Going Home

Finally!

BC Rocky Mountains

We are heading home to Ontario. 

After 10 months in British Columbia....beautiful country!

We leave tomorrow, Wednesday.

Our Route

*We leave from British Columbia

*Travel through Alberta

*In Saskatchewan we head south to the US Boarder

*We enter into Montana

*Travel through North Dakota, stay north in Minnesota, and at the northern point of I75 Michigan work our way down to the Port Huron, Michigan Customs Boarder.

*From the Sarnia, Ontario Boarder our home is about 20 minutes

Along the way, we will stop and enjoy some sites.

Stop at each and every "World's Largest".

See some wild life.

Daughter and I will split the driving.  

Son navigates the maps and highway routes, and is on "Rest Station" look-out.....very important job!!

I will try to keep my blog friends up-dated en route. 

We will mainly stay in hotels, but I would like to try a night at a KOA cabin.  We have a membership and love camping and bonfires.

When we arrive home, we will have to open the house up from sitting ideal for 10 months.

Will be visiting my family immediately.
I am a little home sick.

Pray for us that we have a safe and good journey.

***********

Diane

Great Royal Romances Part 2

ROYAL BRITISH HISTORY 101

Great Royal Romances

...and not so great!

****
 As we watch Prince William marry Catherine Middleton on Friday, I pray for them that they have a happy and blessed married life. 

On with Part 2 of Great Royal Romances.

King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson 1937
Duke and Duchess of Windsor

Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson

Edward became King on the death of his father in January 1936.  He was never coronated. Before the year was finished, he abdicated in order to marry the woman he loved, twice divorced Wallis Simpson. 

I had a hard time deciding what to write about this piece of history.  I could stick to the historical facts, or write the myths and rumours surrounding this King.  Here is a rendering of this dark part of Royal history.
Was theirs a great romance or a Royal cover-up?
It was a great cover-up, masterminded by Sir Winston Churchill and the government of Britain.

Neville Chamberlain, Stanley Baldwin (PM at the time of abdication) and Churchill

Edward was going down a very dark road, he was getting in deep with Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler.  I think the only person who truly knew the extent of this worrisome problem was Churchill....naturally, I mean didn't he know every move that Hitler was taking???  
Churchill assisted Edward VIII with his abdication speech.

Myth or truth?  Captured German documents included records concerning the Duke of Windsor and his relations with the German government.  The records were destroyed by the then new King, his brother George VI.  These papers are to have revealed an embittered Edward contemplating treason.

There is so much to be said about this couple, but I think it is only healthy to move on to the next Royal Love.  I think you will get the picture already that Edward and Wallis.....I just did not like.


King George VI and Queen Elizabeth 1923

 Finally after a century of playboy Kings and troubling marriages, came a healthy and happy one.
Prince Albert, Duke of York married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.  
He initially proposed to her in 1921, but she turned him down having misgivings about become a Royal bride and wife. Albert declared he would love no other.  Even his mother, Queen Mary, paid a visit to Scotland to persuade Elizabeth to marry him.
In March 1922, he proposed again and again she refused him.
In January 1923, she finally gave in and agreed to marry him.

The King and Queen continued on to lead their country through the horror and heartache of  World War II.  
The King died in 1952.



Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip 1947

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip

Theirs has been a good sturdy relationship.  Although the same can not be said about their four children, Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward.
For the most part, she rules the Empire and he rules the household.  I think it has been a system that has worked well for them....and for us!  She is a wonderful and glorious Queen.

Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer  1981

  
Oh boy, where do I start....
Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer were married in St. Paul's Cathedral in 1981. 
They had two children William and Harry (Henry).  They divorced in 1996.
This has to be the saddest romance in the Royal British history.
Hard as Charles tried, he just could not fall in love Diana.  I think at the beginning of their marriage, they were happy, but time and the paparazzi took its toll on this marriage.  

One of their last public engagements as husband and wife.

  For the duration of his marriage, Charles was in love with someone else, Camilla Parker Bowles. 

Diana dress in period costume for Klondite Days, Alberta, Canada.  
This dress is a replica of a dress worn by Alice Keppel, mistress of King Edward VII.

  It broke Diana's heart.  Diana died in a car accident in Paris, August 1997.
With many rumoured love affairs herself, I believe she loved Charles to the end.

The world over mourned her loss.  The British Royal family had not seen anything like it in history.
The Queen herself came under fire when she was no where to be seen or heard from, when her Nation needed her.
Charles married Parker Bowles in 2005.

Diana, Princess of Wales 1961 - 1997

I hope when William inherits the throne, he will reinstate her royal title -  HRH The King Mother.

Prince  & Princess William of Wales  2011

Prince William and Catherine Middleton

I will pray they have a successful marriage.  May they always be as happy as they are now.


