Monday 2 May 2011

What is so special about May 2nd?

It’s May Day bank holiday this year!

It is also the day on which Richard I gave Portsmouth its first Royal Charter, Anne Boleyn was arrested on charges of treason, witchcraft, incest and adultery, Baron von Richthofen was born as was Catherine II of Russia and Peggy Mount.

Alan Titchmarsh, Phil Vickery, Jimmy White and David Beckham celebrate their birthdays.

Died on this day, Leonardo da Vinci, Oliver Reed, J. Edgar Hoover and Nancy Astor.

2nd May is Flag Day in Poland, National Education Day in Indonesia and Teacher’s Day in Iran.

On 2nd May Good Housekeeping magazine went on sale for the first time, Tennessee Williams won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and the King James Bible was published for the first time by printer Robert Barker. Mary, Queen of Scots escaped from Loch Leven Castle and the De Havilland Comet 1 made its maiden flight from London to Johannesburg.

Of course a lot more people you will have heard of were born or died on this day. And a lot of things happened and go on happening as they do. You could look up tomorrow and find it is World Press Freedom Day and a lot of other things besides.

Tomorrow is important for me because it will be Indy and Tilly’s eleventh birthdays. Today it is mine. Not my eleventh I am glad to say. When I was eleven I broke my arm, started at secondary school which I hated and lost both my great grandfather and my dog. It was not a happy year for me.





This is little me. I don’t know how old I was, but I think I was happy then – except for my fringe. My mum used to cut it wonky then she’d try to correct it and I’d end up with a wonky fringe about half an inch long.








And Indy has asked me to tell you that the rumours about him swimming in the dyke and then not being able to get out last week are untrue. He did not look scared out of his wits, he did not have to be helped out and he was not dreadfully embarrassed by the whole thing. That is his story and he is sticking to it, but he says there should be a sign for dogs at that particular spot pointing out that the bank is steep and also that the water level is lower than usual and he’s planning to write a long letter to health and safety about it. Not that he had any problems of course, but he feels a lesser dog may well get into difficulties. Tilly says she could have got out of it with her eyes shut, her legs tied together and a frog sitting on her back and that she hasn’t had such a good laugh for years!

36 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday, Teresa!
    Am sending you lily of the valley through cyber space because it's the flower for those born in May and means sweetness, return to happiness, humility and perferct purity.
    LOL, country lore books and 'what happened when' books need hiding away sometimes.

    Tim and Ted wish Tilly and Indy Happy Woofday for tomorrow. They know exactly how Indy feels about people who pull you out of places because they think you want help - when all you want is time to think.

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  2. Ha ha ha! Poor Indy. I'm sure no one would think that at all. I can't wait to read his letter to H&S though! ; ) I do hope he gives them a real dressing down.

    Great post, Teresa. How much can happen in one day! Wow - and that's not even starting to look at the little things in each of our lives.

    Dx

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  3. Ooooh and a Very Happy Birthday Teresa! I hope you have a wonderfil day. That's what I wanted to say right at the beginning. Honestly, I can be so dozy sometimes!

    Dxx

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  4. Happy Birthday, Teresa!

    I sympathise about the wonky fringe - though I can't blame my mum for mine as I usually do it myself.

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  5. Happy Birthday, Teresa! Hope you have a wonderful day. I also had one of those wonky fringes lol. x

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  6. Happy birthday!

    My grandmother used to cut my fringe in the exact same way. It got so bad that my uncles used to say 'Christine, I like your wooly hat.' I had a round moon shaped face, which meant it really Was Not A Good Look.

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  7. Happy Birthday, Teresa! My Mum used to give me a short, wonky fringe. In between visits to the hair salon, I often do it to myself these days. LOL.

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  8. Happy Birthday, Teresa. Have a great day!

    I loved reading all the facts.

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  9. THank you, Pat - I love the lily of the valley.
    Indy and Tilly send thanks to Tim and Ted.

    He's sitting at his desk with his pen behind his ear, David - he just doesn't know where to start. And thank you for the birthday wishes :-)

    Thank you, Bernadette - I used to stick my fringe down with sellotape and cut along the edge to try and get a straight line - it never worked!

    THanks Lynette - I think there were a lot of us going round with wonky fringes, but we only noticed our own!

    Thanks, Christine - I once had a haircut and my husband said I looked as if I was wearing a centurian's helmet - that was down to the awful fringe!

    Another wonky fringer, Jacula - we should start a club - The Wonky Fringe Society! Thank you for the birthday wishes - and I occasionally have a go at mine between visits.

    Thank you, Eileen. The facts are fun aren't they - I might do more posts like this just for the fun of it!

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  10. Happy Birthday Teresa! And to Indy and Tilly too.

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  11. Happy Birthday Teresa. Hope you have a good day. Caroline x

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  12. Thank you Carol (and thanks from Indy and Tilly)!

    Thanks, Caroline - it's been great so far x

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  13. And Happy Birthday from me too. I adore lily of the valley but you should never plant it yourself or it brings bad luck. Get the person who gave you the plant to plant it for you. Then it's not bad luck. I could never understand how anyone would have thought such a beautiful flower could bring something bad with it.

