 Barratts Old Castle Red Transferware, Commonwealth Day

Hi there...I have been silent for a long time...just can't seem to do two blogs at once! But I am gonna try....this will be a simple blog...basically doing my daily Deal Of The Day items from Time Was Antiques, and things of interest in the UK...but in simple posts...hope that's okay!

 Deal Of The Day! 1950s Barratts, England red transferware ironstone salad plate in the Old Castles pattern...at Time Was Antiques...25% off today!

Transferware has been popular for centuries, and this is a variation begun by Barratt's in the 1920s...

The mark dates this version to the 1950s, with the mention of acid and detergent proof...as earlier ironstone plates often discolored with the acid of tomato dishes like spaghetti...but the glaze was improved in the 1940-1950s for all ironstone makers and that was much improved.

This is Commonwealth Day, and here is a you tube of the speech Queen Elizabeth did for the Commonwealth on her 21st birthday...

Happy New Year!

Wishing you the best of New Years in 2015!

The London Eye fireworks...

 The Elizabeth Tower and Big Ben fireworks....

 Seattle Space Needle fireworks...