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The Sew What’s New Archive
This archived content is from Mary Wilkins’ sewing and
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From: Domestic Goddes
Date: 12-21-2005, 07:04 PM (1 of 22)
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Christmas Dangers .. be careful (this is true, by the way) 3 Brits die each year testing if a 9 volt battery works on their tongue. 142 Brits were injured in 1999 by not removing all pins from new shirts. 58 Brits are injured each year by using sharp knives instead of screwdrivers. 31 Brits have died since 1996 by watering their Christmas tree while the fairy lights were plugged in. 19 Brits have died in the last 3 years believing that Christmas decorations were chocolates British Hospitals reported 4 broken arms last year after cracker pulling accidents. 101 people since 1999 have had broken parts of plastic toys pulled out of the soles of their feet. 18 Brits had serious burns in 2000 trying on a new jumper with a lit cigarette in their mouth. A massive 543 Brits were admitted to A&E in the last two years after opening bottles of beer with their teeth. 5 Brits were injured last year in accidents involving out of control Scalextric cars |
User: Domestic Goddes
Member since: 01-04-2005 Total posts: 108 |
From: Chrysantha
Date: 12-21-2005, 09:18 PM (2 of 22)
I knew you all spoke funny...I didn't know you were goofy too !   I thought US Americans were bad....hhhmmmmm.....how about the Canadians ???
Chrys
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User: Chrysantha
Member since: 09-06-2002 Total posts: 2414 
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From: Magot
Date: 12-22-2005, 03:10 AM (3 of 22)
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Look, I've told you before Kath, this is OUR language - you just borrowed it. That is why it is called ENGLISH. (time for a chorous of Rule Britania) So just remember - those scalextic cars are killers, KILLERS I tell you! and no chewing on the Christmas decorations. love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626 
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From: DorothyL
Date: 12-22-2005, 07:55 AM (4 of 22)
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Boy are you guys dumb. No American would EVER do something like that. Even Lucy knows to take the cigarette out of her mouth before she puts on her beautiful English jumper! And we don't even pull crackers. What's a cracker? Dorothy |
User: DorothyL
Member since: 12-09-2002 Total posts: 3883 |
From: Domestic Goddes
Date: 12-22-2005, 08:01 AM (5 of 22)
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(time for a chorous of Rule Britania) If you insist: When Britain first at Heaven's command, Arose from out the azure main, This was the charter, the charter of the land, And guardian Angels sung this strain, Chorus Rule, Britannia, Britannia rule the waves, Britons never will be slaves! The Nations (not so blest as thee) Must in their turns to Tyrants fall, While thou shalt flourish great and free, The dread and envy of them all. Chorus Still more majestick shalt thou rise, More dreadful from each foreign stroke; As the loud blast that tears the skies, Serves but to root thy native oak. Chorus Thee, haughty Tyrants ne'er shall tame: All their attempts to bend thee down, Will but arouze thy gen'rous flame, But work their woe, and thy renown. Chorus To thee belongs the rural reign, Thy cities shall with commerce shine; All thine shall be the subject Main, And ev'ry shore it circles thine. Chorus The Muses still with Freedom found, Shall to thy happy coasts repair; Blest Isle! With matchless beauty crown'd, And manly hearts to guide the Fair. Written in 1779. |
User: Domestic Goddes
Member since: 01-04-2005 Total posts: 108 |
From: Domestic Goddes
Date: 12-22-2005, 08:07 AM (6 of 22)
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Boy are you guys dumb. No American would EVER do something like that. Even Lucy knows to take the cigarette out of her mouth before she puts on her beautiful English jumper! And we don't even pull crackers. What's a cracker? Dorothy We may be British (or English, depending on which day of the week it is - long story) but we never said we were sensible! Christmas crackers are a tradition. You can make your own or buy them ready made - prices range from inexpensive to astronomical prices for ones with jewels in (no, we don't have those). You pull the cracker (see link) and a teeny bit of gunpowder goes "bang", the cracker splits in the middle and a novelty toy drops out into your dinner. There's a selection of corny jokes inside (leave that one to Magot to explain) and a paper hat which you HAVE to wear for the rest of the day, mandatory to wear them and wave a glass of sherry in the air while watching Her Majesty do her annual speech at 3pm. As for the Scalextric cars: I trod on one and shot across the full length of our lounge before I crashed into the wall and brought the wrought iron curtain pole (and curtains) down on my head. Sensible? Nah! Christmas cracker shop: http://www.christmascrackershop.com/ |
User: Domestic Goddes
Member since: 01-04-2005 Total posts: 108 |
From: Magot
Date: 12-22-2005, 09:39 AM (7 of 22)
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There is something so evocative about the smell of gunpowder on Christmas Day - makes you proud to be British. I couldn't read "Rule Britannia" without singing it in my head! Wasn't it the 200th anniversary of Trafalgar this year? Been a long time since we beat the French last. It always amazes me the HRH is still sober at that point in the festivities since the rest of the nation is heading fast downhill for the annual post prandial snooze. My Dad always made us wait to open our Christmas presents till after the Queen had addressed the nation. There is still deep within me a lingering belief that somehow the Queen is responsible for me getting gifts at Christmas. If you have small children Dorothy the paper hats can easily be adjusted with sellotape to fit snug upon the head. "Favours" within the cracker vary from plastic rings that even the Green Lantern would not be seen dead in, fortune telling fish, keyrings,impossible puzzles, nailfiles to small plastic statues and so on. The "mottos" are the I say ,I say, I say, my dogs got no nose! Your dog's got no nose? That's right! How does he smell? Terrible. My wife's gone to the West Indies Jamaca? No, she went of her own accord. Why did the blind chicken cross the road To get to the Birds Eye shop. Need I say more.... love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626
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From: DorothyL
Date: 12-22-2005, 09:49 AM (8 of 22)
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Oh. Dorothy |
User: DorothyL
Member since: 12-09-2002 Total posts: 3883 |
From: Magot
Date: 12-22-2005, 09:53 AM (9 of 22)
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Any other strange English/British traditions need explainiing? Swan-upping? Morris dancing? Hooden Horse? Black Pudding?(Dom can field that one)
love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626
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From: Chrysantha
Date: 12-22-2005, 09:30 PM (10 of 22)
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Actually we DO have crackers here...the edible kind and the kind that'er full of stuff when you pull on the ends. Usually we don't see them till New Years. I speak English and Americanese.....so HA Jan...Take that !!! 
