Good Sunady

When I was a child we celebrated May Day but not as a labor day (in the US we celebrate Labor Day in September). We hung may baskets on doorknobs of our neighbors, rang the bell and then hid or ran away. The baskets were full of wildflowers we had picked in the woods. We made the may baskets from colored paper, paper doilies and other such things. It was great fun for us. Sadly I think most of our kids would have a difficult time finding pickable wildflowers today. We had woods to roam in where that was ok and found all sorts of pretty small flowers to use - violets, hepatica, etc.

This site is from Illinois but the flowers are very like the ones we had in Southern Minnesota.

Hi Judy,

I'm so glad to see that some one remembers May baskets and how they were made. We used to put a little candy instead of wildflowers in them. I remember the umbrella as the prettiest one of all. Oh the lovely memories.

Hugs,

Nora

When I was a child, the first day of May was the beginning of Mary's month, and we would wear whatever we could find in blue. A bit later, I learned about May poles, and baskets. Later still, I learned about May 1st baing a day for workers. Either way, it is still one step closer to summer!

Katherine

I'd forgotten about that tradition, Katherine! We also used to make May altars with a statue or picture of Mary and some flowers -whatever we could find which was sometimes just daisies. Thanks for the memory.

Eimear

Mirjam "Een nieuwe lente en een nieuw geluid" by Herman Gorter....I loved that Dutch poem

Els

Guess what, everyone, the dance around the maypoles, is a Kumihimo braid pattern.......

Els with a big smile.....

Eimear, did you make daisy chains....We used the little ones, blooming right now. In Dutch we call these Madeliefjes.

Els

We did that, too, Eimear, and, because I went to a Catholic school, we would have a parade.

Katherine

LOL Of course it is, Els! I should have known.

Hugs, Katherine

Katherine ,, When you say Mary , you Mean The Mary ,,, It is interesting , since when i read VIrgin Blue it wrote about the connection between Blue and And The Virgin Mary... And until than i wasn`t aware about this connection.

All the Other May stuff , polres baskets etc,, i only read about when i was in high school , had no clue about it before that. mirjam

Els, my friends and I used to love to make daisy chains - bracelets, necklaces and wreaths for our hair.

Eimear

Different generations with the same fun...

Did you work in your garden today, the weather has been great.

Els

Yes, I do, Mirjam. SOrry for not making it clear.

Kather> Katherine ,,

We did that, Eimar. Remember how sticky your hands used to get?

Katherine

No computer games back then, Els. LOL! We didn't get a TV till I was 8 and then I was only allowed watch one hour of (censored) programmes a week. Instead we did all the outdoor things. I remember playing some fancy ball game that involved bouncing a rubber ball against a wall and doing some contortions while throwing the ball............

Yes, we planted some rhubarb, a gooseberry bush, some other berries called "youngberries", some rosemary and some lavender. It was a lovely day to be outside.

Eimear

Not to mention all the green stuff under the nails from making the slits in the stems!

Eimear

And did you chant: "Plainsies, Clapsies, Twirl-about, Bapsies"? I loved that!

Katherine

And wasn't that bitter if you forgot and put your fingers in your mouth???

Katherine

Thank you Katherine , Don`t apologise , how will i learn if i don`t ask ? mirjam