bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace

Subject: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: bubblyrat
Date: 20 May 09 - 06:10 PM

Bubblyrat is thrilled to have been invited to attend ( with Wild Flying Dove, of course ) a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in July,in celebration of 100 years of Naval Aviation,in which he played a very small part !!

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 20 May 09 - 06:12 PM

Congrabulations.

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Zany Mouse
Date: 20 May 09 - 06:51 PM

Ah! I see a visit to a hatshop coming on, Karen! lol

Enjoy!
Rhiannon

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Richard Atkins
Date: 20 May 09 - 07:18 PM

No name of source given here, but a freind on his second Garden Party at Buck House spoke to Her Magesty when she was pissed.
Roger go easy plying her with good Cider !
Have a brill day

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: GUEST
Date: 20 May 09 - 07:50 PM

There are right and wrong times to speak to Her Majesty, while on the 'throne' is definely the wrong time!!!

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Leadfingers
Date: 20 May 09 - 08:00 PM

What about MY Part in Naval Aviation ? I changed a frequecy label on a receiver in a Helicopter once ! AND I drew my Tot - Not bad for a crabfat ! LOL ! Have a good day mate !

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: GUEST
Date: 20 May 09 - 08:11 PM

Hope you both have a fantastic day.
Colyn.

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 20 May 09 - 08:49 PM

Having regard to some of bubblyrat's postings over the years with regard to, let's say, matters of political sensitivity, that's three people of dubious political leanings going to Buck House this year.

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Peace
Date: 21 May 09 - 12:51 AM

That is wonderful, Bubblyrat. I hope it's a great day for you.

Please say hello to her nibs from Bruce. Tell her the Canadian one. She'll know who ya mean.

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Peace
Date: 21 May 09 - 01:02 AM

OOPS. Say hello to Phil, also.

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: bubblyrat
Date: 21 May 09 - 03:31 AM

The last time I saw Phil was at the Naval Air Station,Yeovilton (HMS Heron) in 1964,when I was a very young member of a Royal Guard in his honour-----as I recall, he turned up wearing the wrong uniform and fell off the back of the reviewing vehicle ; should I remind him or keep quiet,do you think ?? (not my strong point !).

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Sugwash
Date: 21 May 09 - 03:34 AM

What has the monarchy come to, a WAFU at the Palace! Have a good day, but lay off the cucumber sandwiches, they'll make you burp and fart.

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 21 May 09 - 06:41 AM

You'll be able to throw rock buns at those (insert expletive of choice here)men from the BNP!


RtS

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 21 May 09 - 06:45 AM

If, of course, so wishing...

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 21 May 09 - 08:06 AM

Hope you have an enjoyable and memorable day. There will be a dress code of course but make sure that you both are comfortable as well!

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: My guru always said
Date: 21 May 09 - 08:55 AM

Ah, autographs on offer from now on then? Do say Hi to Her Liz-ness for me, won't you? Distant though it may be, if I'm related to her Mum's family, I guess I'm related to her too. Haven't had an invite myself though *grumble, grumble* Good luck at the hat shop & enjoy!!

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: bubblyrat
Date: 21 May 09 - 09:51 AM

Dear Richard B ,
enough of your venom, I say ! I would happily chuck hand-grenades,let alone rock-cakes,at the BNP,who have brought shame and dishonour on the cause of English patriotism. I DO NOT support the BNP in ANY way, never have done,and have no intention of ever doing so.
My concerns for the ability of my beloved land to support and maintain a lunatic policy of unrestrained and seemingly un-regulated immigration lead me to express,on occasion,opinions that SOME people,including yourself,apparently,find distasteful and out-of-kilter with their,and your,trendy liberal philosophies.
   As it happens, the BNP leader,if still "in the frame",is due to attend a similar function on the 21st July ,or thereabouts,NOT the 9th,thus being denied the pleasure (but not for long!) of a meeting with me.
    Meanwhile, I look forward to meeting with kindred spirits who have got off their arses,fought for or represented their country,taken risks,been exposed to danger,found themselves in harm's way,and generally left their mark in this troubled world. I await a synopsis of your record of patriotic service with interest.
                Respectfully, (really)
                     Roger....

