Monday 6 May 2013

Birthstone Unicorns - May EMERALD

May is one of my favourite months, with its promise of summer and longer days. I always wanted to be a May bride and I was - an extremely windy May day when my veil nearly took off and a guest lost their hat over the side of a cliff! The birthstone for this month is the beautiful emerald. Their deep green a symbol of new beginnings and nature.The verse from the Gregorian poem goes with this nicely, although my engagement ring was not an emerald.

Who first beholds the light of day

In spring's sweet, flower month of May

And wears an Emerald all her life

Shall be a loved and a loving wife.

May is often a time for traditional festivals. My local town is famous for Flora Day held on the 8th. This Spring festival celebrates the end of winter and the arrival of new vitality and fertility. Houses and shops are decorated with greenary, yellow gorse and bluebells. It looks wonderful. The dancers and many of the crowds wear sprigs of Lily of the Valley too. Lily of the Valley is often considered to be the birth flower for May.

For a snippet of this festival click HERE to be redirected to a You Tube clip showing the Midday dance. The ladies wear long dresses and the men top hat and tails. There are several dances throughout the day starting at 7am and finishing at 5pm. Local school children dance through the streets in white. The sound of the band playing the familiar tune vibrates through your head by the end of the day but it is an amazing spectacle that brings the whole community together.

Bluebells in the woods


Or how about a bit of cheese rolling in Gloucestershire. It looks quite dangerous to me!

Emerald, the Birthstone Unicorn, is involved in a special festival this month. Click on the tab at the top of the page if you want to read a short extract from her story.

Happy Birthday to all born this month




43 comments:

  1. Yeah, don't like cheese enough to go breaking my leg lol

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  2. Cheese rolling - soon to be an Olympic sport!

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  3. That's a very pretty poem. Cheese rolling? Why didn't we have that wonder here when I could still eat cheese? Yummy!

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    1. I'm not sure I fancy eating the cheese when its been chased down a hill!

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  4. I love emeralds-- they are such lovely stones. Sometimes it feels like if you stare into them, you can see depths of other worlds.

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  5. Those bluebells are so beautiful. Cheese rolling, that's hilarious.

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    1. I went for a walk this afternoon and took the photo, beautiful aren't they?

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  6. I've heard about the cheese rolling before. Sounds very interesting. To watch.

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  7. I actually enjoy Cheese rolling, but generally, only in Skyrim, where I am known as the great cheese roller.

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  8. Suzanne, I nominated you for another award. Please go to; www.dhdunne.blogspot.com to find out more.

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  9. So...um...in YOUR town people dress up and dance, whereas in MINE we chase muddy cheeses...I'm not all that keen on the comparison you're making here...*hangs head in shame*

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    1. I bet you were a gorgeous May bride
      I have a b-day this week,so thank you
      : )

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    2. Sorry, Helen I hadn't made that connection to our towns in this post! Have you tried the cheese rolling? I've never danced in Flora Day although I would love to. My girls danced in the children's dances a couple of times when they were at school. Have a good week.

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  10. I remember when my dad bought my mum an emerald ring for her birthday. Stunning. I must have been young, because that was when I first learned about birthstones.

    I'm not born in May, but I am a Taurus, so I feel connected. Happy May, Suzanne!

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    1. Happy May to you Joylene. It's funny what sticks in your head from when you were a child isn't it? A lovely memory.

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  11. Flora Day sounds fantastic! :D

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    1. It's a real community day. Unfortunately, being mid week this year, I am working tomorrow but will be there for the 7am dance and then back for the 5pm!

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  12. I do love emeralds. And cheese rolling, for some reason, amuses me.

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  13. I love emeralds. They're one of my favorite gems. :-)

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  14. Flora Day sounds lovely. We don't have anything like that where I live.

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    1. It is certainly one of those occasions that brings the community together. A lovely atmosphere in town.

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  15. Hi Suzanne .. I've always wanted to write about the Cheese Rolling competition - sounds crazy to me! - but a ringside 'seat' would make a fun watch ..

    I hadn't realised you are in Helston - further down than I thought .. but I'll be down that way sometime ... generally routing through the West Country ...

    The Floral Dance is such a Cornish tradition - but Helston is definitely the place ... reminds me of my mother and her friends ... old days too ..

    Cheers Hilary

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    1. Maybe catch you this way sometime, Hilary. A cream tea perhaps?

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  16. Then I never mentioned marriage and hats blowing away - Cornish gales .. and why the trees lean to leeward ... and Emeralds - just be good and I'm sure a little one will come your way ... cheers Hilary

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    1. It can certainly blow a gale here when it wants to!

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  17. I am really enjoying the longer days, that's for sure, although I don't quite like being woken up so early in the morning because sunrise is just too darned early! I need true blackout curtains.

    Emerald is a beauty. I've got to remember that and see if I can be a May bride just to get the emeralds. :) :(That's if I'm ever a bride!:( Writer’s Mark

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    1. I'm sure you'll be a bride, Nancy. The sun streaming through the curtains is lovely but it does tend to wake you up early doesn't it?

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  18. This is such a sweet post. Bluebells...gorgeous. We are coming into winter, so complete opposite, but our days are beautifully summery. I wear a green sapphire that everyone thinks is an emerald.

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    1. I love to see the swathes of bluebells, Denise. It's like a carpet of lavender blue. I'm not sure I've seen a green sapphire in the 'flesh' very different and I'm sure confuses people.

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  19. OH man those flowers are beautiful. I would love to just go and write in that spot.

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    1. It looks great doesn't it? Thanks for the visit Brandon.

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  20. thank you suzanne, i needed that reminder of the beauty of my birth month :)

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    1. Aww Happy Birthday, Lynn. Glad this post was a nice reminder.

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  21. We had an annual May Day dance during Elementary School. It was really fun. Since then, I haven't much appreciated May, but you've brought me back to remembering its value. Thank you, Suzanne.

    xoRobyn

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    1. That's sweet, Robyn so glad you enjoyed reading my post today :)

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