It's a damp and rainy Good Friday here.
As a treat we are having fish and chips for tea
We bought some designer cutlery yesterday which will replace the eclectic mixture of ikea crap and 1940s bone handled hand-me-downs we have been using for years....
We both decided that we felt very grown up having proper tableware!
The dish is another wedding gift to ourselves
Anyhow
I've often been accused of portraying village life in an unrealistic and somewhat saccharine way. Perhaps I am guilty as charged .But I don't really think so.
A few late wedding gifts are perhaps a case in point.
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| They could be twins |
village proved to be a big hit with a certain dog in the cottage and when I was on the phone to another Trelawnyd-ite , who was in dire need of some phone TLC a somewhat strange but typical message "
appeared " magically on the answerphone
It was as economical as it was clear
" Auntie Glad here..........SCONES,"
I dutifully called in with a pocket full of goose eggs for her, half an hour later, only to find her laughing at the fact that she had forgotten to add sugar to the scone mix.
" They are not my best specimens" she quipped " so, Ive added a jar of raspberry jam to compensate"
When I got home, I found a handwriiten card hidden away amongst the goodies
Life in a village can be lovely if you meet the right people!
It was a blessing when you found that cottage, a blessing that gives each and every day. People only dream of such a mixture of kind, loving and colorful neighbors.
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter.
Happy easter Gail
DeleteI hope your cutlery was made in Sheffield but fear it was manufactured elsewhere. How kind of Aunt Gladys to give you thirty quid. Marvellous.
ReplyDeleteI will check........it would have been fitting iif t was
DeleteThe unexpected kindness of people .... Love the plate and cushion especially. Happy Easter . It's been a wet Good Friday here in my part of the world, sunny Queensland -NOT! Xxx
ReplyDeleteMy grandparents were given a canteen of cutlery when they married in 1933. It sat proudly on the sideboard for the whole of their married life and when Gramps died in 2009 the cutlery had still never been used - it was "too good". Make sure you and the Prof use yours... x
ReplyDeleteYes.....we've not used them as yet either,
DeleteI promise myself that we will x
nice cutlery! enjoy the fish-n-chips, and bless all (humans and animals) in your village this weekend!
ReplyDeleteI will use the new forks with our fish and chippies
DeleteIt is very much like Candyland. But lucky for all of you , very real.
ReplyDeleteGreat choice of silverware pattern, sleek and modern, but looks hefty enough to hoist good morsels up and over your whiskers! The doggie plate is fabulous.
ReplyDeleteCushion is amazing - I actually thought it was Winnie in some strange pose!
As for Auntie Gladys - what a lovely thing to do - I bet the scones were delicious - and definitely more healthy - without the sugar!
Mary -
You and Chris and your lot of animals are truly blessed. Enjoy the good life. We should all be so lucky.
ReplyDeleteTheresa
Like attracts like John. Lovely cutlery, sleek and classic.
ReplyDeleteTwo last silly questions: Do you have a ringholder? I know you like the scent of lavender, what about cedar?
Wish i was sleek!
DeleteWhats a ring holder?
Sometimes it's a wee ceramic dish with an, erm, 'pillar' thingy in the center that you slide your ring over when not wearing it; like when bathing bulldog fannies...
DeleteAnd it seems you have most definitely found the right people. What a lovely treat for Winnie to rest her head on the bulldog pillow...and a what a dear soul Auntie Glad is.
ReplyDeleteit's those little things that make all the difference in living in a village
ReplyDeleteSeems to me that Trelawnyd is full of lovely people. Is Winnie in love with that cushion?
ReplyDeleteShe's already rubbed her fanny on it... So I must answer YES
DeleteI love the new dish! I'm sure living in a smaller community is terrific because you meet and get to know people. Whereas in London we all just ignore each other as much as possible. Or curse each other when we get in each others' way.
ReplyDeleteI am sure there are a few eirlyses and gladys's in london steve
DeleteMy mum and dad divorced when I was 5 but Mum still had a canteen of cutlery in a beautiful wooden box which they had received as a wedding present. She gave it to us for our engagement present and we're still using the cutlery 26 years later. The handles on the knives are getting a bit loose and wobbly but they're fine for the moment.
ReplyDeleteWe have lovely people in our village too. Last week I received a lovely box of fresh fruit as a thank you from someone and this week received a box of delicious strawberries for no reason at all. We all need an Auntie Glad in our lives!! x
I love your cutlery. A fine heavy-handled utensil is a joy.
ReplyDeleteYes. Life most anywhere can be good if you meet the right people, if you are kind and sweet too.
Which you are.
I believe in karma and the fact that you give so much out John, you get given in return. Aunty Glad was most generous in her gifts.
ReplyDeleteAnd you are the right person yourself John - it takes two to tango as they say.
ReplyDeleteI love that bulldog cushion. I have two Border terrier cushions butkeep them well out of Tess's way.
Love the plates and the cutlery.
You are so lucky to live in such place and i believe you are telling the truth about Trelawnyd.
ReplyDeleteLove the cutlery, hope it is properly balanced and comfy in use. Fish and chips is the food of the God's and perfect for testing it. Maybe some people are just jealous of a place where neighbours are more than other humans glimpsed as you shoot in and out of your own property.