Chrys
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User: Chrysantha
Member since: 09-06-2002 Total posts: 2414
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From: Sancin
Date: 12-23-2005, 05:35 AM (11 of 22)
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Swan-upping? Hooden Horse? In my life the smell of gunfire was the morning of Hogmanny!  And the telephone lines had usually been blasted down. And perhaps the power out - no one ever learned to be a good shot in the air. Started a tradition of going out for New Years dinner. I love to watch the Last of the PROMS on PBS and sing along with Rule Britannia. But what does PROMS stand for?  And finally - how many of you forget to take your glasses off before you pull clothing over your head? Should make you look at smokers a little differently. 
*~*~*~* Nancy*~*~*~* " I try to take one day at a time - but sometimes several days attack me at once."
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User: Sancin
Member since: 02-13-2005 Total posts: 895 
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From: Magot
Date: 12-23-2005, 12:58 PM (12 of 22)
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Swan Upping dates from medieval times, when the Crown claimed ownership of all mute swans at a time when swans were considered an important food source for banquets and feasts. Today, the Crown retains the right to ownership of all unmarked Mute swans in open water, but the Queen only exercises her ownership on certain stretches of the River Thames and its surrounding tributaries. This ownership is shared with the Vintners' and Dyers' Companies, who were both granted rights of ownership by the Crown in the fifteenth century. Nowadays, the swans are counted and marked, but rarely eaten except perhaps occasionally at State Banquets. Hooden Horses are a purely East Kent tradition. They were recorded during the last part of the last century but only in the area to the east of a line from Folkestone to Whitstable. They were associated with the carters and ploughmen on the farms during the period before Christmas. They would make up a wooden representation of a horses head on a pole about 4 feet long. The lower jaw would be hinged and operated by a pull cord that would make the jaws slap together. Suspended from the head was a hessian covering which covered both the pole and the operator who would have to adopt a very bent posture so that the horse had a proper back. The long pole assisted in this as it rested on the floor and gave the poor man some respite. The carters etc would take the animal around the big houses of the parish just before Christmas. They would be accompanied by a series of characters including a Carter to control the horse, who was often extremely unruly, not to say malevolent, a rider and a betsy (man dressed as a woman). A short play or performance followed. Whether it was done because it was "traditional" or because it was a good way of getting money and drink at a time when work was often short, is difficult to say but collect they certainly did. What is a Prom? A Prom means a Promenade Concert, or a concert where part of the audience stands in a "promenade" area of the hall. The BBC Proms is an annual music festival running from mid-July to mid-September and comprising over seventy Prom concerts. And I really think Lucy should give up the smokes in the New YEar love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626
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From: Sancin
Date: 12-23-2005, 06:19 PM (13 of 22)
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Thanks Jan In 200 years, I wonder what traditions we now practice will be questioned. Hopefully, it will be last minute shopping, or even shopping at all! *~*~*~* Nancy*~*~*~* " I try to take one day at a time - but sometimes several days attack me at once."
