Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Celebrations

Saint Patrick's Day is here and with the celebrations of green beer, leprechauns, corned beef and cabbage and maybe even talk of the blarney stone, I also celebrate my birthday.

Today in first grade we failed to trap a single leprechaun but we did write limericks about them:

There once was a sneaky leprechaun named Lucky,
who danced on the bookshelf and sang haha hee hee!
That tiny tricky leprechaun named Lucky.
My birthday extravaganza started on Sunday when all the family assembled at The Block in Santa Ana (for non Californians, we'll just say, slightly south of Disneyland) for lunch, coffee and dinner. When the children asked what Mama wanted, I said, TIME. And that's what they gave me (along with a few little gifties). I loved it so much I didn't take a single minute away from the day to photograph it.

Then on Monday, which for some reason unknown to me was a school holiday (not that I minded), Ellen and I drove down Highway 1 along the Pacific Coastline to Santa Monica. On the way we spotted dolphins splashing, playing, feeding, swimming near the shoreline.

The purpose of our visit was to check out this place:

Tudor House is located on 2nd Street near Santa Monica Blvd in Santa Monica. We are happy to recommend this truly authentic tea room.

We chose to sample the traditional tea with salad, sandwiches, scones and petit fours. Our tea choice was Earl Grey.

After tea we walked the one block to Ocean Blvd, crossed the street and strolled along the park on the bluff that overlooks Santa Monica beach~

Santa Monica Pier was just a few blocks south, stretching its wooden planks out in to the Pacific Ocean.

This evening, after tutoring and a quick drop-by my lys, The Professor served me barbequed salmon, asparagus, mashed potatoes and green salad. I think we'll end the night on a green and chocolate note. I noticed some mint chip ice cream in the freezer.

This day is not just leprechauns, beer, Willow's birthday. It is also a day to remember Saint Patrick, the man who brought Christianity to Ireland. I've always loved sharing my day with Saint Patrick. He wasn't actually Irish himself; he was from Cumbria and lived for years as a slave in Ireland. After escaping and returning to his home, he was compelled to return to Ireland as a missionary to teach his former captors about the love of Christ.

The God of life with guarding hold you,

The loving Christ with guarding fold you,

The Holy Spirit, guarding, mould you,

Each night of life to aid, enfold you,

Each day and night of life uphold you.

May God shield me,

May God fill me,

May God keep me,

May God watch me,

May God bring me this night,

To the nearness of his love.

23 comments:

XUE said...

Selamat Hari Jadi! Shen re kuai le! That's Happy Birthday in the Malay language you know & in the Chinese language I know.

Beatriz said...

Happy Birthday, Willow! I love your post so much. Thanks for sharing the information on the Tudor House. I'd love to go there with my DH and share an afternoon by the beach. It sounds like the perfect weekend outing. Hugs!

Anonymous said...

Lovely way to spend your day! The tea house looks scrumptious.

Knitting Linguist said...

Happy happy birthday! It sounds like it's been a wonderful celebration all the way around :)

ellen b. said...

Oh Amen to that beautiful prayer!

kari and kijsa said...

Happy St. Patricks Day!
blessings, kari & kijsa

Unknown said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Kak Willow, I won't need to say it in Bahasa and Chinese as Xue has done that already. May you stay forever young...afterall, age is only a figure. May you have a healthy and happy year too :D Much love/M

BTW, say hi to Julene for me, its been ages since she has blogged, probably too busy.

Tracy said...

Happy Birthday, Willow...a day late, but don't think you'll mind! ;o) What a splendid birthday! Oh, I miss tea rooms (we don't have them here in Norway, sadly...*sigh...) So glad your birthday has been days of celebration and party! Wishing you a beautiful year...((HUGS))

roxie said...

May you have many, many happy returns of the day!

Lovella ♥ said...

. .and a proper Happy Birthday to you too Willow. What a lovely post. I could have enjoyed your special day too ..the time, the menu for dinner and the tea house. .oh and thankyou for placing your party local. I always have a hard time with Californian towns.
You did a good job with the limerick too ..those little ones must have been funny.

Islandsparrow said...

Happy Birthday again!

What a wonderful day - even dolphins! A life-long dream of mine. we had them in our harbour once but I never saw them.

Time with family is the best gift isn't it? I have a b-day coming soon and I'll ask mine to bring their guitars and we'll sing and laugh and eat. A perfect evening.

Islandsparrow said...

oh I almost forgot - I'm leaving this message with my blog friends.
If you have me on RSS feed or Google Reader, you may have to resubscribe - some problems with domain names but resubscribing will work. Thanks!

Robin said...

I never knew the history of St. Patrick before - thanks for sharing that - that is so great! I guess with the shamrocks and the leprochans I never thought to investigate the true meaning of the day or the man.
And happy birthday Willow - it sounds like you had a very fulfilling and happy day!

Marg said...

Thanks for sharing the St. Patricks' verse and the history.
I like what you said, to your kids...Time...That's what I requested and we're still having so much time. I don't need things anymore.

Jientje said...

Happy Birthday!!
It looks like you had a great birthday!

Deb said...

Happy Birthday to You! Celebrate each day. I loved the history lesson, the tour of Southern California, and the beautiful ocean pictures. Time is a precious gift. Enjoy!

Jane said...

Happy Birthday Willow, English tea and sandwiches + perfect day out.Brilliant birthday. Jane x

Claudia Bugh said...

What a thoroughly enjoy post, Willow! Sounds like a perfect birthday celebration.

Guess where I was this morning? The Tudor Shop and Ye Old King's Head replenishing my supplies of biscuits and teas :)

Dorothy said...

Oh, Willow, I am so glad you had such a lovely celebration! Happy, happy belated birthday!

ancient one said...

I'm always late... Happy Birthday!!

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

The Tudor House looks like a nice palce to have tea.

I love the Prayer of Saint Patrick.

Hope it was a wonderful birthday and "wearing of the green" day fro you!

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

Hi Willow, you had a lovely birthday! The Tudor House tea looks scrumptious. Earl Gray would have been my choice too!

Bethany said...

Okay... you just made me extremely hungry!!!! I love you and your heart!!!