Cute Platinum Jubilee Mementos And Starting A Hanging Herb Garden...

Disclaimer:  I haven't been paid to recommend or promote any products, I just wanted to share my tiny collection of memorabilia from the recent platinum jubilee. Hope it makes you smile x

Hi Honeys, 

How are you today? All well I hope?  I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while, both hubby and I have been ill for a few weeks now.  Some kind of cold/flu bug (with the worst, most annoying cough) that's going around.  I'm so grateful it's not covid (apparently) but it's so not fun honeys 😞

I feel like a large truck has run over me. Everything really hurts. Thing is though, I'm a terrible patient. I have no time for pity parties, and there are things I want to be getting done. An example of this is the first two weeks of this month.  Hubby booked time away from work, holiday time, and we had all these plans to get things done around the house.  Then, of course, we were both hit by this awful bug and not a thing was done through the holiday.  So frustrating. 

Those home projects will always be there though, I suppose.  I'm just hoping they won't have to wait another whole year is all 😊  Summer in Scotland is very fleeting.  Sometimes it barely appears at all. We do get (a lot) of very pretty rain though.  Lovely to look at through the kitchen windows while having a cuppa but not so great when your project for the day was to organise a little seating area on the patio. 

One of the pluses (if there is such a thing) to being stuck on the sofa hugging a hot water bottle (and our furbaby Jade 💗) was that I was able to watch all four days of the fabulous coverage of Her Majesty The Queen's platinum jubilee.  There was so much to see and watch!  Every year I look forward to trooping the colour and this year's was beyond perfect!  

Watching the beacons being lit was so beautiful and the concert was a lot of fun and had so many special guests.  I'll leave some links for you at the end of this post so you can see for yourselves dear ones, I can see why so much planning, over 18 months of work, had gone into it.  It was so worth it and a joy to watch 💖  

In spite of promising myself not to, I do seem to have collected (thanks to hubby and a dear friend, Sarah - thank you sweethearts xx) some Jubilee mementos and I thought I'd share 💖    

We really are trying to downsize the house honeys, as you know, so even though I was so excited about the Jubilee, I was equally determined not to collect too many souvenirs  - not even a biscuit tin 😊  So, before I share our little collection, why not go grab a cuppa (and maybe a cookie) and I'll meet you back here after the page break? See you in a few minutes honeys...

Welcome back dear ones x  Do you have your cuppa? Me too ☕🍪  Let's jump in then and have a look at our tiny collection of Jubilee goodies... 

Platinum Jubilee Smiles...

Are you a gnome person honeys?  The world appears to be split into those who (like me) adore the cute little guys and those who wouldn't give them house (or garden) room.  All through the year, Asda (Walmart) here in the UK release different versions of their gnome characters and this year we had a gnome inspired by Her Majesty, a gnome in a guardsman's uniform and even a little corgi gnome, proudly wearing his Union flag jacket.  Of course I had to have them honeys, and all because of a favourite photograph. I'll explain...

 

Most of our gnome collection lives upstairs on the stairs and landing, all dotted about on the bookcases there.  Our collection is starting to grow now, although it wasn't intentional since we really (really!) are trying to downsize our home.  I'll try to share them in another post but for now, we can focus on the adorableness in the image above 😍

A Tiny Homage Takes Shape...

The small photo frame between the Guardsman and Queen gnomes above is from Ikea and I liked it because it's balanced on a small stand that looks very like a plinth or pedestal. So, into this frame I placed a copy of one of my favourite photos of Her Majesty and her beloved husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.  Into the top of the frame I then (as you can see in the photo) placed a few little cupcake toppers, two small flags, a tiny guardsman and a profile/cameo of the Queen.  I love this photo because it captures the moment when, apparently, Prince Philip had decided to play a prank on his wife standing among other Guardsmen in his Guardsman uniform.  I love how happy Her Majesty looks in this photo, smiling and giggling away happily💖

I had spotted the Royally inspired Gnomes online, had gotten ridiculously excited and asked Hubby if he could bring one of each home for me when he collected our shop that weekend.  I thought I could display them, among the other gnomes, on one of the bookcases upstairs and possibly create my own little homage to Her Majesty's special jubilee year.

Imagine my disappointment when he couldn't find a Guardsman gnome! My little "Elizabeth" gnome seemed so sad without her "Philip" even though she had the company of her corgi.  Luckily though when Hubby went back to pick up our shopping the following weekend they had two or three little Guardsman gnomes in stock and he immediately picked one up for me (thank you sweetheart x)  

Call me daft if you want to (many others have!) but my Elizabeth gnome seemed so much happier when I stood Philip gnome alongside her 😍 Having named the Royal gnomes, although to be fair they sort of named themselves, I felt I should also give the little corgi gnome a name.  I decided on Monty, a favourite of the Queens's furbabies, although I'm sure she has loved them all equally.  Monty was one of the corgis who starred in the James Bond sketch everyone remembers. It's not every day Her Majesty gets to be a Bond Girl, after all.  I'll add a link at the end of this post in case you haven't seen it honeys, it always makes me smile 😊

Sitting behind the gnomes is a tea tray with a large Union flag printed on it. We have two of these, so that Hubby and I can each, if we want to, have our tea/supper on our laps in front of the TV in the evening. 