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User: Sancin
Member since: 02-13-2005 Total posts: 895
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From: Magot
Date: 12-24-2005, 12:00 AM (14 of 22)
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Bearing in mind it is Christmas - the festival celelbrating the birth of Christ - I was disgusted with our local supermarket's choice of cards. Tesco Superstore had Not One which might mention that there is a religious significance to the festival - it was all Happy Holidays and Seasons greetings - which season - summer? autumn? you couldn't tell from the pictures. The foulest cards I have ever seen on sale was a silluette of a woman in high heels striding along with big shopping bags and the heading "Christmas Shoppng" Is that it? Is that all Christmas is any more? Not even wishing each other peace even if you don't believe in the roots? Is Hannukah this commercialised inthe Jewish community? Does Divali have the same problems? Perhaps a tradition called into question in the future would be th ehabit of drinking tea inthe face of great disaster! (My God! A train has just derailled in your back garden? Have a cup of tea) love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626
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From: DorothyL
Date: 12-24-2005, 07:53 AM (15 of 22)
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Bearing in mind it is Christmas - the festival celelbrating the birth of Christ - I was disgusted with our local supermarket's choice of cards. Tesco Superstore had Not One which might mention that there is a religious significance to the festival - it was all Happy Holidays and Seasons greetings Jan-- That is a very controversial issue in this country right now with more conservative Christians saying it is just their holiday and being offended that Jews and other non-Christians have religious and secular celebrations this time of year. Actually I think some of our fundamentalists just plain resent people of other religions even existing. Although I am not a Christian, I grew up in that tradition and celebrate Xmas in my home. I was never really offended by all the Christian tradition myself but am a bit offended by the fundamentalist's crap this year. It makes me glad I'm not Christian. I mean its the commercialism that takes the Christ out of Christmas not people like me enjoying my friends and family. So Merry Christmas to the Christians, happy whatever to everyone else and just have a darn nice day to those who don't celebrate anything at all. Dorothy |
User: DorothyL
Member since: 12-09-2002 Total posts: 3883 |
From: emorrow
Date: 12-25-2005, 01:26 PM (16 of 22)
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That is a very controversial issue in this country right now with more conservative Christians saying it is just their holiday and being offended that Jews and other non-Christians have religious and secular celebrations this time of year. Actually I think some of our fundamentalists just plain resent people of other religions even existing. I was born on the buckle of the Bible Belt and even here in Virginia fundamentalists are not in short supply. I have heard no "crap" from any of them. In the past 10 years it has been very politically correct to denigrate Christianity in any form. If Christians have been a bit more aggressive this year in wishing people "Merry Christmas" rather than the politically correct "Happy Holidays", it is a natural and long delayed reaction to being the butt of bigotry. This country was founded on the principle that everyone should be able to practice his own religion without persecution. The government cannot force anyone to be Christian, Buddhist, or anything else. This does not mean that the law will protect you from seeing symbols or hearing greetings that belong to a religion different from yours (or any religion if you have none). "Merry Christmas" is a reflection of the wisher's happiness with the season and an invitation to share that happiness. The choice to share or go your way is entirely up to you. Ellen |
User: emorrow
Member since: 02-26-2005 Total posts: 13 |
From: Jayde877
Date: 12-27-2005, 10:49 AM (17 of 22)
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Well said!! I have worked at many places over tyhe past 10 years and some places have told workers to NEVER say Merry Christmas. We were told to say Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings. I guess what really gets me upset is why can't I say Merry Christmas? Why is it so hard for people to understand that it is not a rude or offensive statement? If I went into an establishment that had mainly Jewish employees, I would expect them to say Happy Chanukka(sp?) and I would feel no offense toward it. That is what they celebrate, therfore, that is what is natural for them to say. I on the other hand celebrate Christmas, so I would say Merry Christmas, and if the person I'm speaking to celebrates Kwanza for instance, they could reply Happy Kwanza and that's it. It a well wishing to have a good time when the majority of people are celebrating something. Not a demand that you follow the celebration being stated. I could go on and on about this topic, but I won't I hope everyone had a good Christmas, or whatever you celebrate, and Happy New Year! Charity |
User: Jayde877
Member since: 07-27-2005 Total posts: 106 
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From: Magot
Date: 12-28-2005, 05:13 AM (18 of 22)
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I think my major gripe Dorothy was that Christmas had been reduced to "Happy Shopping" I am just as happy to wish other people Happy Divali, Happy Channuka and so on - but Happy Shopping??
love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626
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From: DorothyL
Date: 12-28-2005, 07:38 AM (19 of 22)
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I guess that's a religion for some, too, Jan. We did very little shopping this year, just for the kids -- my husband's sisters kids. But it turned out to be a nice holiday even without the crass commercialism. Whoda thunk it. Dorothy |
User: DorothyL
Member since: 12-09-2002 Total posts: 3883 |
From: Pudge99
Date: 12-28-2005, 11:35 AM (20 of 22)
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OK well this post went a little off topic. Seems like we do that a lot . I just had to come here and post to let you all know that we have crackers in the US. I found them at Target. I was doing my annual Christmas clearance shopping and there they were, a whole flat of them just sitting there on the shelf. I bought a box of them and figured we might enjoy them on New Years.
Gina
Pictures of my successes and failures Pfaff 2040 Janome Mylock 134D Singer Futura CE-100 w/ Autopunch Husqvarna Viking 3D Sketch |
User: Pudge99
Member since: 10-30-2001 Total posts: 1375 |
From: Magot
Date: 12-28-2005, 01:21 PM (21 of 22)
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Don't break your arm Gina, those things are deadly! You can join me in the bad jokes stakes.
love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626
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From: nativetexan
Date: 01-06-2006, 04:12 PM (22 of 22)
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Ha, i've got to send this one to my friend in England. She'll get a kick out of it, I hope!
CC
http://photos.yahoo.com/ccase5 |
User: nativetexan
Member since: 11-15-2005 Total posts: 57 
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