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: bubblyrat
Date: 21 May 09 - 09:59 AM

Do you know, evereyone, I wish I hadn't said anything now ! Why do some people have to be so objectionable and try to spoil things for some of us ?? Beats me !

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Sailor Ron
Date: 21 May 09 - 10:15 AM

Congratulations. My wife attended a garden party at the Palace [many years ago], the thing that impressed her most, besides staning next to John Hert, was the Ladies toilets!

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 May 09 - 10:32 AM

Pay him no mind, Roger. Go have a good day and thanks for letting us know. I'd be thrilled to bits were I you! AND< I expect to *hear* all about it, afterwards!

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: billybob
Date: 21 May 09 - 11:16 AM

Enjoy, and wear comfortable shoes!! Lots of standing around!

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: bubblyrat
Date: 21 May 09 - 03:35 PM

Lots of standing around ??You'll be telling me next that there's NO BAR !! Oh dear ! And I suppose I'll have to wear a TIE as well --Uggggh !

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: My guru always said
Date: 21 May 09 - 05:21 PM

Get Karen to do a good inspection of the Ladies toilets & report back please. You can do the Gents too if you like.....

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Peace
Date: 21 May 09 - 09:57 PM

Bubblyrat: you go, enjoy yourself and have a great day. It'll be a moment you'll remember for a long time to come. I think it's wonderful that you've been invited. In the vernacular, 'blow 'em away'.

Bruce

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: billybob
Date: 22 May 09 - 10:24 AM

Any chance of using the ladies loo in the "house"? My mother did and dined out for ages by saying she had sat on the throne!

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Eric the Viking
Date: 22 May 09 - 11:33 AM

Just don't knock orf the silver collection. !! I have pee'd down the very same bog as Phil.I think he flushed it first.

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 22 May 09 - 01:39 PM

Congratulations, bubbly. (Can't bring myself to call you 'rat.') I'm glad your contribution is being acknowledged. I want to hear all about it afterward.

I've seen Buckingham Palace from the outside. If you have time, check out the nearby park (St James?), especially the exotic birds on the pond, which have been given to the Queen as gifts by other nations.

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: bubblyrat
Date: 22 May 09 - 03:47 PM

Well,thankyou so much,leeneia ! Your interest is most gratifying.Naturally,I shall be happy to post a report of the proceedings,after the event.This particular Garden Party is not one of this year's scheduled ones,as per those on the 7th,14th,and 21st of July,but rather a "special" one being held to celebrate the 100th anniversary of British Naval Aviation ( I believe that last year's "special" was to commemorate the centennial of the Territorial Army ).So I might get away with wearing a Fleet Air Arm blazer & badge----if not, I'll have to hire a morning dress outfit from Moss Bros !!(which I do not fancy at all !).I like exotic birds (plenty of those in Hong Kong & Singapore !) so will check out St James's Pond if you think it's worth it !

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 22 May 09 - 10:15 PM

St James's pond is very nice and the exotic birdlife is pelicans. They're evil bastards and will mug you for sandwiches. Don't feed them. Queen Mother did once and now the buggers won't go away.

Enjoy the day, report back asap!

LTS

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 22 May 09 - 10:36 PM

Squeak, take a gander (heh heh) at these pix. Three kinds of exotic bird, and the photog didn't even seem to be a birdwatcher.

http://travel.webshots.com/album/549607460VJAudu

Bubbly, if you are forced to wear morning dress, just tell yourself that you are a spring male in breeding plumage. It's nature's way.

I bet the gardens will be just beautiful. I have a photo I took near Buckingham Palace of a beautiful plant covered with blue blossoms. It is growing happily in a window well and under a grate. It can't have received any care at all, but it's thriving.