A Commemorative Jubilee Mug & Coaster Set 

Well, you have to have a mug... 😊  I think it might be a law or something 😊  Hubby brought me this one back from Asda when he'd been in to pick up our shop (thank you sweetheart x)  I do love this mug.  I think this one will live on a shelf though, possibly near the Royally themed gnomes. It seems aa shame to use it. I'm sure it'll make me smile whenever I catch sight of it as I pass going up (or down) stairs 💗

Crown Cookie Cutters...

 

I have to admit to really, really loving this set of two steel cookie cutters.  I absolutely adore cookie cutters.  Another collection that I'll have to (someday) downsize. There are far too many but some I use for crafting (with air dry clay) and some for baking, so maybe it's two collections? You can see why our home is so cluttered honeys 😊   

These little crown cutters are just so adorable, and, being made from stainless steel and having the red, rubbery feeling edging... well they feel old.  Sort of, retro.  Perfectly in keeping with a jubilee celebration of seventy years of history I think.  

Large Jubilee Shopping Bag & Bunting...

Both this beautiful, large shopping bag and the two packs of Union flag bunting were surprise gifts from a dear friend.  Thank you Sarah sweetheart xx

I've been trying to think of a use for this beautiful shopper honeys.  It would be a shame to use it to transport groceries.  Such a waste, and anyway we have lots of re-usable grocery bags.  It would be just as big a shame to pack it away in a drawer or even a memory box, although it might end up in one of my memory boxes eventually.  I thought I could sit it at the side of the sofa and use it to store our snuggly throws we keep in the living room for sofa snuggles while watching TV?  Do you have any ideas?  

Bunting is always fun.  I had hoped that we could have this Union flag bunting, lines of tiny Union flags, hanging in our newly completed seating area, under the kitchen windows on the patio but, as I said earlier, we both got ill and our holiday home organisation plans were derailed.  So, our little seating area hasn't been done yet.  Hubby has another holiday booked in August though, so maybe then 😊 

 

So, that's all we have honeys. It's not so much really, in the scheme of things 😊  Most of them actually were gifts from Hubby and my dear friend Sarah, so it's not even me who's adding to our already very cluttered little home 😄  I do love all of them though, they'll all make me smile, wherever they all end up in our home 😊   

Now, on to the fun part of this post!  Lots of links to wonderful people and organisations who helped to cover the jubilee four day celebrations. Did you watch any of the platinum jubilee coverage?  Did you have any favourite bits?  Did you manage to see the adorable little corgis having their own derby?  

Platinum Jubilee Links:

Some (I hope) useful links for you honeys, a little trip back through the Platinum Jubilee long weekend of celebrations.  Enjoy x  

An overview (looking ahead) of the Jubilee weekend events can be found here. 

Trooping the Colour footage can be watched here. 

The Royal Family's balcony appearance, with the flyover and, at the beginning, the King's Troop Horse Artillery fire an 82 Gun Salute.  It can be seen here. 

The lighting of the Royal Beacons:  Her Majesty lights the first of a chain of beacons that runs across the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories. A beacon was lit in each of the capital cities of the Countries in our beautiful Commonwealth too. You can see official coverage here honeys (Star Wars fans will love the music near the the start!)

Service of Thanksgiving:  A service of thanksgiving for The Queens reign was held at St Paul's Cathedral.  I'm so sorry I couldn't find any footage of the whole service, it must exist because I watched it on TV but this short clip is all I could find, you can see it here honeys.  

Platinum Party at the Palace: So many stars, so many great performances.  There was Diana Ross, Rod Stewart, Queen - the band not her Majesty 😊 It was fabulous! You can see it here.  

Platinum Jubilee Pageant:  This was so, so wonderful honeys and You can see it all here.   In this video (at around 6 min into the footage) there is also coverage of the Corgi derby💗 

And saving the best till (nearly) last honeys, and I so have (although the Corgi derby came very close💖) For many, one of the sweetest moments of the whole Jubilee weekend was a visit to the Palace to have tea with Her Majesty, by a tiny bear from Peru 💗  Generations have grown up reading about, and falling in love with, Paddington, he has a very special place in our hearts and to see him having tea with Her majesty, to see her beautiful smile and to watch them interact, well, I'm not ashamed to say this little sketch made me cry! I just watched it again and teared up all over it again 💖 

You can join Her Majesty and Paddington for tea here. Enjoy... and remember to bring your marmalade sandwiches 💗

 

Bonus clip!  For this little nugget of goodness we have to go back to 2012 when James Bond had an audience with Her Majesty... 💖

Well, this post went on much longer than I'd meant it to! I did enjoy finding all of those links for you though honeys 💗 I had intended to share my latest little project with you as well, but it can wait till next time.  Till then, I'll share a photo... 

 

I'm very tentatively dipping my toe into creating a herb garden... sort of.  I had planted some spring onions and kept them on the window ledge in the kitchen. Well, as you can see in the image above, they did very well growing there. 

This has encouraged me to plant some others and I had the idea of using our back door, which has a large window as part of it, as a hanging growing station.  I'm also hoping to plant some rocket and spinach - if I can ever get this horrible cough/chest bug to go away that is. I'll share all in the next post honeys, you've already listened to my waffling for far too long 💗   

I'll go and let you carry on with your day. Thank you for keeping me company, it means more than I can say.  I'm still not on any of my social media I'm afraid.  I really do have to quit being such a professional hermit, don't I?  I have so many lovely online friends, especially on twitter, and I miss them all terribly, but it's really hard when you've been away from the world for so long.  

Till next time, dear ones. Stay well, stay safe and never miss a chance to smile 😊 Love and mountains of (virtual) hugs always xx