... THE QUEEN
Well that is a pretty obvious choice, but I chose this as one of my "Q"s because she is dressed in yellow -- for the wedding of course. I was quite surprised because I don't think I have ever seen her dressed in yellow before.
(The Huffington Post Dean Praetorius First Posted: 04/29/11 08:47 AM ET Updated: 04/29/11 08:47 AM )
I could have saved this post for "y", but "y" is easier to do than "q". She certainly added a splash of color to a very splashy affair. I'm happy enough with the royal family, and I would not agree to do away with them. They do add to the charm of England (except during those gossipy papparazzi affairs), so although I don't go overboard I'm truly happy for William and Catherine ( I like to say her full name because it does make them sound so royal) and I pray for happy days ahead for all of
them.
Next is.... A QUINQIREME
I had no idea what one of these was 'tho I have sung about them many, many times. Do you UK friends remember when we used to have Singing Classes at least once a week in High School? They don't do that over here. (May be they used to). But that was where I first heard the word "quinquireme", and the picture above is the first one I ever saw. I looked it up on Google. So I have learned something new today. The song we used to sing all the time, and we girls loved it, was the poem "Cargoes" by John Masefield:
Cargoes
by John Masefield
Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir,
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory,
And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.
Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,
Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores,
With a cargo of diamonds,
Emeralds, amythysts,
Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores.
Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack,
Butting through the Channel in the mad March days,
With a cargo of Tyne coal,
Road-rails, pig-lead,
Firewood, iron-ware, and cheap tin trays.
How we loved to spit out the words of the last stanza - encouraged by the teacher, to show the contrast to the other verses. Maybe she should have also taught us what a quinquireme was.
And last but not least we have.....QUACKERS!!!
This photo was taken by my friend Brenda, a few weeks ago. It is rather strange because the nearest water is about a mile away, but Mom Quacker led her 12 little quackers across the deck and down the steps, each little duckling struggling down each riser, then waddling across the lawn and out through the fence to who knows where. I read somewhere that ducks have so many ducklings because so few of them survive. Sad! So glad Brenda had her camera ready for this photo.
