Recipe for Blue

                                                                       New glasses or old

 

Dear Reader,

 I have been having trouble wearing my glasses, they are making marks on my face over the nose bit.  Apparently they are worn out.   I have had them for twenty years and they can't be mended now.  So sadly I set out to buy a new pair. But I couldn't find a pair that I liked. In my draw on the dressing table I found this pair, about fifteen years old, which I like so am going to wear them regardless of their age.  They sort of remind me of John Lennon and the Beatles and what more could one want from a pair of old glasses?

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The Egyptians began importing lapis lazuli from Afghanistan around 6000 years ago, but it was in the early 5th century that blue became associated with the Virgin Mary.   Marian blue, as the name became known, became the Madonna's official colour with the rise of Mariology and the cult of the Virgin. 

Deeply rooted in Catholic Symbolism, the blue of her cloak has been interpreted to represent the Virgin's purity, symbolize the skies and label her an empress, blue was associated with Byzantine royalty.

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From D.H. Lawrence, May 14th, 1915 in Sussex

'I find the country very beautiful.  The apple trees are leaning forwards, all white with blossom, towards the green grass.  I watch, in the morning when I wake up, a thrush on the wall outside the window - not a thrush, a blackbird - and he sings, opening his beak.   It is a strange thing to watch his singing, opening his beak and giving out his calls and warblings, then remaining silent. He looks so remote, so buried in primeval silence, standing there on the wall, and bethinking himself, then opening his beak to make the strange, strong sound.  He seems as if his singing were a sort of talking to himself, or of thinking aloud his strongest thoughts.  I wish I was a blackbird, like him. I hate men.'

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Recipe for Blue

 

Take blue from the mountains

and dye my bones,

crush lapis lazuli,

mix it in my hair.

Plunge my heart in forget-me-nots,

soak my maidenhead in blueberry juice,

add a pinch of larkspur.

Wrap me in the Blessed Virgin's dress,

shake over star sapphires,

fold in the clouds,

and bake slow.

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My novel : Victoria Scott's Dilemma is available here. It is rather a charming romantic tale with lots of laughter.  Look on Amazon under books: Patricia Huth Victoria and it will come up.

 

                                                   VICTORIA  SCOTT'S  DILEMMA

 

                                                                                 PATRICIA HUTH

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With very best wishes, Patricia