The Crown

So I finished watching The Crown, season three, last night!  It is so good.



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Olivia Coleman is an amazing actress.  I think she does a wonderful job showing us an Elizabeth who is now very settled into her role as Queen. She has become a bit hardened I think by what her role is as Monarch verses being a woman, wife, mother, sister, daughter.

The costuming is incredible, as usual.  Here are shots of the real Princess Margaret, Princess Anne, and the Queen Mother from Prince Charles' investiture as Prince of Wales, (on the left) and from The Crown.                                   


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Helena Bonham Carter is so good as Margaret, and Erin Doherty as Anne makes me understand Princess Anne a bit more.

Tobias Menzies is excellent as Prince Philip.  PP and QE are settled in their marriage, happy together, but PP is having a bit of a midlife crisis.  The episode with the Apollo 11 astronauts is so good.  The story telling The Crown is phenomenal.  



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Josh O'Conner as Prince Charles is amazing.  He has the mannerisms down pat.  

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I enjoyed every episode and felt like I learned something about the Royal Family from that time period.  The old guard wanting to keep things the way they've always been, and the younger yearning to be who they are as persons.

Are you watching the series on Netflix?  If so, let's chat in the comments!                                             

This and That

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I love this photo of the Queen and Prince Philip meeting their new great grandson, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.

Archie - I never saw that coming, but apparently its very popular in the UK. Harrison seems like an American thing (Harry's son).  I'm pleased that they are all so happy.

Thank you all for your enthusiasm for my projects.  The key thing is making a plan that Tim feels comfortable with and a realistic budget and timetable.

We've already talked with our son in law's brother Daniel about a small project of replacing a door frame for the kitchen door.  Daniel runs Musser Carpentry, a company started by his grandfather.  

This girl has finished her academic work required by the state to graduate. She's handled working, and finishing school very well.  She's going to be working full time, and saving money for Bible school.   

Kyle has finished as well, and has testing today and tomorrow, then we have our evaluations on Monday and are on a break for summer!

When we start again in August, I'll have one student, and he'll be starting high school!  I'll also be starting my 25th year of home educating my kids. What a full career that has been!

Baby Sussex

Today we got our first glimpse of Baby Sussex.  He's adorable and we're so happy for Harry and Meghan, who are delighted with being parents.




I was worried that a frenzy was building, due to the way people were reacting to the Sussex's desire for privacy regarding their baby's birth.  I think people over reacted, but that's the nature of people on social media these days isn't it?

Now, the wait for Baby Sussex's name.  Any guesses?

I think Philip will be one of the names, if not the first name.  Harry is very close to his grandfather, and none of the other children have Philip in their name.

I also think they could diffuse the complaints of her half siblings, and father and use his name Thomas as one of the names.

Also I think, because Harry is close to Diana's side of the family, and they made the point in their announcement of saying that Diana's siblings had been informed of the birth (not just the Queen and Royal family), they may use the name Spencer.

Philip Thomas Spencer would be an appropriate name. Of course there are other family names that are not as common - David and John come to mind.  

The Queen has 8 great-grandchildren - Savannah and Isla Philips, Mia and Lena Tindall, and Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.  The only traditional royal names are William and Kate's children, and William will be king one day.  Harry and Meghan could go non traditional with his names. 

I think we'll know in the next few days.

I'd love to hear what you think in the comments!

Saturday Six

I missed Friday Five, so I decided to do a Saturday Six this week!


1. I love anything by Dee Henderson, so when I was at Barnes and Noble to use a birthday gift card and saw this, I knew it would be coming home with me.

2. A friend saw my knit hats for Isla and Clark, and asked if I would make some for her two granddaughters.  We settled on a price, and my hands are happily knitting away.

3. During the fall and winter seasons our floor rugs/mats by the doors take a beating.  I found these mats yesterday, and bought three - one by the deck entrance, one at the front door, and one at the kitchen door.  I think they'll hold up to the rain, mud, and snow that is a part of our lives here in the fall and winter. (especially muddy this year with all the rain.)

