I'M BACK...

Hi, I'm back after a loooooooong break from this blog with what I hope will be lots of interesting articles for you to read, some to make you laugh or cry and others on a more serious matter.

Us Brits have a lot to offer and are a very special race of people so do pop by with your mug of tea or coffee and sit down and enjoy ............

AIR POLLUTION PROBLEM HITS THE BRITISH NEWS ...

All over the papers and for that matter all over our cars in Britain for the last couple of days, has been a type of Sahara sand dust.

According to the BBC News 'People with health problems are being warned to avoid strenuous activity after forecasts that air pollution will reach high levels in parts of England'.

Defra issued warnings as high pollution levels were recorded on Tuesday.

The pollution - a mix of local and European emissions and dust from the Sahara - is forecast in parts of south England, the Midlands and East Anglia.

The elderly and those with lung or heart disease are among those warned against exercising outside.

In February, the European Commission launched legal proceedings against the UK for failing to reduce levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) air pollution.

On Wednesday, Defra (the Department for Food, Agriculture & Rural Affairs) admitted it was a "challenge" to meet air pollution targets near busy roads but said air quality had "improved significantly" in recent decades.

Even the Prime Minister, David Cameron's car was covered in the Sahara dust.

Defra has a 10-point scale for measuring air quality - with level one implying a "low" risk of air pollution and 10 warning of "very high" levels.

Levels are determined by the concentration of five pollutants in the air, including NO2, sulphur dioxide (SO2) and ozone.

High levels of air pollution are usually reached about five times a year, Defra said.

On Wednesday, levels were recorded at six - meaning moderate - in East Anglia and south-east England, with pollution readings reaching level five in London and areas of north-east England.

However, forecasters say pollution levels could reach high levels later in the day and on Thursday, before clearing on Friday.

The BBC weather centre said the highest recordings were likely to be in East Anglia and the East Midlands, while moderate to high air pollution levels were also forecast for large parts of southern and central England.

TEA IN ENGLAND...

Tea in England is a blog written by Denise, an American living in Surrey and a self-confessed Anglophile.

Denise is fascinated by tea culture and everything that goes with it (she’s even a graduate of the UK Tea Council’s Tea Masterclass!) Her blog is a combination of recipes, reviews, tips, giveaways, and a lot of tea wisdom.

After two years of posting her adventures and unique finds on her personal Facebook page, she decided that it was time to start sharing it all with you and the rest of the tea-drinking-England-loving world, so she created Tea in England.

This is a place for you to talk about tea, England and Tea in England,  and although her husband thinks that Denise knows everything, about tea, she says that in fact 'the truth is: I don’t.'
There’s still a lot to learn about tea and about England, so pop in every now and then and see where Denise has been.
 

BRITISH SUMMER WEATHER...

Summer June and July
They are saying that the summer is expected to start on a drier than average note, with that theme continuing at least in the south of the country into July.

Temperatures across the first two months of summer are expected to be close to, or just above average - so potentially a good deal of dry and warm weather to be seen.

Fingers crossed...

In Scotland, there is no such thing as bad weather - only the wrong clothes.
Billy Connelly

THE TYPICALLY BRITISH WEATHER...

The Brits are obsessed with the weather. We talk about it all the time. Every shop owner must get sick of us all saying the same thing, day in day out. But this week has been the warmest week in April for a long time, so we are entitled to get excited about it.

'74F in April', say the weather men. In fact the forecast for the weekend is so good they are telling us to 'buff up our sunglasses and break out the barbecue' ready for our hot weekend.

Blue skies basked across most of the UK and beaches were getting busy. But with forecasts for a long wet summer already being talked about, taking the barbecue out this early could be a bit presumptuous.

The garden centres are buzzing and I've certainly spent up this week in one of them. After such a harsh winter many Brits have found a number of their plants and trees have suffered from it, so I'm sure that no matter what the weather is like they should be stay busy this summer.

KATE MIDDLETON...

Anyone who exploits the Royal bride to be's name to sell dresses will be in for a surprise as they wil be sued, stores were warned today according to The Daily Mail.

COURSES ON THE GREAT BRITISH 'AFTERNOON TEA'...