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 22 May 09 - 11:07 PM

Years ago my daughter visited London and The Queen did not invite her to tea. A year or two later The Queen visited Nova Scotia and I returned the snub by not inviting her over for tea either. We have not spoken since.

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Geordie-Peorgie
Date: 23 May 09 - 05:59 PM

By heck! The'll let ANY bugger gan te these do's now! Seriously BR, hev a canny time, bonnie lad. Give Phil The Greek the finger for uz!

Does Billybob knaah that 'wearing comfortable shoes' is a euphemism for 'carpet munching'?

Bubbly!!! Aah nivvor knew YOU swung that way!

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: The Vulgar Boatman
Date: 23 May 09 - 06:20 PM

Just remember - sippers, NOT gulpers...

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: GUEST,Greycap
Date: 24 May 09 - 08:20 AM

They cut the crusts right off all the sandwiches, but the tea is good & strong.
Mrs. Knowles and I fell about when the Royal Marines band kicked off into 'That's Why The Lady Is A Tramp' as the Royal party came into sight.
I suspect the bandleader is in Afghanistan......or Iraq, or dead.

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Celtaddict
Date: 24 May 09 - 06:35 PM

Bubblyrat, have a great time!

And Geordie-Peorgie, I was not worried about 'wear comfortable shoes' until your comment, but now really need to know, what is carpet munching??

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: GUEST,royal marine
Date: 10 Jul 09 - 06:15 AM

hope you had a good as day as i did planty of champers on offer and even tho i didn't go in the ladies i was told they have staff that wipe the seat down after each lady
and hope your shoes were comfy my hat was killing my head
cheers royal

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Will Fly
Date: 10 Jul 09 - 06:20 AM

I hope you didn't let the family genes down by inappropriate behaviour - after what happened at Henley... Us Flys and Rats have a reputation to uphold, you know.

Anyway, bet you had a great day.

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Suegorgeous
Date: 10 Jul 09 - 08:09 PM

I thought Richard's bit of disquiet reasonable, not venomous or objectionable.

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: skipy
Date: 10 Jul 09 - 08:23 PM

Congrats
Skipy

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Peace
Date: 11 Jul 09 - 07:43 PM

Ditto.

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: fat B****rd
Date: 12 Jul 09 - 03:35 PM

Well done and all that from Charlie in Dunfermline.

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: bubblyrat
Date: 13 Jul 09 - 05:25 AM

Thankyou so much,everybody,for your kind wishes & observations -Anyway,here is a description of the day's events !

On the Big Day ,Thursday 9th,we were in various states of stress / paranoia----Ok, well I was,anyway.Karen's new outfit,specially purchased in Tavistock ( well, we were at the Dulverton Folk Festival, !) was no trouble,but my trouserings required some last-minute adjustments and a press .We knew we couldn't take cameras,so posed in Karen's garden while her son took photties.
We left home (Marlow)about 1200,having checked 20 times that we had passports and tickets with us,and had a clear run,apart from Knightsbridge,to Hyde Park Corner,thence easily to Constitution Hill.The police saw our windscreen sticker,and guided us to a parking spot at Green Park. It being only 1315,we visited the bogs at Green Park station ( a long walk !),and finally started queueing outside the Palace main entrance at 1400.
            We were let in at 1435,but only as far as the inner courtyard (to clear the pavement outside !).Finally,we were allowed in to the Gardens at 1455,and Karen made straight for the Tea Tent ! We found a table,with another couple seated there,and joined them,she a charming Scottish lady,he a former Aircraft Handler.We made friends and stayed with them the whole time ! Tea was at 1530, the food was amazing,and we went round three times ! At about 1456,there was a big flypast of helicopters,then the National Anthem,and some Royals made their entrance.No Queen ,though----she got SOAKED at Tuesday's GP, and wasn't going to risk it again.
          At half past four, the catering staff moved amonst us with trays laden with tubs of Losely's ice-cream ( Yummy!), and we indulged in some "people watching"----I saw and spoke to some members of the Bournemouth branch of the Fleet Air Arm Association,of which I was Founder & first Chairman (they didn't remember me !!). We saw LOADS of people in uniform, of course---a large number of Senior Officers,of course,mainly aircrew,naturally,and lots of other ranks too,from Junior Naval Airman to Warrant Officer--it was nice to see the young ones enjoying the occasion,they revelled in it !! Also present were visitors from other navies---I saw a Maori CPO from the New Zealand Navy, an American sailor in "whites",and a US Marine Corps pilot.There was even someone from something called,apparently,the "RAF" !
    At 1700,the excellent catering staff circulated once more with trays of Champagne,instigating a frenzied scramble ! After a good glug,as per my name,I grabbed a refill,and off we went for our tour of the lovely gardens !At this point,we noticed that EVERYBODY was taking photos with their mobile 'phones ,so our friends Myra & Martin asked us to snap them (and vice versa ) ---later on, we posed for shots of us standing in front of helicopters near thePalace gates ; I will get Karen to do a Blue Clicky link tonight !
   Of course,all too soon it was over,& time to go home, but what a day !! What an experience !! We shall never forget that day,I can tell you !! I want to go again !!

