Swan Upping Starts Today

Just thought you might enjoy knowing....
 

Today, July 22nd, is  the start of the five-day ‪ Royal and annual Swan Upping ceremony in the English rivers around the Thames...

The ceremony, led by The Queen's Swan Marker is responsible for an annual count and health evaluation of the Queen's swans....

The historic ceremony dates back to the 12th Century, when the Crown claimed ownership of all mute swans.

In the Swan Upping ceremony, the Swan Markers identify, weigh, and health check cygnets or baby swans before releasing them. The Swan Upper advises organisations throughout the UK on swan welfare, and works with fishing and boating organisations, helping them work with existing wildlife and maintaining the swans' natural habitat.

Children from local schools are invited every year to watch the ceremony so they too can learn how to protect the local swan population.  We were in the area one year during the Swan-upping on one of our annual UK visits, and quite a few folks were present to see it. These photos are from the UK Press Assoc.   For more info, click on the links below:

 http://www.royalswan.co.uk/

 https://www.royal.uk/swan-upping

English traditions are always wonderful, and so interesting, don't you think? 

And adding that July 17th is the 70th birthday  of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, wife of Prince Charles. 

This birthday portrait was released by Clarence House last year, and was done by the favorite Royal family photographer, Mario Testino.
Lovely!

Our daughter's birthday is also July 17th, so will be celebrating that too!

 
This drawing of swans was presented to The Queen by the Royal Academy of Arts in 1953 as part of a coronation gift, and is now in the Royal Collection Trust.

Cheers!

UK Royal Swan Upping Starts Monday July 17, 2017 Happy Birthday Camilla

This is a weekend, starting July 17th, is  the start of the five-day ‪ Royal and annual Swan Upping ceremony in the English rivers around the Thames...

The ceremony, led by The Queen's Swan Marker is responsible for an annual count and health evaluation of the Queen's swans....

The historic ceremony dates back to the 12th Century, when the Crown claimed ownership of all mute swans.

In the Swan Upping ceremony, the Swan Markers identify, weigh, and health check cygnets or baby swans before releasing them. The Swan Upper advises organisations throughout the UK on swan welfare, and works with fishing and boating organisations, helping them work with existing wildlife and maintaining the swans' natural habitat.

Children from local schools are invited every year to watch the ceremony so they too can learn how to protect the local swan population.  We were in the area one year during the Swan-upping on one of our annual UK visits, and quite a few folks were present to see it. These photos are from the UK Press Assoc.   For more info, click on the links below:

 http://www.royalswan.co.uk/

 https://www.royal.uk/swan-upping

English traditions are always wonderful, and so interesting, don't you think? 

And adding that July 17th is the 70th birthday  of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, wife of Prince Charles. 

This birthday portrait was just released by Clarence House, and was done by the favorite Royal family photographer, Mario Testino.
Lovely!

Trooping The Colours For Queen's Official Birthday

Today, June 16th marked the last of the major royal duties for Queen Elizabeth II before the London Olympics begin in July. She also announced her semi annual Birthday Honours List ehich includes Kenneth Branagh and Kate Winslet.

Although the Queen's actual birthday is in April, her official birthday is always celebrated in June...nicer weather usually. The birthday main feature is the Trooping Of The Colour ceremony at Horse Guards Parade in London where the queen is greeted and is reviewed by Her Majesty.

This photo of from 1982. The Queen is sidesaddle, which is how she always rode for the ceremony. The year before, someone shot at her along the Mall, but she is a spectacular horsewoman and brought Burmese, her horse, under control within seconds to the admiration of the crowd. There will be archived news videos of the event if you are interested.  Now the queen, at 86, watched from the grandstand. This year Prince Philip was recovered enough to join her. 

Most of the guardsmen you see are Coldstream Guards, the regiment my husband was a member of. He remembers  that at the Trooping of the Colour someone almost always fainted due to locked knees. If it was hot, which it sometimes is, there were more that went down...and were subsequently disciplined with a boring job for a bit & teased by the others. In the 1970s, the bearskin hat weighed in at 8-10 pounds. The framework is now much more lightweight and weighs in at 5-6 pounds. I found this photo of an example:

The family enjoyed the carriage ride back to Buckingham Palace after the ceremony. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge rode with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, as both William and his father Charles were on horseback.

