Well, I’m back from my hols. The suitcases are spilling their guts all over the house, the dogs have come back from the kennels, and I’ve thrown away the orange I found mouldering on the kitchen counter.
I’ve been to the supermarket and stocked up on beer and bread and jammy dodgers and such fare as you lay before the faces of husbands and teenage children, and I’ve put away my shorts for another year.
I’ve got some nice pictures, including one of a beauty salon in Bordeaux, that my cousin Douglas seems unaccountably to have given his name to. We spent the day in the city, shopping and farting about in the sunlit squares and generally behaving like happy tourists.
But the best memory is of our first night. Son, 14, who was in rather a giddy mood, decided to wind up his sister by thrusting her hairbrush down the front of this pyjama bottoms. ‘Look Rose,’ he crowed rather disgustingly. ‘Look what I’m doing with your hairbrush.’ To which his sister witheringly replied, ‘That’s not my hairbrush. That’s dad’s.’
Jammie Dodger sounds like something we have in NZ, whose name eludes me at the moment. When Spouse get ’em in (very rarely now) I offend by using mine as a scoop for freshly whipped cream …
Posted by Argus | September 17, 2014, 10:30 pmAnd I always had a picture of people in New Zealand laughing over a simple plate of salad before getting back on their surfboards….
Posted by elainecanham | September 17, 2014, 10:43 pmSpouse listened to my description (yours, actually) then told me “Shrewsbury biscuits” as being wot they is called here.
My mission now is to get you a snap of a Shrewsbury; purely for comparison purposes, mind …
Posted by Argus | September 18, 2014, 3:31 amWe have Shrewsbury biscuits here. But they don’t have jam in them. Just currants.
Posted by elainecanham | September 18, 2014, 7:44 amNo currants in ours. Just jam …
Posted by Argus | September 18, 2014, 8:12 amHere’s an NZ recipe—haven’t tried it, but for those in the know it looks inviting …
http://www.nzwomansweekly.co.nz/food/recipes/shrewsbury-biscuits/
Posted by Argus | September 18, 2014, 8:24 amI see what you mean. But Woman’s Weekly, eh? Have you heard of Victoria Wood? Here’s what she sang about WW : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZCIKjYDf1g
Posted by elainecanham | September 18, 2014, 9:30 amJealous. That is all.
Posted by naptimethoughts | September 16, 2014, 1:48 pmBordeaux looks lovely.
Posted by Jools | August 26, 2014, 4:28 pmIt’s one of my favourite cities. Hardly any traffic, just trams, and beautiful, beautiful buildings.
Posted by elainecanham | August 26, 2014, 5:29 pmThat’s what a jammy dodger is?! I love those! Every time I pass them in stores I have to slap my hand before it reaches the box. 🙂
Posted by rosedandrea | August 25, 2014, 8:20 amYou can’t torture yourself over a jammie dodger. Just give in.
Posted by elainecanham | August 25, 2014, 9:58 amFunny seeing photos of where I live. We might have bumped into one another—I live about five minutes walk from Place de la Victoire!
Posted by Jane Dougherty | August 24, 2014, 3:50 pmYes, it is odd. Next year, I’ll give you a call, and maybe we can meet. My sister in law grew up there, in Rue Wustemburg, and I find it weird to think of me eating and drinking in the same places as her.
Posted by elainecanham | August 24, 2014, 8:31 pmYes, do. It would be a strange experience, like meeting a pen friend. By this time next year we might both be rich and famous. Or suicidal 🙂
Posted by Jane Dougherty | August 25, 2014, 7:40 amJust rich, would be fine. I’ll have my people call your people. 🙂
Posted by elainecanham | August 25, 2014, 9:57 amYou have people?
Posted by Jane Dougherty | August 25, 2014, 11:35 amdamn. you got me there.
Posted by elainecanham | August 25, 2014, 11:50 amOh I think I would LOVE jammie dodgers!
Posted by Mom | August 23, 2014, 8:52 pmHere’s the wikipedia link giving you the full low down on them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jammie_Dodgers
Enjoy!
Posted by elainecanham | August 23, 2014, 9:30 pmBlow the trumpets
Bang the drums
Back to England
Elaine comes!
And I just love the brush with fate.
Posted by Bruce Goodman | August 23, 2014, 8:03 pmOoh I say! Bang the trumpets, blow the drums, Bruce the Goodman this way comes! Bit derivative, but the best I can do under the circs (I have sneaked away from the new Doctor Who at the moment, because it is just too scary). Yes, I thought the brush was very funny, too. Steve; not so sure.
Posted by elainecanham | August 23, 2014, 8:39 pmHilarious! This would happen at my house too! Welcome home 🙂
ps…what is a Jammy Dodger?
Posted by Mom | August 23, 2014, 2:38 pmGosh, we really need to organise an international biscuit convention. A jammie dodger is a circular shortbread biscuit, layered with jam, topped with a shortbread ring, so that there is a circle of jam in the centre. I don’t much care for them, because the jam is too sticky, but the rest of my family love them. Thanks for the welcome back!
Posted by elainecanham | August 23, 2014, 4:32 pmI agree. It’s an important topic, and really, we all ought to be on the same page regarding biscuits. Do you think the UN would let us use it’s facilities for our purposes? I used to live across the street– They really don’t seem to do very much.
Posted by naptimethoughts | September 16, 2014, 1:47 pmI think it should. I think biscuits are the way forward in world peace. If everybody had to sit down, brew up and crack open a packet of chocolate hob nobs, there would be very little excuse for shooting at anything. You get on to the UN and I’ll go out and get an assortment of Fox’s fancies.
Posted by elainecanham | September 16, 2014, 2:27 pm