Sunday, July 12, 2009

Queen Anne's Lace



Queen Anne, Queen Anne, has washed her lace
(She chose a summer's day)
And hung it in a grassy place
To whiten, if it may.
Queen Anne, Queen Anne, has left it there,
And slept the dewy night;
Then waked, to find the sunshine fair,
And all the meadows white.
Queen Anne, Queen Anne, is dead and gone
(She died a summer's day),
But left her lace to whiten in
Each weed-entangled way!

By Mary Leslie Newton



Queen Anne's Lace, the white flower (some might say weed, I choose wildflower) pictured above is rampant around here now. It carpets fields, roadsides, ditches, and embankments.

The one above lives in our daffodil field. I particularly loved the contrast with the purplish/reddish flower beneath it. Did you know that Queen Anne's Lace is also known as the carrot flower or wild carrot? Me either until today. I love the internet.

Have a wonderful Sunday.

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p.s. Blog Fest is Thursday. I say this as a reminder only to myself, because my house currently looks like Hooraw's nest* and procrastination is no longer an option.

*What is a hooraw's nest, you may ask? Excellent question. Allow me to procrastinate further by telling you that my grandmother always told me my hair looked like Hooraw's nest, and she was not being complimentary. Turns out, it's spelled and explained as follows:

A "hurrah's nest" is indeed a terrible mess or scene of commotion and confusion, and the phrase dates back to at least the early 19th century. The "hurrah" involved is the same "hurrah" we shout when the home team wins, a cheer of exultation that dates back to around 1686. "Hurrah" has close relatives in several European languages and was probably (like the earlier "huzza") developed from the throaty shouts of soldiers charging into battle.
In 19th century America, "hurrah" came into use as slang noun for "an uproar, a commotion," and anything wild and lawless was described as "hurrah."

With "hurrah" meaning "disordered," it made sense for something very, very tangled or disorderly to be described as a "hurrah's nest," as if the "hurrah" were a creature with bad housekeeping habits. There is some evidence that "hurrah's nest" was first used by sailors to describe a tangle of lines aboard ship.

Definition stolen from word-detective.com.

8 comments:

Mental P Mama said...

I think I may have some hurrah in my ancestry. See you Thursday;)

Daryl said...

Ah ha .. I was sure a ''hooraw'' was a WHORE or WHO-A or HO was what Gran was going for there... just sayin'

And I am soooo psyched about meeting you no matter what the real definition is ... ;-D

Unknown said...

I'm sure I'll be delight since I always have a good time at Hurrah's in San Diego and Lake Tahoe.

Thursday is four days awaym, and I'm so excited.

Just look at it this way, one week from today, it will be just you and your broom. Oh no, I didn't mean "broom" as a mode of transportation, no I didn't.

tj said...

...*giggle*snort* @GJ's comment... :oD

...Love that Queen Anne's Lace poem CBW! And I love Queen Anne's Lace too, one of my fav' wildflowers... :o)

...Gosh, my grandmother skipped the whole "hoorah", "hurrah", "huzzah" reference and just said, "good lord girl, your hair looks like a rat's nest!" God love that woman, er, devil. Or wherever she may be...lol :o)

...I can't wait to read all the blog fodder and see the photos of this blessed event! I actually feel like pouting over the fact that I can't come and stomp my feet and tell my husband's relatives that I'm missin' out on one helluva event because of 'em... I know, I know, that wouldn't be very nice and I really couldn't do that. Could I? *giggle* :o)

...Blessin's...

Meg McCormick said...

Wild carrots! Did you ever cut them and stick 'em in food-colored water to tint them? We did.

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

Grandma J. - I resemble that remark, as long as the remark is "I look like I flew in on a broom." Still trying to recover from your mischief earlier today.....

MPM and Daryl-I think HOO-RAH should be the theme of the Blog Fest. Maybe I can get BHE to locate some T-shirts. (Happy Belated B-Day, btw, BHE.)

TJ: You are the reason this blog even exists. You are one of the most wonderful people I've never met, and if you can ever make your way out here the door is always open. Your outlook on life, positivity and humor have been a huge inspiration to me. PUNT THE RELATIVES!

Meg-We weren't smart enough to do all that. Swear that until I did a quick internet search I had no idea these were called wild carrots. As bored as we were as kids you'd think we might have pulled on of 'em up to dissect and then destroy it, but that never happened. Drive safely this week and do what you can to beat that traffic.

Off to The Paying Job tomorrow at o-dark thirty. Have a great Monday.

Annie said...

Love the photo...and the blurb...ad your hair..sounds great! much more exciting I can assure than ordinary boring straight hair. Which I have to get cut, cos I had another bad epileptic..(can't wake up from deep sleep to light sleep) dream last night from overheating. My poor daughter in law had to come shake me awake and make sure I was OK. Poor girl.

foolery said...

At least you don't have Happy Hair, CBW. That was my special curse all through life until college. Hair as thick as ticks on a hound and short enough so that sleeping on it made it stand up like Buckwheat's . . . especially with a perm, and I ALWAYS had a perm.

BOOyah.