Daffodils for St. David's Day

And pancakes for Shrove Tuesday

This year, Pancake Day and St. David’s Day coincide, which is unusual. Shrove Tuesday—the day before Ash Wednesday—is also known as Pancake Day in some parts of the world. Historically, people would make pancakes to use up the fats and eggs that would be given up for the Lenten season (it was a more intense Lenten season back in the day!).

Because Lent changes year to year, Pancake Day changes with it. In 2011, Lent was later, and Pancake Day fell on March 8. William and Kate made a surprise trip to Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was a stop on their Engagement Tour of the U.K. to introduce everyone to Kate in the run-up to the Royal Wedding. Similar to their program today, the couple visited a farm and also did a city-event and walkabout that day in 2011. Kate made a lot of headlines flipping a pancake while delighted well-wishers (and Emily Andrews :)) looked on.

St. David’s Day is always March 1st. It is the feast of St. David, who is the patron of Wales. Daffodils, the national flower of Wales, feature prominently today. I love daffodils. I love their unusual, bold shapes and their bright cheerful color, and I love that—despite their beauty—they are not fragile. They are wildflowers that pop up through the still cold soil to herald the coming of springtime. They bloom while it is still pretty chilly, but just as we start to sense the change in the air. They are the flowers Kate often gets from children in the spring, wrapped in tin foil, likely fresh from the garden.

My favorite St. David’s Day outing to-date remains Kate’s appearance with the Queen and Camilla at Fortnum & Mason’s during the Diamond Jubilee year. She was wearing that beautiful M Missoni fringed coat with the pleated Zara dress underneath. The yellow daffodils popped so beautifully.

Today, daffodils were in abundance again as the couple mingled with locals at the Abergavenny Market. Kate was wearing her green SportMax coat casually unfastened with a complementing olive turtleneck, skinnies, and her Aquatalia booties.

Earlier in the day, William and Kate visited a goat farm that produces milk for a nearby cheese maker. Sheep usually are the farm animal of choice on a Cambridge farm visit, so I am delighted that goats took center stage today. A little known fact about me—although probably known to those of you who have been reading for a decade—is that I had a pet goat I bottle-raised. They get a bad rap in the Bible, but they are the most affectionate and sweet animals. It made my day to see Kate mingling with them this morning.

Kate wore her Seelund jacket and Blundstone boots to the farm, and was able to easily transition to a lightly more dressed up look for the market. This coat is usually a formal look for her, so it was fun to see her style it in this casual manner. She has tried this look a few times in the last year or so. To be fully frank, I think it would have been a little better fastened—it would have paired a little better with William’s ensemble, too—but it was certainly not a huge deal. I was most delighted to see a return of some Aquatalias. These are Kate’s Ruby booties from the brand, and it somehow gave the day a touch of the magic of 2011’s Pancake Day.

Happy St. David’s Day and Happy Pancake Day. I hope the daffodils were abundant for you today. The Cambridges’ focus was certainly on St. David’s Day today, but feel free to make pancakes for dessert tonight, wherever you are.