Oh To Be In England..

Englishman

'Tis a beautiful time of year, folks. I'm thinking of Alan F and Julie who visited us in December during a particularly wet and chilly winter.

Anyway, here's the cultural bit:

Oh, to be in England
Now that April's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England?now!

And after April, when May follows,
And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!
Hark, where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops?at the bent spray's edge?
That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children's dower
?Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!

Robert Browning.

reboot

Yesterday I would have agreed with you Mike... but i'm supposed to be laying my new lawn today and the sun's just disappeared and it's now pouring aaaaagggghhhhhhh

Actually the sun's back and the rain's stopped lol

Beautiful yes, but infuriating.

ozziepost

Oh, indeed! Robert Browning's lines present a romantic view but where is it in reality? Perhaps in East Anglia and some other rural areas but that's only a small part, numerically, of this great island nation. My observation has been that the nation's leaders have been responsible for things quite different from Browning's romantic view. And then there's its royal family, a laughing stock in the antipodes! Culturally its cities are far removed from the Browning lines.Need we go on?

But it is still a beautiful place in many areas. And then there's the soccer!

What about migrating to a place deserving of such lines, like Australia, for instance??

Cheers, Ozzie

ball.

I tell you what though, the weathers been bloody great, down here on the coast. Skinny dipping weather is nearly here.

reboot

I've been in a t shirt for the past three days Ball...but I think that's my lot til next year

ball.

Just a t-shirt???!!!!

Oh, as this thread is about England - everyone be aware you only have up to and including Monday to use your 3000 pound allowance to put into a cash ISA. And if anyone has any left over - you can always send it to me and I will dispose of it safely.

ozziepost

I've been in a t shirt for the past three days Ball

Don't you ever change into fresh clothes? I hope you're being free with the deodorant.

reboot

Just a t-shirt???!!!!

Don't you ever change change into fresh clothes?

i'm in training for Glastonbury

It's only the English that pay for the priviledge of spending a break living in less confort than their home...

Satans little helper

you are going to Glasto? Did you get a ticket? I got mine at 8am friday morning and looked like a zombie all day friday in work which wasn't a good idea as I was on a customer site

We'll have to meet up for a cider!

Dansk

Oh to be in England watching Manchester United beat Arsenal!!!!!

Last Updated: Saturday, 3 April, 2004, 12:55 GMT 13:55 UK alt

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Arsenal 0-1 Man Utd

FA Cup semi-final photos Player ratings

Paul Scholes ended Arsenal's hopes of the treble and a third successive FA Cup triumph with a first-half winner.

Scholes fired home Ryan Giggs' cross from close range after 31 minutes to seal an FA Cup final place against either Sunderland or Millwall.

Arsenal and Manchester United started without Thierry Henry and injured Ruud van Nistelrooy at Villa Park.

Edu and Patrick Vieira hit the woodwork for Arsenal while Roy Carroll saved from Dennis Bergkamp and Kolo Toure.

But United held Arsenal in their grip in the second half, despite the introduction of a host of attackers, wrecking their rivals' hopes of repeating their 1999 feat of winning the league, FA Cup and Champions League.

It means United travel to Cardiff for the final with hopes of salvaging their season with silverware.

Arsene Wenger, meanwhile, will turn his attention to the Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea on Tuesday and maintaining their lead in the Premiership.

KEY MOMENTS 3 mins: Edu strikes the bar from 18 yards 31 mins: Paul Scholes puts Man Utd ahead 45 mins: Patrick Vieira heads against the post

Arsenal's talisman Henry was restricted to a substitute's role, while Van Nistelrooy was ruled out by a knee injury.

And the Gunners almost started in sensational fashion as they did everything but score in the third minute.

Carroll dived at Bergkamp's feet as he raced clear, and from the rebound Wes Brown was forced to head the Dutchman's shot off the line.

The resulting corner saw Edu chip on to the bar with Carroll beaten, only for the goalkeeper to recover miraculously to block Kolo Toure's header.

Arsenal were dominating the opening stages, and Robert Pires should have put them ahead after 24 minutes, heading over an open goal from Bergkamp's cross.

Wes Brown proved every critic wrong today, and so did Ronaldo and Fletcher alt

From Icon da Carver Have your say on 606

Pires was then fortunate to escape a red card for flooring Gary Neville before United took the lead.

United's confidence was rising, but Arsenal almost equalised on the stroke of half-time when Vieira's header glanced off the outside of a post.

Arsenal, inevitably, stepped up the pace after the interval but United held firm at the back.

Hot-headed Gunners goalkeeper Lehmann was lucky not to be sent off after 51 minutes when he inexplicably got involved with Cristiano Ronaldo, pushing the Portuguese teenager to the ground.

And it was no surprise when Wenger made a double substitution after 57 minutes, sending on Jose Antonio Reyes for Jeremie Aliadiere and Henry for the disappointing Pires.

But this time there was no brilliance from Henry and United ended Arsenal's 18-match unbeaten FA Cup run stretching back to their defeat in the 2001 final against Liverpool in Cardiff.

Arsenal: Lehmann, Lauren, Campbell, Toure, Clichy, Ljungberg, Vieira, Edu (Kanu 76), Pires (Henry 57), Bergkamp, Aliadiere (Reyes 57).
Subs Not Used: Keown, Stack.

Booked: Pires, Lehmann, Toure, Lauren.

Man Utd: Carroll, Gary Neville, Brown, Silvestre, O'Shea, Ronaldo (Bellion 84), Fletcher, Keane, Scholes, Giggs, Solskjaer (Phil Neville 75).
Subs Not Used: Butt, Howard, Djemba-Djemba.

Booked: Scholes.

Referee: G Barber (Hertfordshire).

Attendance: 39,939.

Oh To Be In England..

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