***********

Diane


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I will be joining these parties


Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense

The Royal Wedding at Decor To Adore

Great Royal Romances Part 1

ROYAL BRITISH HISTORY 101

Great Royal Romances

...and not so great!

****

As the world awaits the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, it is so exciting to not only see history in the making, but a nuptial of two people in love.

But that has not always been the case in British Royal marriages.

King George I and Queen Sofia 1682

Queen Sofia with children George and Sofia

Let's start back to the beginning of the House of Hanover.

In 1682 King George I, married Sofia Dorothea of Celle.  She was barely sixteen, she bore him a son and a daughter.  She was charming and full of fun.  However her personality galled the King, he resented and mistreated her and when she fell in love with a Swedish Count, he had the Count killed.   George's marriage to Sophia was dissolved.  George has her imprisoned in the Castle of Ahlden in Celle, where she stayed until she died more than thirty years later.  She was denied access to her children.

 George had never remarried....surprise, surprise!

 Skipping Ahead to 

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert 1840

Now theirs was a great love.  

On her second meeting with Albert of Saxe-Coburg, Victoria  fell deeply in love.
She proposed marriage to him.  It was against protocol for him to propose.

After they were married Albert changed Victoria's life profoundly.  He was her mentor, her protector, her guide and her advisor.  They had 9 children.  When Albert died from typhoid in 1861, this was the supreme sorrow of her life.  She wore black the rest of her life as a token of her mourning.

King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra 1863

King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra

Victoria's eldest son waited a long time to become King.  This wait took its toll on him and all that surrounded him.   This restless King-in-waiting, married Danish princess Alexandra in 1863.  Alexandra , a sweet-natured, beautiful woman stood affectionately by his side for the rest of his life.    However, as George reached his mid-twenties,  he became eccentric and troublesome. 

His restless pursuit of merrymaking, love affairs and personal pleasure masked a deeply troubled persona.  

The infamous love affair between him and Alice Keppel reached its height when he was 56 and she 29.  Alice was his last mistress.  On his death-bed, Queen Alexandra allowed Alice to visit George before he died.

King George V and Queen Mary 1893

King George V and Queen Mary

Theirs was a strong and happy marriage.  It was never scandalized with extra-marital affairs. They were devoted to each other and in love.

Interesting enough, May of Teck was initially engaged to George's oldest brother Edward, heir to the throne.  Edward died unexpectedly in 1892, a month before the wedding was to take place.  George was now the heir apparent to the throne. George tentatively began to court May and finally they were married in 1893.
George was ruling Monarch during the First World War.  He changed the name from the German House of Hanover-Saxe-Coburg to the House of Windsor.

The world-wide depression,  a World War and the assassination of his Russian Romanov cousin, took it toll on George and he died in 1936.

Up Next  Part 2

**King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson

**King George and Queen Elizabeth

**Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip

**Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer

***************

Diane

***************

I will talk about the Royal Romances at these parties

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense

The Royal Wedding at Decor To Adore

Who Took The Jewels?

The Irish Crown Jewels that is.

Royal History 101

With the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton 

just around the corner, I thought I would offer a bit of royal history that remains one of the biggest mysteries of the century.

The theft of the Irish Crown Jewels

History of the Jewels

King George III instituted the Order of St Patrick in 1783. Among the insignia of a Knight were a star and a badge; in the royal set of the insignia were rubies, emeralds and Brazilian diamonds.

The  Crown Jewels of Ireland were the jeweled insignia of the Most Illustrious Order of St. Patrick. They were worn by the sovereign at the installation of Knights of The Order, the Irish equivalent of the English Order of the Garter.

HM Elizabeth II  Order of the Garter

The jewels were discovered missing on July 6, 1907, four days before the state visit of King Edward VII  and Queen Alexandra.  The King was furious.

King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra

 

In 1903, the jewels were transferred to a safe, which was to be placed in the strongroom at Dublin Castle. The new safe was too large for the doorway to the strongroom, and Arthur Vicars, the Officer of Arms of Dublin Castle, instead stored the jewels in his office. Seven latch keys to the door of the Office of Arms were held by Vicars and his staff, and two keys to the safe were both in the custody of Vicars.

The jewels were last publicly seen on June 11, 1907 when Vicars showed the Crown Jewels to J.C. Hodgson, Librarian to the Duke of Northumberland.

Also missing from the safe were the Jewels, five Knights' collars and some diamonds belonging to Vicar's mother.

Knight's Collar of the Order of St Patrick

 

Suspects and A Royal Cover-Up

 The story gets deeper and deeper when in his testimony Vicars claims the jewels were taken by his second-in-command, Francis Shackleton, brother of Explorer Ernest Shackleton.

