Titivating


Ok, it's not quite on a par with Lady Cora's antique China breakfast tray, but this ( or variations of it) is what the Dowager Countess Chris is presented with for breakfast on weekends.
( try not to notice the small chip on the old habitat jug...but at least I did made the jam)
Anyhow with Christmas rearing it's ugly head....I am in the process of searching for an antique breakfast tray to give Chris.....I draw the line at a tray that has one of those newspaper racks built in to it.....(that's bordering on the institutionalised disabled) but I am sure I can find one that looks the part.

You can tell we are in the final semester of the year. Downton and Strictly have returned to tv, egg production has started to fall off somewhat and the cottage is filling up with big fat bastard hairy house spiders .
Now I must go.......I have to press Chris' silk pyjamas ...a lunch menu needs sorting.......and there are pots to side in the scullery

77 comments:

  1. Chris is lucky, I never get breakfast in bed!

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  2. Im sorry, im old school, i get up at 5.30am to make my husbands breakfast and then pack a fresh morning tea and lunch. I know this makes me an odd ball today but this is how we care for our beloved. Isn't that so John? Ask yourself a question every day - are the lives of my beloved better for me being a part of it. Give and ye shall receive, is that what its all about?

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    1. We'll I wouldn't go that far... But breakfast in bed in one little treat in his busy week.........it also means that I can potter peacefully ( and without inane chatter) in the kitchen alone , first thing in the morning
      There is method in my madness

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  3. You spoil him! Somebody has to! xx

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  4. If the farmer would bring me breakfast in bed (somehopes) I would eat it off a sheet of hardboard if necessary.

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  5. Never had breakfast in bed. 50yrs married next year. :(
    Does Chris ever return the favour?

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  6. Chris has breakfast in bed? With about five dogs, a cat and you?

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    1. And his rock steady fantasy of life in my stately home

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  7. Well, we never do breakfast ( too early) but we do a pot of tea. Depends on who has to get up first for the loo.

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  8. Yes it's just like coal mining at the rockface of academia. Do you have to fill Chris's snap tin every morning and polish his helmet too? Actually you are the one who deserves breakfast in bed. Get on it Dr Chris!

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    1. Polished his helmet?
      Very occasionally
      On the Queen's Birthday

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  9. Hate breakfast in bed - all those blooming toast crumbs between the sheets. But that's a very sweet thing to do for Chris.

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    1. Me too. Not so much the crumbs, more the discomfort of sitting up with my legs straight out and a tray on them!

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  10. You have got plenty of antique shops in Chester and North Wales to search for a tray, John. The Countess of Chester car boot sale use to be good when I lived over there. They have raised over a million hosting car boot sales. Good luck searching for treasure.

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  11. Sweet, sweet, sweet. We expect no less from you. Today is a jelly making day here; our first harvest of valiant grapes. I'm sure Chris has a much nicer personality than Cora; she is my least favorite character on DA.

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    1. He's a cross between Carson and Lord Grantham more like

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  12. Looks fantastic. Lucky man is Chris.

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  13. So elegant. Sad that I had to look up "pots to side" and all I could find were references to poker. My guess is that's not what you do in the scullery.

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  14. Siding the pots
    Is a old Yorkshire saying
    Ie putting the crockery on the side of the sink after washing to dry

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    1. Oh, John, I've learned so much from you.

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  15. I know that in the great scheme of things it doesn't really matter but... the cereal bowl should be to the right and toast to the left.

    It was the first thing I noticed. My Mother was a housekeeper and it was the first thing she said to me when first took her breakfast in bed on Mothers Day. I was six, no 'thank you' just 'the cereal bowl goes to the right'. You don't forget these things!

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  16. Anonymous11:37 am

    You spoil him John, I hope he appreciates you.

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  17. Anonymous11:42 am

    Sometimes when I hear household management up in the morning when I don't have to be and I am playing on the lap top in bed, I think I should text him to bring me coffee and toast. But then he would see what was on the screen.

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    1. Too much info!
      I think chris would enjoy some sort of bell call system if I could rig one

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  18. I too was flummoxed by this business of "siding the pots", thinking that a finger of yours had wandered but, thanks to Mitch, all is now clear.
    So I'd better say nothing about "I did made the jam"!

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  19. Good grief how you spoil that man! I'm definitely not letting my husband read this or he'll be expecting the same - and with embroidered tray cloths. :-)

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    1. Try telling chris.....I'll give you his email if you like

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  20. Siding the pots set me researching, too, and the best I could do was putting the dirty pots out of sight in the pantry.

