A romantic backdrop for a wedding…
(The Fairie Glen, Isle of Skye.)
Be My Valentine …
You romantic devil.
A heart in the seafoam on Sanna beach, on the wild west coast - you’ve captured my heart! Happy Valentines Day Algy! ♥♡♥
Most people know about the claddagh but have you heard of the Scottish luckenbooth? I was once given a luckenbooth bracelet, a long time ago. Here is some interesting history c/o Wikipedia about that luckenbooth, Happy Valentines Day.
“A luckenbooth brooch is a Scottish heart-shaped brooch. These brooches often have a crown above one heart, or two intertwined hearts. They are typically made of silver and may be engraved or set with stones.
The name comes from the luckenbooths of Edinburgh where jewellery and trinkets used to be sold, including this type of brooch. Luckenbooth was aScots word for a lockable stall or workshop. The Edinburgh booths were situated on the Royal Mile near St Giles Cathedral. They were the city’s first permanent shops, going back to the 15th century, and initially housing mainly silversmiths and goldsmiths. They were demolished in 1817.
The luckenbooth brooch is a traditional Scottish love token: often given as a betrothal or wedding brooch. It might be worn by a nursing mother as a charm to help her milk flow, and/or be pinned to a baby’s clothing to protect it from harm. It was known as a witch-brooch by people using it to save children from the evil eye.
The luckenbooth brooch has motifs similar to the Claddagh ring, also using the heart and crown. Heart-shaped brooches in parts of Europe date back to latemedieval times, but this design probably did not appear in Scotland before the 17th century.
Silver was the usual material, although gold heart brooches were made for wealthy people. Silver was commonly chosen for “lucky” charms, and was also an affordable metal for jewellery that was popular with poorer people. Inexpensive glass paste “gems” were sometimes used on silver luckenbooth brooches, as were garnets and semi-precious stones. Some brooches were engraved with initials, dates or mottoes.
By the mid 18th century luckenbooth tokens also featured heavily as trade silver items to the indigenous peoples of the Eastern Woodlands, particularly theIroquois of the Six Nations. As a result, luckenbooth brooches also became a common decorative symbol in 18th and early 19th century native clothing.
One legend of the luckenbooth brooch is that it was a symbol of love and devotion given by Mary Queen of Scots to Lord Darnley. Another story is that it was an engagement brooch given to her by the Dauphin of France whom she later married. It may feature Scottish motifs like the St. Andrew’s Cross, or the thistle.”
Just in case you haven’t had enough, one more of Eilean Donan. It doesn’t get much better than this.
Follow the link for another unique photo of the same…
(Photo credit to Stuart Blance, Facebook)
Do you wish you could make a difference but feel as if doing so isn’t possible or easy? Sometimes the problem is too huge and every effort seems puny by comparison. You can do something and you don’t have to get up, or even pick up a phone. Just re blog this post and you’re helping. Click on the link provided and you can order a kindle or e-book and that will help a lot. Help one woman who is desperately trying to help herself.
That woman is Sonya and she has lupus. ”She’s witty, stylish, Barbie doll beautiful, articulate, kind and so much more than the wolf that stalks her days and long nights. The wolf I speak of is lupus but really, it could be any chronic disease. Between 60-70% of mortalities occur due to this type of disease in the U.S. Sonya Dickerson is very much alive and fighting.” Help her fight the fight, re-blog this or order her book. It’s called “Diary of a Sick Chick, ” $3.99, the same as the cost of a cup of coffee.
© S. Marian, Aug 28, 2012
Part of a piece titled “Crying Wolf,” to be found on “A View From Outside the Box,” url: adialgue
Link: http://www.amazon.com/Diary-Chick-Chronically-Woman-ebook/dp/B0071FAKUC/ref=cm_rdp_product
For photo credits or more information about Sonya, follow the link to her blog: http://supermodelrevealed.tumblr.com/
All the Worlds a Stage .. but have I just got a bit part ?
Shakespeare said that ..”All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players” .. and I think he had a point, although he could usefully have added that it’s often not clear what play we’re in or even what part we’re supposed to be playing.
Naturally, we all see ourselves as having the lead role in the unfolding drama (or farce) that is our life. There may be other significant actors, of course, and extras who stroll onstage to contribute a few lines to the plot before exiting never to be seen again, but always we are center-stage under the spotlight in our own play. The story is about us. It’s not quite as simple as that, though, because we’re all actors in someone else’s play too, with walk-on parts or starring roles.
But what happens when you find yourself in the wrong play ? The one where you think you’re Juliet to someone else’s Romeo but it becomes clear from their actions that you only figure in their script as a bit player ? I suppose when that realization dawns all you can do is exit stage left with the best grace you can muster, hoping none of the audience noticed your mistake.
Cloggy;—Profound but so true.
Absolutely - I love this, “we’re all actors is someone else’s play too.”