4. I baked Cappuccino Muffins this week.  My people (and others) love them!

5. Kyle is our main laundry folder these days.  He doesn't mind it because he can watch something while he folds.  He likes to watch on the computer, so I find piles of clean folded laundry on the floor like this all the time!

6. We had torrential rains on Thursday, so I had the deck umbrella open to dry out.  This was great until the winds picked up in the night.  I found this yesterday.

Not fun.  The pole is bent.  There is no way to salvage this. 

So that was my week.  Some good, some annoying.  I won't say bad, because really, compared to what others are going through; a friends' husband has cancer and its not looking good, the hurricane aftermath, the rancor from leaders in our country, my 'difficulties' are nothing.

A bonus photo this week - 



Did any of you watch Princess Eugenie's wedding?  I thought it was a lovely family wedding.  Since she's not a working royal, they were able to just invite family and friends to attend.  The children of her cousins (Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Savannah and Isla Phillips, Maud Windsor) and few of her friends children, were sweet and I liked what they wore.

What did you think?

Happy Birthday, Ma'am!

Today is Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday! In honor of her birthday, the Palace has released these wonderful photographs.

Here she is with her youngest grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  James, Viscount Severn (8) and his sister Lady Louise Windsor (12) they are the children of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, Mia Tindall (2) daughter of Zara Phillips Tindall, Princess Anne's daughter, the Queen holding Princess Charlotte (11mths) daughter of Prince William the Duke of Cambridge and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, Savannah Phillips (5) daughter of Peter Phillips, Princess Anne's son, Prince George (2) son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and Isla Phillips (4) daughter of Peter Phillps.

This photo is going to be a stamp.  Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, The Queen, Prince George of Cambridge, and Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge

The Queen and her only daughter, Princess Anne, the Princess Royal.

The Queen and her beloved Corgi's and Corgi mixes.

I've long admired the Queen for her commitment to her country and the nations of the Commonwealth.  She has been in their service since she was a girl, and became Queen at age 25, when she was the mother of two young children.

Happy Birthday, Ma'am!  May you have many more!

Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana

When Diana Spencer came on the scene I was a 17 year old girl, dreaming of my own prince.  She was not much older than me, and though I thought Andrew much better looking than Charles, I was delighted to follow all the plans for the royal wedding.  

I followed Diana's life after that and was interested in the Royal family.  One of my Dad's great-grandmothers' had been a seamstress to ladies in waiting at Buckingham Palace during Queen Victoria's reign.

While I don't follow the family as closely as I did in those days, I've been delighted to see William and Kate marry and be very happily married.  Their little son George, third in line to the throne, is adorable and now a big brother!

 Prince George came with Daddy to visit his baby sister and Mummy at the hospital before they brought the baby home.

Kate looking radiant.   Both she and William look very happy at the safe arrival of their sweet wee girl.

I've seen a lot of women discussing Kate coming out just a few hours after giving birth to show off the baby and then heading home.  Some have commented on the fact that the dress was mostly white.  They talked about how bad they felt after giving birth and how 'poor Kate' was trotted out for publicity.

I have to say that I always felt great after I gave birth.  I had lots of energy and while I did rest, I came home as soon as possible.  I liked being in my own bed and house.  

I don't think that Kate is forced to come out and show off the baby. They were ready to come home.  She is happy and for them it is better to give a photo opportunity of them with the baby, than to try to keep her shielded and make her a TARGET for paparazzi.  Can you imagine what the first shot of the baby would have been worth?  They are very smart to give everyone a chance to take all the photos they want right away.  

 She is so darling with those cheeks!  

 The Bridge lit up to celebrate the birth of a girl!


And today her name was announced

I have to say that I knew they would use Diana. Princes William and Harry love to honor their mother every chance they get.  I also knew that Diana would NOT be her first name.  Can you imagine the paparazzi with that?!  I thought they would honor the Queen, as well, so I figured Elizabeth would be one of her names.  That left one more name and I was fairly certain it would be Charlotte, though Victoria could have been in the running as well.

Isn't she precious?

I pray that William and Kate will know the Lord and that their children will know Him too.  That was always my prayer for Diana; that God would put someone in her life who would share truth with her.