If you have never enjoyed an afternoon tea, or if your an enthusiastic lover of afternoon teas then I'm sure one of the course from the company 'englishafternoontea.com' will be suitable for you.

The specialise in traditional afternoon tea courses and you learn in a friendly, informal environment and the courses are designed to introduce you to the world of afternoon tea.

They offer one-to-one tuition, covering baking through to the social history of tea. Course vary from one to five days. The courses, which take place in Sandgate, Kent offer are One-Day Gluten Free Baking Course, One-Day Cream Tea Course, One-Day Brief History of Afternoon Tea with Baking, One-Day Academic Course and a Five-Day English Afternoon Tea course with a tea party.

TYPICALLY BRITISH DINNER PARTIES...

'At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely.'
W. Somerset Maugham

TEA TIME...

My hour for tea is half-past five, and my buttered toast waits for nobody
Wilkie Collins (1824-89) English Novelist

117 DAYS AND COUNTING TO WILLIAM AND KATES WEDDING...

With only 117 days to go until April 29th for William and Kate's wedding it's not surprise to find out that there are a number of companies thinking up different types of merchandise to sell about the wedding.

But someone else has come up with another idea to make money out of the couple by introducing a Kate and William walking tour of the capital for £15.

For £15 one of the things that you will be shown is where William climbed on to a night club table and yelled 'I'm free', after he dumped Kate in 2007 !!!

Surely, that the last thing fans of the royals would want to see.

BODIES IN THE RIVER THAMES...

I bet you didn't know that 'on average, one dead body is found in the Thames every week !!!!!'

BRITISH NEW YEAR TRADITIONS....

With New Year upon us the weird things we do in Britain start with the way we let our new year in.
Putting coal on the outside doorstep, and singing aul lang syne will be part of some Britians New Years Eve celebrations.

For years and years we have had the piece of coal, gold and a dark haried member of the family to let the New Year in for good luck. To ensure good luck for the house, the first foot should be male dark and should bring symbolic coal, shortbread, black bun and whisky. This is a typical Hogmany Scottish tradition.

IT'S NOT DAVID DIMBLEBY FOR THE ROYAL WEDDING...

'It's probably a good thing I wasn't asked. The last wedding I did ended in divorce' said David Dimbleby who covered the wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson.

ROYAL WEDDING CHINA NOW UP FOR SALE...

The official range of the Royal Wedding china made in Stoke-on-Trent has gone on sale.

The beautiful collection includes a tankard, plate and pill box, by the Royal Collection and have been approved by the Prince and his fiance.

Made from English bone china, each item bears the couple's initials, the prince's coronet and the wedding date.

All profits for the sale of items from the range are dedicated to the Royal Collection Trust.

SCOTLAND AND BRTISH MONEY...

Did you know that the use of the thistle a royal symbol of Scotland was on silver coins issued by James 111 in 1470.

Also, economist Adam Smith, who appears on Britain's most used banknote, the £20 note, is the first Scot to be depicted on a British banknote.

COLDEST DECEMBER FOR 100 YEARS...

'We all need to look out for each other'
Nigel Stafford, for the British Red Cross on dealing with the coldest December for 100 years

WHO'S GOING TO ANCHOR NEXT YEARS ROYAL WEDDING?...

WHO'S GOING TO ANCHOR NEXT YEARS ROYAL WEDDING?...

At the moment the veteran David Dimbleby seems to be top of the list, who fails to rule it out when asked, which could mean he's been given the nod.

Some people however think a younger generation would be more suitable in particular, 'I'm a Celebrity, Get me out of Here' presenters Ant and Dec !!

CELEBRITY STRICTLY COME DANCING....

'I don't believe in public humiliation. It went out with the stocks'.
Penelope Keith, star of The Good Life, on why she would never join Strictly Come Dancing

PRINCE ANDREW...

'All that sounds exactly like France'
Prince Andrew response to claims that corrupt business practices are rife in to whistleblowing website WIkiLeaks

'He has a right to expect to be able to say things. We don't operate on a nicey-nicey basis'
Buckingham Palace aid defending the Prince

BEING BRITISH...

They say that being British is about tolerance, decency and the determination to talk about the weather on all occasions as well as a tendency, when a stranger stands on one's foot, to apologise
Martin Bell