Some Jubilee souvenirs

As I said earlier, say what you will about the Royals, but to me, there seems to be something just kind of nice and fun about celebrating Queen Elizabeth's 60th year on the throne. I didn't watch much of it on television because I was busy but I did see a little of the regatta up the Thames and a bit of her trip to the Derby (pronounced "Darby").

And I thought: you know, I kind of want some small souvenir of this. (I know - I'm being kind of apologetic about this whole thing, I think I still hear the voice of a guy I once knew saying, "Why be at all interested in the Royals? We fought a war to get away from them!" Yes, but...I find something of greater substance in Queen Elizabeth than I find in many of the women that are set up on our shores as "celebrities.")

At any rate, noodling around looking for stuff,. I had seen some of Emma Bridgewater's designs in a magazine my mom gets (it's a lovely glossy travel magazine about Britain, but it also has some fairly interesting historical and cultural stories in it. I think it's just called "Britain"?). I decided the "Steadfast and True" mug was a bit rich for my wallet....especially given how good I am at dropping things like expensive mugs.

I knew I wanted an Emma Bridgewater thing; I really like the "Steadfast and True" motto she has adopted for her work in honor of the Jubilee. (I think it's because, deep down, I think "Steadfast and True" is a really good thing to be said about a person, and it's something I would aspire to be). But the mug just seemed a bit spendy.

But the tea towel. Now that I could afford. And I would use. I always keep one of those tea towels - either a printed "linen" one, or one of the cheaper floursack kinds - hung over the bar handle of my stove - it's nice if you need to quickly dry your hands, or mop up a bit of spilled tea, or dry a glass. (Yes, I change them fairly regularly so they don't get too manky).

I have some printed ones - one depicting "The World of Beatrix Potter" that a good friend of my family brought back for me from a trip to Britain, one that is a big map of Scotland. A lot of times you can find pretty nice ones in antique or resale shops; it seems lots of people bought these but didn't use them, or perhaps they gave them as gifts. (I do like to use them, even if it may bring them infinitesimally closer to wearing out. Though a good linen tea towel seems to last a very long time....my mom still uses some that her mother in law used over many, many years). I have one showing the Houses of Parliament (so often they seem to be souvenirs of the British Isles) that I use on the piano bench in the summer when I'm in shorts or something so I don't "stick" to the finish of the bench.

I will admit I ordered another Jubilee tea towel - this one. Mostly because I just like having a towel with all the floral symbols of the various nations in the British Isles. (There is even a shamrock for Ireland, though I suppose that's Northern Ireland rather than Republic Of. I know some people who are closely allied with the Republic of Ireland who are really not fans of the UK. And I can understand that, given the history...)

But as I said: I just like having the tea towels. They are something I use. And they're a little thing that makes me happy.