Sleep well, Dogged!
Good morning, everyone, and happy Friday!
Helian, congratulations on your 35th wedding anniversary. I think you're right to postpone celebrations until you have the time to properly enjoy them.
Bama, you asked a very good question. Short answer, it's complicated!
Longer answer,
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (to give its full name) refers to the political union between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The UK is a sovereign state, but the nations that make it up are also countries in their own right.
The Channel Islands and Isle of Man are not part of the UK, but are Crown Dependencies.
Great Britain is the official collective name of of England, Scotland and Wales and their associated islands. It does not include Northern Ireland and therefore should never be used interchangeably with ‘UK’ – something you see all too often.
British Isles is purely a geographical term – it refers to the islands of Great Britain and Ireland – including the Republic of Ireland – and the 5000 or so smaller islands scattered around our coasts. This term only refers to geography, not nationality, and while the Republic of Ireland is part of the British Isles, its people are not British – a very important distinction.
So, where am I from? Well, I think of myself first of all as English, (as opposed to Welsh or Scottish!) with a secondary "identity" as British, but also I'm from the UK.
Additional note to complicate things further: Traditionally, Scottish and Welsh people have had a very strong sense of their identity, English people , on the whole (except for some far right extremists) less so. But over recent years there has been a resurgence among what one would term "normal" people celebrating and having pride in their English identity. (People refusing to write "British" on the census and writing "English" instead. ) You may have heard of "Operation Raise the Colours" which is a very recent movement to fly both English flags (cross of St George
) and the Union Jack
. My feelings are mixed - I think it's good to show pride in one's heritage, so long as it's not used to denigrate other cultures.
Dogged, that's scary about the stabbing-the poor woman - but in a way slightly reassuring to the general public that if it had to happen it was a domestic situation and not a random attack . LOL at Germane protesting at being left behind when that was what she had chosen in the first place!
L.Ann, I hope DD feels better soon. WTG for all your achievements on the estate stuff.
Yesterday 's lunch went well -there were 7 of us - and everyone enjoyed themselves. The early morning was cool and crisp - a sign of autumn - and then we had heavy showers on and off throughout the day - definitely a sign of autumn! I managed a private chat with DF PM after lunch. I think she is slowly coming to terms with the situation, and hopefully will be able to get some form of closure, now what we both suspected for a while has, unfortunately, been proved to be true.
It was after 4 pm when I finally got home, and the cats quite rightly demanded my attention, with lap time (individually!
) for everyone. Then Waitrose delivered, and I cooked pork chops with mashed potatoes and peas for our supper. DH approved.
Today is a "free" day for me. The weather is looking uncertain after heavy rain overnight, but it's dry ATM. I would like to get out in my garden on if possible, but if not, there's plenty to do inside.
.
) and the Union Jack 
. My feelings are mixed - I think it's good to show pride in one's heritage, so long as it's not used to denigrate other cultures. 
, Jude
I have a brother and sister. My sister lives about 90 minutes to 2 hours away but my brother lives across the country in California so I rarely see him.