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  21. Does he think of you as Carson or Mrs Patmore?

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  22. Woohhooo Downtons back! I have to wait for catch up though x

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  23. I am expecting a pair of red high heels and a flouncy lace red pair of shorts ala la cage aux folles (79 version) Welsh edition any day now. (on the official version trailer at about 1.40 min there is a great breakfast on a tray bit - he even gets his toast buttered!!!)

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  24. You are so darned adorable.
    Oooh what kind of jam?
    Our house is filling up with stink bugs again....bah...

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  25. Thanks for the morning laugh. Downton ....Woohoo!

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  26. I believe I made Don breakfast in bed everyday for about 8 years...out of necessity not choice. He was unable to get up and sit with me at table. I don't remember either of us having breakfast in bed before that...even though it sounds sooooo romantic. How lovely that you do this for Chris :)

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    1. He's on twitter!
      Twitter him your approval x

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  27. Breakfast is so much better if served correctly. Chris is a lucky guy. Have you looked here for that tray John? All the best.

    https://www.etsy.com/uk/market/breakfast_tray

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    1. Thanks gary,,
      I do like the green one!

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  28. Replies
    1. Ui join ruby in the back kitchen for a bit of pan scrubbing

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  29. You in Wales, me in Florida. Egg production dropping off, spiders everywhere.
    But...I doubt I have ever served my husband breakfast in bed nor has he served me such a thing. I don't want breakfast when I first get up. I like to drink coffee and disentangle from my every-morning existential angst first.
    As has been noted here though, Chris is an extremely lucky fellow.

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    1. Say that last sentence louder please!

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  30. I don't know - - you might want to re-think that prejudice against attached newspaper racks. So helpful when winding your way up the back stairs from the scullery.

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    1. Oh my poor knees!...I've been up since five raking the clinkers out of the fireplaces

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  31. I think you are a 'treasure' Not so sure about the helmet polishing! Is it in your job description?

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    1. Like I said....only on the queens birthday

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  32. Where's the flower in a little vase and the sharply creased napkin?

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  33. Quite elegant, the china is lovely.
    Beats my cold-war era German mug that holds a half-liter of coffee.

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  34. Damn, what a lucky man. Mine will make breakfast on the weekends but it's more like flick the lights on and a quick shout from the doorway "breakfast is ready if you're hungry". Maybe I need to get him to watch Downton...I mean, unless Daryl starts bringing Rick breakfast in bed on The Walking Dead, I just don't think he's going to think about it...

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    1. Daryl would put a wild rose in a vase me thinks

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  35. Miss Chef had to get herself breakfast in front of the tv this morning, but I cleared the jammy plate once the ants had thoroughly swarmed it. We could do with a few more spiders around here.

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  36. I believe those that have antique breakfast trays are holding them dear. I would like one myself.
    The spiders are really having a good time grossing me out. I have one who lives under my bathroom scale. He's missing a leg. I let him stay.

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  37. Yep ... you definitely missed off the flower .... and where were the freshly pressed Sunday papers for his perusement!!

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  38. Making a meal look nice is an art in itself. What is the saying? "We eat with our eyes first" or something like that. Nicely done :) Make Chris read all the comments today!

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  39. An antique breakfast tray sounds like a perfect gift for Chris...have fun searching! He's a very lucky man to have you. :)
    Oh, and I love your pretty mismatched dishes...so much more fun than matchy matchy stuff.

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  40. I wouldn't turn my nose up at a breakfast like that. Chris is a lucky bloke.

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  41. wonder if the paper rack is wide enough to stick an ipad in. Then you wouldn't have to iron the paper....

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  42. No flower & odd china, Lady Cora would not be happy!

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  43. Catching up with your posts, delicious as always. Streetcar on a revolving stage? Oops.

    Bfast in bed? u da man.

    XO
    WWW

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  44. What a lucky man, your Chris is.

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  45. That breakfast looks delicious, and I would be thrilled to receive it in or out of bed. How sweet of you!

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  46. Silk pyjamas! And a breakfast tray in bed! You really do spoil your man!

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  47. It all looks delicious, but I can't help wondering if you're still apologising for the 'Streetcar mishap'. :)

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  48. I do the same for my girls on the weekends. It's just another way to say "I love you". My husband hates breakfast in bed....too many crumbs. So I do other nice things for him:). You're a sweetie John.

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  49. Chris is very lucky. lw

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