Shackleton was exonerated, no evidence was every found.

Vicars claimed he stole the jewels to help finance his brothers exhibitions.

Shackleton denied being in Ireland at the time, Vicars claims Shackleton had an accomplice.

He believes that Shackleton was protected by the Government.

The theft of the Irish Crown Jewels was probably an inside job.

While the identity of the mastermind behind the crime has not and may never be proven, the prime suspect remains Francis Shackleton, with Francis Bennett Goldney a strong suspect number two. 

  

The entire investigation looked fishy and haphazard.
It was rumoured that Shackleton was having an affair with the King's brother-in-law and the King wanted the matter shut down immediately to prevent a scandal.
The King wanted heads to roll, and the blame rolled in Vicars direction.

 

Ironically enough, Vicars lived his last days in a beautiful, sprawling English Manor.  

Wonder how he got the funds for such a huge mansion?? hmm

Arthur Vicars home after the jewel theft.  Kilmorna House

 The Cursed and Ill-Fated Jewels

The Crowned Jewels that were stolen were believed to be cursed.

The jewels beloved to Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III.

Parliament declared him insane in 1811  - after a turbulent reign over the American Revolution, Napoleon, a near assassin and a crazy family.  He died in 1820.

Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III

Arthur Vicars was assassinated by the IRA in 1921.  His assailants also burned his house to the ground.

Most of the pertinent documents from the trial have gone missing.

Shackleton's brother Ernest exploration was unsuccessful, he never reached the South Pole.

Under the employment of Vicars were Pierce Gun Mahony and Francis Bennett Goldney.  Mahony, nephew of Vicars, was found shot through the heart in 1914 what appears to have been a hunting accident, although suspicions of murder were voiced.  While Goldney died in France in 1918 as a result of a motoring accident.

Coincidence or Cover-Up?

Where In The World Are They??

At the time of their disappears the value was approximately £30,000, today's value would be in the millions.

The jewels were believed to have surfaced in 1927 and the anonymous owner tried to sell them to the Irish Government for a mere £3,000 .  They refused to purchase.  Did it have something to do with the on-coming depression?  Does this suggest the jewels were intact at that time?

There has been suggestions that the jewels found their way back to the British Royal Family.

To this day, the Irish Government still gets calls and anonymous tips about the jewels.  They investigate each and every one of them,  always coming to a dead end.

So, who has these jewels and where are they?  

Did it get passed on from generation to generation? 

Are they buried somewhere?

Have they been disassembled and sold into bits and pieces?

In conclusion,

 Someone, somewhere out there......has a really, really big secret.......

Diane

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I will see if anyone else saw them at these parties

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense

Funniest Easter Memory

While I have many, many excellent memories of Easter,

one stands out more in my memory......

..... my brothers and sisters and I are walking the gruelling 10 miles to school,

first day after the Easter break....

.....we have just come down from a sugar high weekend filled with Easter candy and chocolate....

.....and for those of you who remember, 

chocolate and sweets, in general, were not massed made as they are today......

....Mom would buy them from Woolworths, Woolco or Eatons...

.....so it was a REAL treat Easter morning to hunt for what the bunny hid for you....

 ....anyway, back to my exhausting 20 mile hike to school....on foot.....

....and as usual I am trailing behind my siblings.....

...looking at anything and everything of interest.....

....when I happened to look up at a house......

....sitting inside on the window ledge was a large boxed Easter chocolate bunny....

.....MELTED!!...

.....obviously the Bunny hid it and forgot about it!!.....

....little Diane at the tender age of 10 thought it was a colossal waste....

....well maybe not the word colossal, because I don't think I know the word at the time.....

....but you get the idea!

It broke my heart....but at the same time I thought it was the funniest thing I ever saw!

....I tried to get my bros and sisters to come back to have a look, but because they were like a 1000 miles ahead of me, they would not....

So it was my funny memory and mine alone!

So there you have it, my stroll down Easter memory lane.

Diane

What's your best memory??

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I will be sharing my melted chocolate bunny memory at


Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

"Diane" Dishes

This week I am visiting my favorite consignment shop.

I come across "Diane"

Isn't she lovely!

Now I already have a 6pc place setting at home, but always wanted to increase it to an 8pc setting.

....what are the odds of that.....here it was.... a 2pc place setting up for sale.

I bought it immediately.

....and now you say....why, Diane that's your name.....

....and I say, yes it must be karma.....

The Wade Fine Porcelain China "Diane" set came with 

2 dinner plates, 2 bread/butter plates, 2 teacup and saucers, 2 dessert bowls and salt & pepper shakers.

....such a graceful pattern.

Diane

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I will be joining the party at

Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps On The Porch

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Newbie Party at Debbiedoos Blogging and Blabbing