We had a very happy weekend in Bath. Lots of eating, drinking and shopping!! You can see my haul of goodies above – I think I did rather well! The shoes are adorable, with HEELS!! Don’t wear heels very often down here in deepest rural Devon – they’re really not very practical for walking Ben across muddy fields! But they will be lovely for a party I’ve been invited to next month. Also Cath Kidston fabric, and an Emma Bridgewater mug together with what looks like a very interesting book.
I must admit, when I was in Bath I was feeling rather proud of being British. There were so many tourists, all of them admiring the beautiful city, and the “Lions of Bath” installations were wonderful (please visit Notes from a Devon Village if you’d like to learn more). I sometimes think that we’re not very good here in the UK at being proud of ourselves unlike other nationalities who are much better. So this is why I’m all in favour of the ongoing “Big Up Blighty” campaign over on Happy Loves Rosie (which is a great blog, well worth a visit).
And, to show my support for taking pride in the things we do well in this country, I have taken a panel of my newest Cath Kidston “Britannia” fabric and stitched “big up Blighty” onto it. The panel is approx 12″ square and it’s cotton duck fabric stitched with 3 strands of embroidery floss in back stitch. The edges are trimmed with pinking shears and it would look great incorporated into a cushion/pillow, bag or simply framed as I’ve shown it here.
If you’d like the chance to own this panel, then please leave a comment below telling me what you think is great about Britain, whether it’s afternoon tea, warm beer or even red buses and black cabs! Amy will choose a winner next weekend, so the draw will close at midnight (BST) Saturday 7 August.
I think Britain does Summer better than anywhere else. It may not last long, but while it is here, it is superb…and this comes from a southern American gal used to summers of 100+degrees for weeks at a time!
Hope
Britain is a wonderful country! We are Blessed with a Queen who is wonderful! I am so proud to be British!
Every day the Weather is a lovely suprise on our Island!
I think it has to be the countryside, I love walking the dog through all the wild flowers. Very pretty!
Britain has so many traditions. Here where I live they have the Sailors Hobby Horse every 1st May. To me one tradition is Afternoon Tea.
Julie xxxxxx
Thank you so much, I have just made a sleepy cat teacozy for one using your lovely pattern for my DD who was really pleased with it
The food.
I've lived in Australia for six years now, and oh god I miss the food, proper clotted cream (they put spray cream from a can on their scones out here!!!), decent fish and chips and pork, not beef, bangers.
And, as a Somerset girl, I can't go without mentioning decent cider!
sounds like you had a fantastic weekend – and some great shopping too!
I'm do a Rule Britannia feature on my blog this week, showing off some great fabric stores over here. I totally agree we don't 'big up' ourselves anywhere near as much as we should as a nation. We so much so well, but for me it has to be a proper cup of tea made in a pot with leaves.
Just a quick note to let you know that a link to this post will be placed on CraftCrave today [03 Aug 12:00pm GMT]. Thanks, Maria
Right …well where do we begin,.. the Queen (of course), our varied and spectacular scenery, our quirky country traditions, great British food…I could go on and on. I would like to start a trend for dispalying our Union flag outside our homes as they do in the USA. Yes we should be proud damn it !!
Britain i just fantastic …
1 – because I live here and have choosen to bring my family up here.
2 – There are so many different beauties in such a small space from Dales to Cities it's all beautiful
3 – Cadbury's chocolate (although I know it's now offically owned by Americans!) No where else in the world does chocolate like Britain!!
Rule Britainia!!!
I love my country and it's a shame everyone seems to want to go abroad for their holiday.
There's so much of our beautiful country that I haven't seen that I plan to rectify that with a series of long weekends next year
Gill
sorry, but the afternoon tea isn't yours is ours (portuguese)! 😉 it was our pricess Catarina (your queen Catherine, that introduce that costume) but I do love your writers, your landscapes (although just for seeing in books and on the tv and the movies), and I allways have a thing for red buses and red telephone cabines!
I haven't been to England yet, but my dream is to go there once. For me the British people are very interesting. Their way to live, their habits – I like it very much.
Hugs from Hungary!
I did my Junior year abroad at UEA in Norwich. What do I miss most? Smarties so I can play with the packaging; people who understand when I pronounce "saucepan" the Brit way (it stuck!); open air markets where you can actually afford to buy veg; department store sausage rolls; rolling greenery and "flat as a pancake, yaar" Norfolk scenery; and most of all, lovely elder folks willing to chat up Americans in pubs.
I think the best thing about Britain is the people.We're still the most tloerent in the world
Some things you guys do well —
1 – sweets — blackcurrant wine gums (black currant anything)
2 – textiles — Liberty
3 – design and design education (or so it would appear)
I'm from Brasil and love to go to Britain ( Inglaterra) I read a lot about the costumes and the food.
Thank you, I do love your blog.
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Idaho, USA
I love England. I'm an American, living in California married to an English man. I have never lived in England but have visited many times and will be back many more. My husband and I even got married in England. So my list of things that I love about England is very long. I love cream teas, fish and chips, pub dinners, visiting places new to me and learning about more of England's rich history. Oh and I love my husband – but please put that at the top my list.
I love so many things about Britain!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE tea! And the tea you get in Britain is so much better than the one you get here in Germany. (At least if you buy the tea bag kind.) I LOVE crumpets! Here you can not get them at all. I tried to make them once or twice but they did not turn out well. So if you happen to have a good crumpet recipe send it my way! 🙂