So Many English Things This Week!

 Greetings to my fellow cocooning friends!
Some days have not a lot going on, and it is difficult to find interesting things to blog about.
However... April 23rd, actually has too many things!

First of all...today, April 23rd 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 died 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 in 1564, and also his date of death in 1616...

 which is a big deal in parts of England...especially Stratford-upon-Avon where he lived...big celebrations there every year...

 This the is Church Of The Holy Trinity in Stratford where the Bard is buried...

This is a cake plate from 1904-1906 of the church...

And Shaespeares gravestone within the church. My husband was born just a few miles from here, so we have visitied many times and loved rambling along the River Avon along the picturesque Shakespeare Trail.

Speaking of my husband... 

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

The Coldstream Guards is a part of the Guards Division, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It is the oldest regiment in the British Army in continuous active service, originating in Coldstream, Scotland, in 1650 when General George Monck founded the regiment.

My husband has some great stories of his time in the Guards, and guarding the Queen at Buckingham Palace.... 

 

And on April 23rd of last year, Prince Louis was born... third child of the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge...

 

 

This photo was just released by his Mum Catherine for his second birthday... obviously an enthusiastic finger painter!

 

 

So wishing you a wonderful day celebrating a lot of things British! We will be flying the flag outside again!

Cheers!

English cottage mug - Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford

I really love these English bone china mugs because they make me think of familiar ares of England. The mug is an artist signed design of either Shakespeare's birthplace or Anne Hathaway's cottage in Stratford-on-Avon at the north end of the Cotswolds in England. 

The town is very familiar as it is only 20  miles from the town, Lady Wood, where my husband was born, and we have to pass through Stratford and the notorious humpback bridge over the river Avon that is loathed and cursed because of being such a bottle neck to traffic passing through from London to the midlands where the rest of the family is. The roads all converge there and is bad all year but especially during tourist season. But, we would rather go through on the A road rather than miss all the scenery going via the motorway.

Stratford lives & breathes Shakespeare, and who can miss the short walk in Stratford between the famous sites along the river like the birthplace, his sweetheart's cottage and the church where he is buried and his monument its...then go for a play at the Old Vic. I love thatched cottages and the Cotswolds is a great area to see them. Gorgeous!
 For more on the mug, visit:

Mug Anne Hathaway Thatched Cottage Shakespeare England

 To visit Anne Hathaway's Cottage Trust:

Anne Hathaway's Cottage 

To visit Shakespeare's birthplace Trust:

Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust  

And to visit the Cotswolds area of England...one of our favorite areas for beauty (and antiquing) visit:

The Cotswolds

Have a great day, have a cuppa tea and visit Time Was Antiques if you are looking for quality antiques, collectibles and English fun stuff!