Monday 4 February 2013

Richard the Third found!

It has been confirmed today that the skeleton found beneath the car park in Leicester is that of Richard the Third, the last Plantagenet  king, killed at the battle of Bosworth, which marked the end of the Wars of the Roses. They plan to bury him properly in Leicester cathedral. What a disgrace! It's the last place that he would have wanted to end up, they should take him back to York. (I'm a Yorkshire woman, where the white rose rules!)
I bought these roses to take to a friend who has just had her sitting room redecorated. We were going to celebrate with supper. The flower buds were just the right colour, white tinged with green. Then I got ill. "Just enjoy the flowers yourself," she told me when I rang to say I couldn't come.
So I did! As you can see, they have opened to show a warm, creamy heart. And I am feeling much better!
Heidi's present, some weeks ago now, of pussy willows are still a delight
as is the new orchid stem from the plant that Lindie gave me last summer.
I picked a few small flowers from the garden
so very precious at this time of year.
for Jane's Flowers in the House at

18 comments:

  1. Lovely roses. The pup will definitely approve.

    And flowers from your garden....nice.

    xo jane

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    1. It is so bleak and unfriendly in the garden just now but this little picking gladdens my heart.
      I always enjoy your flower party. /:-)

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  2. Lovely! I listened to an interview about Richard III on the way home from school this afternoon. They talked about how they made the identification. They said yes the backbone was curved and there were many battle scars, but it was the DNA of a distant relative which convinced them. I found it very interesting. Bonnie

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    1. It is absolutely fascinating. The dig team had limited funds and only worked on a small area of ground so their results are so fortunate. Although Richard's spine was very curved he did not possess a withered arm. That Will Shakespeare, prone to exaggeration or what!

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  3. Thank you for your comments about Edward Thomas. I've looked him up, but no mention of the flowers he sent home. A heart breaking story!
    Those white roses are a beautiful shape!
    Hellebore only available at the flower market!

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    1. I saw the flowers at an exhibition called 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' by the Imperial War Museum in London in 2003 on twelve soldier poets of the First World War. It was one of the best and most moving of exhibitions that I have ever seen. Thomas was older than many of the other soldiers, a married man with three children. The idea of his picking flowers to press and send home from that blasted landscape struck me as terribly poignant.
      If I lived anywhere near Bow Street I would be forever popping in!

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  4. That's so crazy about Richard III! Beautiful roses.

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  5. My dear you always inspire me to get out to my garden...from where I must admit, I have been absent for far too long!

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    1. Tamera, you are quite the most glamourous blogger in the world, always showing such beautiful images, so if I have inspired you a little then I am feeling very full of myself!

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  6. Lovely blooms!
    Imagine finding his skeleton after all these years.
    I think he'd be better resting back in Yorkshire too.

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    1. I know, what a find! I do so hope that he will get put to rest in York.
      Aren't flowers consoling at this time of year?

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  7. Beautiful roses! And pretty hellebores and primroses (?primulas)

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    1. Hello there, the primroses are wild and pop up in nooks and crannies all about the garden. The stalks on the snowdrops seem rather short this spring - not that I blame them, I too would prefer to be under a blanket!

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  8. Beautiful flowers and lovely photos! I just love that little bouquet from your garden.

    PS: Thanks for visiting my blog. :o)

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    1. Hello there Deb. I'v had a nice time looking through your blog and had to laugh at the colour of those margaritas! I know what you were wanting, some exotic purple creation. At least they tasted good!

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  9. The flowers are beautiful; especially the white roses. As you say, Richard III was a son of York - and history tell us he was popular in the north - so they seem good reasons to bury him there.

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    1. I am hoping that a groundswell of public opinion may get the son of York back to that city for burial. It hardly seems right to place him in the city that killed and dishonoured him.

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