Mrs Rabbit and I went to the Royal Garden Party at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh today. We'd been invited last year but had been out of the country at the time and couldn't go. We were told solemnly that these invitations are given out sparingly and that once refused one could consider one's self off the list for any future invites. Such is life.
So we were surprised to receive the cream coloured envelope postmarked Buckingham Palace again this year and we resolved to go.
The weather threatened ominously but held nonetheless. The drive in Edinburgh from Penicuik was terrible - it took an hour and a half to make what is normally a half hour journey.
My lady wife is a mental health nurse and got herself scratched on the face at work yesterday. When it came to the choice of hats this morning she came out with a wide brimmed black affair. Fine except that the scratch on her face had a bit of an upturn to it which, when viewed from the side and with your eyes squinted, looked just a bit like a twirled moustache.
"No", I said, "you have to lose the wide brimmed hat. You look like Zorro"
I think that sometimes I'm not as sensitive as I should be. She changed hats for a less wide brimmed affair with several feathers and looked just fine.
The Bishop of Edinburgh and his wife Lissa were there. Our Primus was apparently somewhere at the party dressed in a frock coat. I'd have loved to see that but managed to miss him in the very large crowd. At least two other clergy - Church of Scotland types I think - were wandering around in their frock coats carrying glasses of iced coffee.
One of the options for the dress of the day was 'national costume' and I'll admit that the idea of showing up as a Mountie, a lumberjack or a trapper did cross my mind. The Royal Company of Archers were drifting in and out of the crowd and they have a head-dress with an enormous feather standing straight up. They carry longbows as well.
Eventually the Queen and Prince Philip walked by on their way from the Royal Tea Tent. The Queen was dressed in a cheery yellow dress and hat and looked quite grand.
Happy Canada Day everybody! We used to call it Dominion Day back in elementary school where the map on the wall had large portions (of which we were the largest, as I remember) coloured pink to show the extent of Britain's rule around the world. I'm not sure we've replaced Dominion Day with anything quite as grand as membership in the British Empire. But it's our day.
