St Georges Day

Originally published 23 April 2010

The odd thing about St Georges Day is that if you asked an Englishman what day it was on, nine times out of ten they wouldn't be able to answer you. The Welsh, the Scots and the Irish make a great deal of noise about their national saints days, but the English never do, apart from a few ultra-nationalist nutters in the English Defence League and their tweedier brethren in UKIP who want to make celebrating it compulsory. I like to think that it means we're secure enough in our nationhood not to need to cling to symbols like St George any more. (Besides, St George was Palestinian, and we share his patronage with Egypt, Bulgaria, Russia, Romania, Greece, India, Iraq, Israel, Portugal, Ethiopia, Lithuania, Serbia, the Ukraine, and, of course, Georgia.)

St Patrick's Day

Originally published: March 17 2010

Continuing the series on plants associated with British national patron saint's days. OK, does anyone know the difference between shamrock and clover?

St David's Day

Originally published: March 1 2010

This is the first appearance of The daffodil in this strip. I just planned to use it this once to celebrate St David's Day, but then I remembered the daffodil I'd introduced in Millie as a companion to Des the Weed, other ideas started developing, and it all sort of grew from there.

Jones has a tendency to nibble plants that she borrowed from the real Smudge, who would eat anything green and growing that she could find. Whenever Linda got a bunch of flowers we'd have to display them in a vase on top of the highest bookshelf in the house, somewhere near the ceiling, as that was the only place she couldn't reach.