ReplyDeleteFor a minute there I thought Winnie was a contortionist. It's good you landed in such a happy place.
ReplyDelete'Life' is what you make of it, John. And guess what? You are making a damn good one here!! And who doesn't LOVE sweet?!
ReplyDeleteI've never found your stories to be saccharine, but wonderfully descriptive giving me a much better understanding and appreciation for a way of life I know so little about. Like Auntie Glad, you regularly forget the sugar... and the stories are still as sweet. Thanks! (Oh, I think I NEED that bulldog pillow.)
ReplyDeleteI fear Winnie has some unsavoury plans for that bulldog cushion.
ReplyDeleteThe fanny has been all over it already like a rash!
DeleteIt has been damp and dreary up here in Aberdeen too today.love the cutlery.very stylish.I enjoy reading your posts about the village and the people who live there very much.Happy Easter to you and Chris
ReplyDeleteAnd to you too xx
DeleteWe have a bunny cushion that was renamed "slut bunny". When we rescued our Sophie we had no idea what she and slut bunny would be up to. Lets just say that when we have guests slut bunny is hidden away.
ReplyDeleteSlut bunny
DeleteNow that made me laugh like a drain
It takes them know know them. To me, the entire village sounds sweet as cream.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about being saccharine. Happiness shouldn't embarrass you. Misery isn't somehow more deserving. I personally like your little dose of beauty.
ReplyDeleteLove your stories.....it's like I'm THERE!! You are certainly worthy of the kind acts. Enjoy.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely, thoughtful gift! I knew a lady much like your Auntie Glad. I boarded with her one summer to take on a job between university years. She was a former dietician and wonderful cook and baker. We kept in touch after that, until her death years later. She gave me recipes, jams and baked goods - and such good friendship besides. I think Auntie Glads are everywhere; we just need to find them.
ReplyDeleteI, for one, look forward to all your stories about village life. Never saccharine. Aunt Gladys and her gifts,,, precious. xx
ReplyDeleteAunty Gladys is very humbling.
ReplyDeleteSaccharine lives do not include dog crap, farts and death. I love your mixture of kindness, reality, compassion, love and humour. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteYou get back, what you give out John. Auntie Glad really is a love though isn't she?
ReplyDeleteGlad Winnie has`enjoyed' her cushion :)
A very Happy Easter to you all from a very rainy Twiggy Towers xx
Good choice on the cutlery and the plate is just too sweet. Auntie Glad reminds me of my Grandma for she was always cooking something to take somewhere! …and I still want to move next door!!
ReplyDeleteJohn, I feel we all have a choice each day. We can dwell on the positive things, or the negative. That you mostly choose the positive speaks volumes. Don't change a thing. I look forward to reading your posts!
ReplyDeleteYou'd better watch out in case a certain dog gets a little frisky with the very realistic bulldog cushion....
ReplyDeleteShe has already...the fanny has been unleashed
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThat is so sweet and can I have the old bone handled cutlery? What a sweetie pie Aunt Glad is.
ReplyDeleteSugar, definitely. Not saccharine, ever.
ReplyDeleteI love that little vignette in your first pic. I was at Ikea today but seem to be building up an immunity to coming home with loads of useless tat. I did buy some rather delicious chocolate though! Aunt Glad is such a lovely old soul. x
ReplyDeleteShe is.....in welsh she has a " calon lan"
DeleteWhich means
A pure heart
Definitely not saccharin, I lived in a village for 10 years and I know you're telling it as you see it. Eirlys & John have a wicked sense of humour! I bet Winnie wasted no time claiming that cushion for her own.
ReplyDeleteI love Eirlys
DeleteShe laughs long and hard
Aunt Glad is a sweetie, and that pillow, and for some reason the plate with the dog on it made me smile. Smiles are so good!
ReplyDeleteYou truly "Go Gently" and people love you for that ....makes life sweeter.
ReplyDeleteThank you John for allowing us to peer into your village! It sounds wonderful! I know there are other places like your village and I need to find one and move there...
ReplyDeleteLovely just lovely :-)
ReplyDeleteWe've got the Pug version of that cushion .... Suky is not impressed!!
Where we live can't even be termed a village - hamlet is nearer the mark - but our neighbours are lovely folk just like yours and look out for one another. Yes, there are a couple of baddies too, but that's life isn't it. BTW, tell Aunty Glad I'm pleased to hear that I'm not the only experienced baker who sometimes makes a boo-boo . . .
ReplyDeleteLove it all! Maybe a slice of Caerphilly in the scones would taste delish?
ReplyDeleteHope you are all having a great,long weekend! xxxxxx
The cutlery is lovely. I always think that nice crockery and cutlery enhances my rather basic cooking skills. Better yet, it'll probably last you a life time.
ReplyDeleteAnother admirer of the cutlery here, and I don't think you sugarcoat the village. I grew up in a small town, and we had a lovely neighbourhood where neighbours did look out for each other.
ReplyDeleteAuntie Glad is wonderful; reading her card made me cry.