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  14. Happy birthday, Teresa.
    Congratulations to Indy and Tilly for reaching 77 doggy years.
    PS The fringe looks alright to me.

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  15. Sue Blackburn2 May 2011 at 17:00

    Happy Birthday Teresa, and to Indy and Tilly. Hope you are having a wonderful day. Hope Indy's nasty experience won't spoil his birthday, it's obviously made Tilly's!! xx

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  16. Many happy returns, Teresa, and I sympathise with the fringe. My mother used to do the same!

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  17. Happy birthday Teresa. I think you look cute.

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  18. Thanks, Lynne. I didn't know that about Lily of the Valley. I did know that if you plant parsley seeds it has to go down to the devil three times before it germinates and they say if the parsley dies then the lady of the house will die too. I was in a right panic when my parsley snuffed it, but that was several years ago - I suppose it will be right eventually - how the heck did I get on to parsley???

    Thanks Keith. 77! No wonder Tilly is slowing down while Indy enters second childhood.

    Thank you, Sue - I must say Tilly has been in a very good mood since "the incident".

    Thank you Joanna - I am now imagining mothers getting together and having a competition as to who could make their daughter look the daftest!

    Thank you Suzy - Indy says you were obviously referring to a photo of him :-)

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  19. Happy birthday, Teresa - just made it!

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  20. Teresa, I think the Wonky Fringe Society would have lots of members, just like The Red Hat Society. I can imagine mothers, who have been made to look daft by their mothers, joining it for tips and advice on either how to make their own daughters look daft or how to get revenge on their own mothers when they are eventually mothering their own mothers. Did that make sense?

    In Birmingham, back in the 60s and 70s, we victims of the wonky and too short fringe used to call it a 'Mong Fringe'. However, that phrase is no longer 'PC'.

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  21. Happy Belated Birthday, Teresa.
    Sorry I couldn't post here yesterday - flipping computer problems this end - but I hope you had a great day, and I hope Indy and Tilly have already cracked open the champagne this morning.
    Funnily enough, it's my cats birthday today as well. The poor old girl is 14.
    I've finally finished 'Diamonds and Pearls', by the way. I thought it was a brilliant book. Thanks so much for sending it to me and choosing me as one of the winners of your comp.

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  22. Thanks Patsy :-)

    Thank you Rosemary :-)

    Jacula I know have visions of middle-aged daughters hacking at their old mums fringes willy nilly for revenge :-)

    Thanks Sue - Happy Birthday to Sadie (is that right?). Glad you enjoyed the book :-) Indy & Tilly are celebrating with a nap!

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  23. Oops that should have said I NOW have visions of middle aged daughters etc. etc.

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  24. Hi Teresa,

    Thank you for visiting my blog and I'm so happy that you too have a Tilly of your own. She must be very brainy to have such a lovely name...hehe I love having new friends and hope you all have a lovely day today.

    Lots of love
    Tilly XX

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  25. Thank you Tilly. We all think you're lovely! And it is a fine name for a fine dog. Our Tilly was a sort-of rescue too xx

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  26. Yes, Teresa, my cat is called Sadie, and she's been celebrating her birthday by kipping on my son's beanbag all day.
    Think I might have to hoover it!

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  27. Oh bless her. Sadie obviously knows how to have a good time :-)

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  28. Sorry, arriving late, but hope you had a fantastic day. And belated Happy Birthday to Indy and Tilly, too.

    Jacula's right about The Wonky Fringe Society - I could have been a member, too. You were a gorgeous wee girl.

    XX

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  29. Thanks Suz - Indy & Tilly say thank you too :-)
    My mum didn't used to say I was gorgeous - she used to call me a bloody little perisher amongst other things :-)

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  30. Sorry to be late saying it, but HB Teresa! You have the same birthday as my Mum. For obvious reasons it was a bit of a poignant day this year, but now looking forward to my beloved dog, Dylan's birthday on 7th and mine on 10th. See: all the best people and dogs are born in May!

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  31. Had TAB beside me, really enjoyed your 'Stop the Coach, I want to get off' - so much so that I decided to google you - and your webpage came up! Magic!

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  32. Belated birthday wishes, Teresa! So sorry I missed the day. I love that photo of you and I know what you mean about the fringe. I must try and find an old one of me to put on my blog.

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  33. Happy belated birthday - sorry for arriving so late to the wonky fringe party! I think I am eligible for entry as it's been a while since my last hairdresser trip.

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  34. Happy belated birthday (even later) :-)Oh the wonky fringe! My three daughters would empathise with that - they were so glad when I succumbed to taking them to the hairdresser.Not that I fared much better as a child - I swear my mother modelled my haircut on a pudding basin. As for dogs - don't get me started :-)

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  35. Thank you Lydia! Happy Birthday to you - and belatedly to Dylan.
    The first year is very hard isn't it. I bet you are thinking of your mum today as much as you did on her birthday.

    Aine, that is lovely - thank you very much :-)

    Thanks hydra. I have worse pictures of "the fringe" which I'd be too embarrassed to show!

    My hairdresser does me a "bitty" fringe, Joanne so it isn't straight and I can also hack the occasional bit off without it showing too much.

    Thank you Deborah - as soon as my daughter was old enough to run faster than me, she grew her fringe out!

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