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: bubblyrat
Date: 13 Jul 09 - 05:37 AM

Silly me !! The flypast and National Anthem were at 1556, not 1456 !!

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: theleveller
Date: 13 Jul 09 - 05:50 AM

"Why do some people have to be so objectionable and try to spoil things for some of us ?? Beats me !"

Ah, you mean why do people have opinions that are different to yours on a public discussion board? Well, I think it's called free speech. As a staunch republican I abhor this type of arse-licking bun fight which supports an outdated, decrepit system based on inherited privilege. It was not for this that my father and grandfather fought in two world wars, putting themselves 'in harm's way'.

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Tim Leaning
Date: 13 Jul 09 - 07:34 AM

Is that as good as getting on Britain's got talent?
Have a good time,watch out for corgi poo!

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: bubblyrat
Date: 13 Jul 09 - 12:13 PM

Dear Mr Leveller-----My Grandfather,who fought in the First World War ,was gassed,and suffered from shell-shock,and my Father,who flew 18 Operations at night over Germany with 214 (FMS) Squadron,both volunteered to do so out of a profound sense of duty,patriotism,and love of their country, NOT to further the cause of Communism,which you appear to suggest was the sole motivating factor behind your own Father's & Grandfather's efforts.If they did,as you say,put themselves "in harm's way" in the cause of Soviet egalitarianism,a sad oxymoron if ever there was one,then good luck to them and good luck to you,although why you are still here and not in Moscow, I cannot imagine !!! You know what they say......"If you can't stand the heat......" !!!
               God Save The Queen !!

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Suegorgeous
Date: 13 Jul 09 - 02:32 PM

I'm baffled... where does it say Leveller's father/grandfather were motivated by Communism?

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Jul 09 - 02:44 PM

Thanks for the sneak-peek of your day, bubblyrat! Sounds like it was fun and well-attended.

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: Leadbelly
Date: 13 Jul 09 - 02:50 PM

"...my Father,who flew 18 Operations at night over Germany with 214 (FMS) Squadron..."

Bubblyrat, it's good, that Hitler-Germany has been defeated.
But it's even better that your father or americans didn't get and kill me in July 1943 in Hamburg-Hamm, which has almost totally been destroyed by bombs. I was born one month before. My parents told me about these horrible days and nights in Hamburg-Hamm...

Manfred (from Germany)

Subject: RE: bubblyrat @ Buckingham Palace
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 13 Jul 09 - 03:00 PM

Thank you for the wonderful description, bubbly. I can almost imagine being there.

Message to certain others here - do not use bubbly's happiness as an excuse for reviving the old hostilities.

Bubbly, were the gardens spectacular?