There was a little snow here overnight Saturday/Sunday but it turned to rain by daylight and was soon washed away. It carried on raining nearly all day Sunday - very depressing. Not really cold either - but there's still time for proper winter to arrive.
The third thing that I've broken recently by getting it accidently knocked into the Butler sink was yesterday and the bottom half of my lovely two-piece ceramic soap dish - I was so cross with myself as I've had it for about 20 years at least. I found a small bowl to sit the top draining bit on but I'm still cross! Perhaps now three things have been broken in the last few months that will be it. If I ever have a new kitchen here or anywhere else it Won't have a butler sink for sure.
*********************
My new Folklore diary says last night was Twelfth Night, because way back in history days were counted as beginning in the evening.
I've never been absolutely sure about Twelfth Night and Christmas Decorations coming down, should they be down by the end of the 5th or is sometime today OK?
Down with the rosemary and so,
Down with the bays and mistletoe,
Down with the holly, ivy and all,
Wherewith ye dressed the Christmas hall.
That so the superstitious find,
Not one least branch there left behind,
For look, how many leaves there be
Neglected there, maids trust to me,
So many goblins you shall see!
My Christmas things are down and packed away anyway, I did them in bits starting last Thursday. Thought I'd get them out of the way as I've got two grandchildren here today....... it's a PD day for DiL, so she is at school and they aren't.
We 'did' Twelfth Night for O Level English Literature which completely ruined it. Examining a play line by line doesn't really help the understanding. We 'did' Jane Eyre too and some poems from 'The Book of Narrative Verse'. I read quickly even back then and reading things 'around the room' and line by line doesn't make for any sort of understanding. How did it take two years to prepare for an exam? Did we study other things too? ............. BTW I failed English Lit!
Thankfully that didn't stop me getting the job as a library assistant and I was only put off Shakespeare and Classic Literature, so it didn't kill my love of reading everything else.
******************
And going back to the subject of snow, I hope everyone in the affected States in the US gets through this coming storm without harm. I heard that a state of emergency has been declared in several areas.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
I suppose it makes sense that the 'nights' begin in the evening and I love that poem, but I'm finishing the decorations today and feeling sad about the tree - it's so bright and colourful and cheering.
ReplyDeleteI'll risk the goblins. :-)
xx
I think their days went from nightfall to nightfall - complicated
DeleteI never really understood when the decorations were meant to come down. The Christmas things are away now but my wreath is still.on the front door, as I keep forgetting to cut it off.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have any snow here, but I'm more worried about the icy conditions later in the week. Xx
Yet another day of rain here - horrible
DeleteThere's always going to be one decoration that gets missed so I have several that stay up all year regardless!
ReplyDeleteGrandson spotted a bauble under the settee this morning, not sure if it got there when I putting things on the tree or taking them off
DeleteI've never known when decorations "should " come down either .Sometimes we left a few up until our son's birthday mid January . This year we hardly put any up as we were away with family for Christmas.I think we will leave the lights up a bit longer as the days are so gloomy .
ReplyDeleteNo snow here in Southampton.We very rarely get any ..
Have fun with your grandchildren .Helen x
I grew up in So'ton and the only time I can remember snow was the dreadful winter of 62/63 . . .then we had it on the ground for 3 months! Schools and everything still open though and we had some really good ice slides on the way to school.
DeleteWe only had one snowy winter in all 23 years at the smallholding which was just 4 miles in from the coast and a degree warmer
DeleteReading "round the room" is a really awful practice. It frustrates good readers, embarasses poor readers, and takes all the sense out of the piece., I think some teachers just did it out of laziness.
ReplyDeleteIt was such a strange way of reading a book. I seem to remember doing it quite often
DeleteWhat a shame about your dish. I would never have a butler sink, so impractical and just a recipe for breaking things.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it was your teacher that wasn't any good? I'm a voracious reader and devour several books a week and always have. However, I really enjoyed english lit. Our class reading and discussion was great. It's not something I will ever do again but I'm so glad I did. We did Jane Eyre, The Nun's Priest's tale and Macbeth. It was fascinating talking about what we thought the author was saying and what they wanted us to feel and understand.
I've never had a butler sink anywhere else - and have broke more things here in the one that was already installed already
DeleteI've always had some ambiguity over the 5th and the 6th of January, which is Twelfth Night and which isn't. I was brought up that decorations came down after Twelfth Night and we always took ours down on the 6th of January. The other thing that I was brought up with was, if you didn't take them down on the 6th you had to leave them up until the 12th of January.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear you've broken your soap dish. It's really annoying when something like that happens.
There's old twelfth night and new twelfth night - so who knows which is right!
DeleteWhat a lovely Winter display you have. Sorry about the soap dish. I hated English Lit. too as, like you, I was a quick reader and doing it line by line in the classroom took all the pleasure out of it. I was always towards the bottom of the class after exams (yet ALWAYS top, never beaten, in Engl. Language). However, when I did Engl. Lit. on my Access course (for Uni) I did really well and that was I think at A level standard. We did have a brilliant teacher though, and that makes all the difference.
ReplyDeleteMy decs. came down before the New Year this year (Tam tells me off!)
We moan about snow here, but in the States, it's a real killer.
Don't even remember who taught us English at O level - obviously they weren't memorable
DeleteHaving attended one of the, then, poorest performing schools in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, which was one of the poorest performing education authorities in England, and in a mixed abilty class, reading around the room was a trial for pupils of all abilities. It took us a year to get through The Otterbury Incident.
