As my English readers - and others - will know, in the two weeks leading up to Remembrance Day, little imitation poppies are sold to raise money to help those who have served in the Armed Forces and, one way or another, are in need. This tradition began in 1921 (inevitably, it's not without controversy, since the British Legion, who run it, seem to sit on rather large financial reserves, which could, say, be more directly spent on the unhoused. But still). So outside the Morden Sainsburys/M&S (a bit of a come-down as an outing compared to Italy, admittedly) there was a large table with poppies of all sorts: I made my donation and helped myself to two - one for myself, one for my father. There can't be that number of poppies sold, any more, that will be worn by WWII veterans.
What was especially striking was the mail box by the side of the table - a QEII number, but wearing a kind of knitted camouflage net, with flowers, and a soldier wearing a helmet on top of that - a peculiarly British example of craft-kitsch.
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