Saturday 23 April 2016

Celebrations!

Today marks 400 years since William Shakespeare's death, he died when he was only 52 years old on his birthday 23rd April 1616.  There are great celebrations taking place in my home town of Stratford-upon-Avon to mark the occasion.

This is my 450 blog post and to celebrate I am offering the items below as a 'giveaway'.  All you have to do is leave a comment (just one!) and I will use a random number generator to pick the winner on 28th April.


"This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England"

From Richard II, Act 2 (Shakespeare)

Let me talk you through the items in the picture, there is a hand turned needle holder made from purple heart wood (not made by 'im in the garage but bought locally), a bone china thimble from the Coalport factory and a flat shuttle. They are photographed on a cloth bag which has the Union Jack displayed on it and the words 'Great Britain'.


Apart from being Shakespeare's birthday today is also St. George's Day the patron saint of England (and Scouting) and so that relates to the Union Jack which has the cross of St. George in the middle.  The rose on the thimble is a symbol of England, but it is usually a red one not pink!
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet
Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare)


The top of the needle holder also looks like a crown to celebrate the 
Queen's 90th Birthday





So good luck and it does not matter where you live in the world 
you are very welcome to enter.




47 comments:

  1. What a wonderful giveaway. Good luck to all.

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  2. Interesting items in your giveaway!

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  3. Con piacere partecipo al giveaway. Cordiali saluti

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  4. I hope you have a fabulous day celebrating!

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  5. And.....the queen just turned 90 as well! Much to celebrate.
    Mama Martin

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  6. What a wonderful assortment of treats, and all with 'stories' to go with them! :-)
    StephanieW

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  7. Sign me up, what a fun way to celebrate, love all the beautiful items fun to see!

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  8. Love fun! Shakespeare was a fellow Taurean, that being a rather auspicious fact about my astrological life!

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  9. Love all of them they are beautiful.

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  10. Congratulations on your 450th blog post. Looking forward to reading your next 450.

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  11. Oh, they are lovely, aren't they? Please count me in!

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  12. Very generous to share your celebrations with those of us unable to attend in person. Hope you have had a wonderful day!

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  13. I hope you get a chance to enjoy the celebrations in town and congratulations on your 450th blog post.

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  14. It's a very big year for England, isn't it! - so much to celebrate, all at the same time.

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  15. Ale okazji do świętowania - super dzień.

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  16. I would love to be entered into the drawing for such a lovely giveaway. Your writing reminds me of my favorite Mothers day when my son took me to a Shakespear Festival and we sat and watched live plays all day long. That was the best day ever.

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  17. A Rose, A Rose, My Kingdom for a Rose!!! VBG Watched Shakespeare Live on the TV... Brilliant!! I can remember going to the RSC with School to see the Tempest! Fantastic!! Went in the cafe there a couple of years ago when we were camping not far away and met up with that 'Tatty OG'sister of yours! LOL

    Good luck everyone... loves the giveaways!!

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  18. Incidentally... Did you know that the rose is pink for a specific reason? There's a standard bush rose known as Queen Elizabeth (formerly Princess Elizabeth), and it's... Pink!!!

    There you go!! A great reason for a pink rose!!

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  19. It is a nice celebration give away. Count me in.

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  20. Congratulations on your 450th blog post.
    What a wonderful giveaway! please count me in
    Maria

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  21. Oooo, such lovely things! Wish I could have been there to celebrate this weekend!

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  22. What a fun way to celebrate!

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  23. What a gorgeous needle holder.

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  24. Congratulations with your 450th post, very generous celebrating it with us, thank you!
    Inge

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  25. What a lovely giveaway! Congratulations on 450 posts. There are lots of reasons to celebrate. ☺

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  26. What a lovely and unique prize. I would love to win.

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  27. How lovely and generous. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. Blessings
    Helen

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  28. Congratulations! on your 450th post! WOW!

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  29. What a thoughtful and lovely giveaway! Thanks for the chance.
    Katie V in NC USA katie at r-v-r dot com

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  30. Oh yes please! I would love to be entered for a chance to win!

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  31. Sounds like a great party was had by all! Count me in Please. Such a lovely giveaway!

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  32. So Generous. Thanks for the chance to enter.

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  33. I was one of the local school children taking part in the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth in 1964. Would have loved to have been there on Saturday, especially as one of my classmates is the mayor this year, at least I saw her in th TV coverage.
    Please enter me for the giveaway.

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  34. How exciting! Thank you for the opportunity to participate.

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  35. I'd love to be entered. Thanks for having the giveaway!

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  36. A wonderful thing to celebrate!

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  37. What an interesting needle holder :). Congrats on your 450th blog post :).

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  38. Please enter me. I love your blog

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  39. Congrats on your 450th post. And please enter me in your drawing. These items look wonderful..

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  40. Interesting items..
    Tataway53@rogers.com
    Deana

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  41. Congrats on your 450th blog post. Please enter me in the giveaway. Thank you for the giveaway.

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  42. What a lovely giveaway! Congratulations on your 450th blog post, wow! :-)

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  43. In case you haven't run your random number generator yet - do enter me! :-)

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