 The family then gathered on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for a wave and a fly by.

 So happy official birthday Ma'am!

Tuesday Cuppa Tea Shelley Daffodil Time, 3 Royal Ladies Out For Tea on St. David's Day

Hi there. I am joining Tuesday Cuppa Tea with Antiques And Teacups and we are sharing a meme at the bottom of the post at least I hope it will work!

My teacup is a Shelley, England cup and saucer in the pattern Daffodil Time. That really speaks spring, doesn't it? The shape is the late Cambridge and it was made from 1940-1966. I just love their landscape designs!   For more info on the teacup at Time Was Antiques, click on the photos.

I chose the daffodil design because last Thursday was St. David's Day which is the national day in Wales with their symbol of daffodils. On Thursday, Queen Elizabeth II, Camilla Duchess of Cornwall and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge went to one of my favorite places in London for tea and to dedicate a new tea room at Fortnum and Mason's on Picadilly.  Because of the day they were presented with bouquets of daffodils, jonquils and narcissus.

This was the first public engagement of the 3 ladies together. The occasion was the unveiling of a plaque that will hang on Fortnum and Mason's commemorating the revitalization of the area of Picadilly and the renaming of the Fortnum, & Mason tea salon as the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon.

Fortnum & Mason for tea is always a must do for us. We stocked their wonderful tea blends when we had our actual antique shop and tea items business before going exclusively online. The company has been owned by the Weston family for over 300 years. My husband is a Weston, but pretty distant relatives of the tea part of the family. Sigh...

Fortnum & Masons has also always been famous for 200 years for thei fabulous hampers that can be stocked to order with wonderful treats and were de rigeur for any type of a picnic, outing or travel. The royal ladies were each given a hamper with individually chosen goodies for the visit, many drawn form the new line of Diamond Jubilee limited edition food items  F&M created for the Queen's special year.

Catherine sampled tea and of course, the chocolates! She admitted to the tea sommelier that she needs to improve when dealing with tea leaves instead of tea bags.
 

Fortnum & Mason's is one of the several fab food halls in London that we go to every visit. Not only to pick up treats and have tea or find take away if we are staying in a flat, but just to marvel at the artistry of retailing like art and just to see what's there. The others are Harrods, and on a lesser scale the Marks and Sparks (Marks and Spencer's) as well. The photos here are from various visits.

 This was a display of Emma Bridgewater ironstone...a contemporary English potter I love!

 This is Burleigh Asiatic Pheasants, a famous English made pattern of transferware.

And of course, we always have tea. The tower was from a trad tea and the other is a smoked salmon plate with scones and clotted cream my husband had on one visit and I forgot to photo my Coronation Chicken with scones and clotted cream for dessert!

So have a wonderful day visiting the fab blog parties and have a cuppa! Darjeeling, please....The Tuesday Cuppa Tea meme sign up is at the 
bottom.

Ruth ~ http://antiquesandteacups.blogspot.com/
Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Monday Marketplace

Terri~  http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com/ 
Teacup Tuesday

Trisha~  http://sweetology101.blogspot.com/ 
Tea Party Tuesday

Sandi  ~  http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com

Teatime Tuesday

Kathy~  http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com/
Victoria - A Return to Loveliness

Martha~  http://www.marthasfavorites.com/ 
Teacup Tuesday 

Ruth  ~ http://timewasantiquesfamily.blogspot.com

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Bernideen’s ~ http://bernideensteatimeblog.blogspot.com

Friends Sharing Tea Wednesday

Angela  http://teawithfriends.blogspot.com/

Tea With Friends

Miss Kathy http://thewritersreverie.blogspot.com

Celia ~ http://www.attitudeivlife.blogspot.com/p/afternoon-tea.html   Afternoon Tea

Ivy And Elephants ~ http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/

What’s It Wednesday