ReplyDeleteOh dear. I had that book amongst the children's books here but have never read it and now it's disappeared
DeleteMy daughter has a Butler sink and I just don't get the attraction. I hate it. Not a great start to the New Year breaking that dish. Hopefully things will be on the up from now on.
ReplyDeleteThe second thing that broke recently was also annoying as it was one of my Denby mugs that are now a crazy price each.
DeleteWe also had snow, which quickly turned to never-ending rain! Our decorations will come down today - I'm tempted to simply remove the tree, fully dressed, to a spare room!
ReplyDeleteI've heard of people putting their fully dressed trees up in the attic! and as it took me an age to unwind the lights I can quite see why
DeleteWe've still got snow, my work has called in a snow day so I am catching up at home with mandatory training (deep joy!)however, it does mean I can sit tapping away on my laptop in front of the fire with the kettle and cat a few steps away ☺️
ReplyDeleteright, best get on with that training.
Good luck - still raining here - horrible
DeleteI taught A Level English Literature at FE colleges. I tried my best to make all learning inclusive and to entertain a little. I think most students enjoyed classes, the way you were taught is a thing of the past. I did have one very stroppy sixteen year old who whilst we were studying Jane Eyre said "I think you read too much into what the author was intending" paraphrased by me, he was less articulate. He only read one page of another book and it was his lucky day when the exam questions focussed on the opening of the novel!
ReplyDeleteIt was a very long time ago that I was taught!
DeleteI agree that my secondary schooling in the sixties almost killed my love of reading and literature. As an adult, I have revisited some of the readings of my youth and have formed my own views of what I think. Lovely words about Twelfth Night and as always I enjoy reading what you share. Catriona
ReplyDeleteThank you. I was put off Shakespeare completely and have never read any other Bronte or Jane Austin!
DeleteI was very lucky in my English teachers, brilliant, and they never crushed that interest even when preparing for exams. But I still don't get why we had to spend so long on a few novels and plays. The system required it, but I dunno why.
ReplyDeleteThe southern part of my state is under a state of emergency for snow. This sounds dramatic, but it really means keeping ordinary drivers at home so the plows can clear highways and emergency vehicles can get through.
It was on our news here Sunday evening about the huge snowfalls due. As our weather systems come in from the west I'm hoping that the snow has disappeared before it gets here
DeleteI had to Google "butler sink" as I had no idea what that was. It appears similar to what we call a "farmhouse sink". Sorry about the broken dish - something to hunt for at boot sales this year!
ReplyDeleteI was an English major in college who skated by reading Cliff notes and Master plots (summaries of the classics we were supposed to be reading)! I was good at writing essays and many of our tests were essays so I could bluff my way through. Still - I love reading now like you!
Big deep ceramic sink that is lethal for breaking things!
DeleteI live just south of WDC by the Chesapeake Bay. Woke up to almost six inches of snow--and it is still snowing; will be off and on through later tonight. Schools and federal government closed. Later tonight 40 mph wind gusts are due as the front passes and it is expected to be blustery the rest of the week. Not due to get over 0c until next week with lows around -7c. Not an average winter day as we haven't had much snowfall since 2019. So much for forecasters earlier predictions of a mild January.
ReplyDeleteSome parts of the country have had several inches, but here in Suffolk just rain rain and more rain.
DeleteThe TV weatherman said we are not going to get the dreadful weather that's in the east of the US. - we shall see
Oooh. Ellen has a good plan, doesn't she? Scour the thrift stores and carboots! What a lovely excuse! I think I will make use of it myself. Off to the thrift stores, and I am looking for a replacement for a soap dish for you!
ReplyDeleteWe are fine here, so far. Interestingly enough, according to a local weather guy, we have gotten more snow this winter so far than we have gotten in the last five years combined!
I've never seen another two piece pottery soap dish, even on the stalls of people who make pottery at craft fairs, at least I've got a temporary solution without spending any money.
DeleteMy take on taking things down is "you do you." Who cares, really? And if someone does, should it matter? We've all lived long enough to do our thing and if getting them down earlier makes one feel more space or content or moving on, great. Or leaving them up for the cheer, that's OK, too. I fall in the middle. It takes so long to put up! But I am taking down the obvious Christmas -- the Santas, the nativities, the obvious. The big tree will have to come down this week -- it's very Christmas, but such a big job, I approach in increments. And I still love the lights. The smaller trees are more winter than Christmas and they'll get down when I tire of them or want to reclaim the space.
ReplyDeleteFor once, we are out of the snowstorm zone, so though it is frigid (we're in what is called a "polar vortex") we have little snow and nothing measurable for the next week or so. Works for me! I'm feeling for those in the east-central part of the country. They're due to be hit and hit hard.
I'm sorry about your dish? Any chance it can be repaired?
All my Christmas decor is put away as well.
ReplyDeleteIt is disappointing when something accidentally breaks. Can you use glue to repair the soap dish?
I remember studying English Lit and how interesting Mr. Yore made the class discussion. It was so good, I remember the teacher.
No snow here. It seems to be nearby (upper state NY and ME). I'd like a good snowfall.
I’ve always liked the look of those sinks. I don’t like the idea of it breaking things though. What a shame about your soap dish.
ReplyDeleteMy mom always said things happened in threes, so you should be okay now.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I rather like the idea of day beginning at dusk, and we still say the days get longer and shorter. Must be living in an old cottage or something, I love the beginning and end of the day to end as naturally as possible without harsh artificial light. A bit of a dream most times though.
ReplyDelete