“There was no happily ever after for our everyday Prince. For his girlfriend, there was just after, for a while anyway. She was not “nothing without him,” she was simply without him. We all like the idea of a happy resolution but this isn’t always what happens. In the uncomfortable place of the unresolved we are compelled to search, question and to challenge ourselves. It’s in that place, when you’re not looking, that the real magic can happen.”
© S. Marian, May 15, 2012
An extract from “Once Upon Everyday,” to be found on “A View From Outside The Box,” url: adialogue
(“Fairytale by Sara Bareilles)
Once Upon Everyday
I’ve been watching the series “Once Upon a Time” with my daughter. The last episode saw the spell exiled fairytale characters wake as if from a dream, to the knowledge that what they thought was reality was the real fairy tale. Naturally, in the world of television it’s all fairytale. Real women do not have such perfect hair all the time, men do not perpetually look so good, and love does not conquer all. The trouble is, some people grow up believing that life is a little like a fairy tale and it isn’t.
I enjoyed fairy tales when I was younger and in turn I read them to my children. As a small child, I dined on fantasy. I was convinced that if I wanted something enough it would become real. I loved characters that could fly, the very idea of it! When I was about two years old I decided to try. There were 15 or 20 stairs in our house leading to the basement. With my Mother cooking nearby, I launched myself into the air – and down, down the stairs. I cannot tell you how shocked I was to find myself in a heap at the bottom of those stairs.
I never tried to fly again but night dreams of flying persisted for many years into adulthood. I am not the only one who has taken something from a fairy tale into the big world. I’m thinking of my old friend Julia, who longed for nothing more than to leave the chaos of her childhood behind to create her perfect life. When she met Andrew, her heart was full and they moved in together. Andrew was an ordinary bloke; he liked football, a beer or two down the pub, not much of a communicator, was decent, kind and he loved cars beyond reason but he loved Julia too.
Julia firmly believed that “love is all you need.” She was so grateful for the love Andrew bestowed upon her she never questioned what else she needed. She also didn’t ask herself what she really didn’t need; as it turns out, someone who isn’t much of a communicator, likes football and loves cars beyond reason. Julia without realising, thought that love would somehow change all that, would transform Andrew. He still loved those things and he loved her too but for Julia, the fairy tale was over.
Her landing at the bottom of the stairs was as hard and painful as it was for me; it just took her longer to heal. She was seeking her “Prince” and would settle for nothing less than perfection. Looking with such single mindedness meant she missed much on the journey.
Many years ago I knew a man that was overlooked, was no one’s idea of a Prince. He suffered from alopecia, his dark hair growing in random tufts on his head. He also had a pigeon chest and wore big corrective glasses. An unlikely Prince you would think. To everyone’s greatest surprise, one young woman looked beyond all this. She saw the qualities of a Prince; loyalty, selflessness and bravery. They kissed and nothing more magical happened than the pleasant joining of lips.
Bravely he entered into a relationship with this woman. She told me that he could be very difficult to live with. In being so selfless, he didn’t consider his own needs to his detriment. There were people in his life that repeatedly abused his good nature and his loyalty could be blind. Life had been sheltered and predictable before but no longer. He was brave because every day she challenged his assumptions, opened him up to new experiences. At times he opted not to slay dragons and hid from them instead, he was a human being like the rest of us. When he died, it was not a dragon that brought him down. He was performing an act of kindness and in one ordinary moment he was no more.
There was no happily ever after for our everyday Prince. For his girlfriend, there was just after, for a while anyway. She was not “nothing without him,” she was simply without him. We all like the idea of a happy resolution but this isn’t always what happens. In the uncomfortable place of the unresolved we are compelled to search, question, and to challenge ourselves. It’s in that place when you’re not looking, that real magic can happen.
© S. Marian, May 15, 2012
I love unusual jewelry, the elegant but also the unexpected. I’ve had a brilliant time looking at some amazing trinkets and now I’m going to show them to you. If you’re the sort of person who likes to pay lip service to beauty, consider a necklace, a beautifully graduated pendant of lips (and noses, chins and cheeks too). For the lovers, how about immortalising your love - go on, say yes! If you are more traditional and still feeling romantic, you might like a change from the claddagh (Ireland) or the luckenbooth (Scotland) - this exquisite Witch’s Heart made of almandine garnets set in rose gold is full of symbolism and is thought to be lucky too. Circa 1790, a brooch such as this would be pinned to the petticoats of children who were deemed particularly susceptible to harm from ‘evil spirits’ or ‘fairies.’”
Moving from the romantic to the whimsical, do you fancy a cuppa? This little ring cup and saucer of green tea is just right and will ensure you’re never far away from a cup of tea. From a cup of calm to something to focus your attention, the Ford Focus specifically; Cornish designer Katherine Hawkins was commissioned by Ford to celebrate their centenary of Ford in the UK. She received a box of car parts and this is the result. If your dreams are a little closer to home, Philippe Tournaire can design a villa, mansion or even your dream home in 18k gold - all in miniature to adorn your finger. Finally, don’t get too carried away, you’ll have to take it all off at the end of the day.
(To find all of these and more stunning pieces, google, “unusual jewelry.”)
