Manly Things

Looking for manly things at Conwy Castle, October 2011

Mrs Leftfoot and I are off into the wilds of Wannie to visit Mr & Mrs Drummerman, so there will be no blogs until Monday, at the earliest.

From Facebook archive ...

29 October 2011 at 21:20 ·

Quote from Fester on a hat given to me by Bigsister (it no longer goes with her hair since she let the grey grow in):

"Well it might have some practical value but its sartorial value is zero."

Anyone want a second head hat?

29 October 2011 at 21:29 ·

Decided it was time Thunderthighs learned to make his own bed so gave him the sheet, duvet cover and pillow cases and told him to get on with it.

First excuse "I can't do that it's too girlie."

That went down with his mother as well as you might expect, and he was told until he found himself a wife as daft as his mother he was going to have to get on with it.

He managed to get the sheet and pillow cases on but was defeated by the duvet cover, so I went in and talked him through it.

As he finally laid it on the bed he said "This duvet cover's too girly"

"What's wrong with it?  It's blue!"

"It's got flowers on."

"What should it have on it?"

"Manly things."

"Manly things!?  Like what?"

"Booze."

My hearing's not as sharp as it used to be so I asked him to repeat and spell

"B. O. O. Z. E."

Apparently Thomas the Tank Engine and Winnie the Pooh are unacceptable too.
But until I see something suitably "manly" in a charity shop he's going to have to make do with blue flowery or white flowery and the crochet blanket on top.

 

Post Script

I lost the hat on a trip to Carmarthen market.

Mrs Quilt came to my rescue on the duvet cover front.  No longer needing much single bed linen since her children left home she passed on half a dozen covers with geometric patterns in suitably green, brown, blue and orange shades, with matching sheets and pillowcases.

Four From Fester

Seeing as this is another day with no useable Facebook posts in the archives I thought I’d seek out a few of Fester’s remarks that have not already made it into the blog.

These gems are all from 2009, the year Middlesister turned sixty and I joined the rest of the family for a celebratory birthday tea at The Ritz.

3 May 2009 at 09:14 ·

Fester's definition of BBCiplayer 

"Making the eminently missable unfortunately available."

1 November 2009 at 23:28 ·

Holiday quote from Fester "We must be going the right way because if we were heading towards Tenby the sea would be on the other side."

Woolerwoman  This comment reminds me of the many arguments I had with my ex about map reading and driving advice.  He seemed completely unable to watch both the road and the road signs or to take my advice from road map despite insisting that I read road map and give directions.  At least Fester's comments make sense.  

Oddly, my father and mother were also at odds about road directions and I have a nasty memory of being 8 yrs old and finding ourselves facing the Atlantic on the west coast of Clare with only sand sea and jetty between us and America.

Bentonbag  He navigates, I drive.  We have surprisingly few rows about navigation.  Loads about other things, including comments along the lines of "you could get a bus through there" from the provisional holding motor-biker.  

Another famous remark was coming home the picturesque route from Flamborough, "Oh Suchandsuch Hall, that's not where it's supposed to be."   

When we eventually found Stockton-on-Tees all the traffic was being diverted to the bridge. Thunderthighs said quietly "It's a long way home isn't it?" - he was about six.

14 December 2009 at 22:04 ·

Thunderthighs came avalanching downstairs this evening "I can feel my ribcage".

Fester says "I didn't find my ribcage until I was his age and got taller.  Mind you I was not as tall as he is at that age."

He's not as tall as him now.

14 December 2009 at 22:29 ·

Have just been chatting with Fester about tea at the Ritz saying

"Well it's not the sort of thing I'm going to do again"

"Certainly not with me" says he.

Who says romance is dead?

 

There Ain't No Sanity Clause

Every year or so a couple of Fester’s oldest friends, Mr and Mrs Orange, come up to Newcastle for a partly nostalgic visit.  Mr Orange and Fester played cricket together as undergraduates and for some years they would all spend New Year with another friend from their uni days, Mr Monkshood, in Hastings.  Whenever they come up they try to get together for lunch and possibly an evening in the pub.

A few years ago we arranged to meet for lunch in The Lantern café, which used to be in part of 

St Nicholas Cathedral.  It was an old chapel, with the most wonderful ceiling and windows, very quiet with good, plain, food.

As usual Fester was early but The Lantern wasn’t the easiest place to find and we'd arranged to show them the way.  So we were happy to sit in the cathedral square and appreciate the view.

After a while two smartly dressed young ladies approached us.

“We are from a far away country” said one in an Eastern European accent “please could we have our photo taken with you?”

They meant him not us “because you look so like St Nicholas, Santa Claus you know...” 

From Facebook archives

19 October 2019

Newcastle Kingsmen, Hammersmith & Sallyport Birthday Weekend – Mr Whyte and Fester

Bentonbag @Mrs Leftfoot - Just bumped into and stopped to chat with my childminder neighbour up the street.  Fester bustled past on his way to the shops and made some comment about 'wimmin in strange hats'

So I called out "Well at least I don't have strangers asking to have photographs with Santa Clause".

Mrs Childminder says "Oh I use him to threaten my children with.  When he goes past I tell them he's off duty, but I know him and tell him all about the naughty things they do."

So it’s not just you Mrs Leftfoot

Mrs Leftfoot  Ha! Ha! It's a lovely photo of Mr Whyte and Santa.

Another Anthology

As I said yesterday …

I don’t blog or post on social media except through our desktop pc.

 

Before the present unpleasantness we used to go away for half term and other holidays, so Facebook posts are thin on the ground for those dates.

 

Here is a handful from the Facebook archives I would have posted had I been home at the end of last week.

21 October 2015 at 15:51 ·

I do the ironing and put Thunderthighs' stuff in a square basket and Ferretfingers' stuff on his laptop: and then they take it up to their rooms and put it away.
Yes mothers - miracles do happen!
In the fullness of time.
Now if I could only train their father to do the same.

Tylebach  ha ha ha!!

The Late  Fat chance !

Mrs Fixit  Too high expectations Ben

Bess Cavalier  Aah - But does he have his own basket?

Bentonbag  No Bess, but he's got a doghouse he frequently inhabits.

23 October 2015 at 11:40

Oh great - now Ferretfingers's used my email and mobile number to join Facebook and Twitter!

And he's trying to open accounts with various auction sites ... 

In other news Gyles Brandreth is now following me on Twitter!

23 October 2015 at 11:55

Yesterday washed the oven gloves and hung then to dry on the front of oven.

Thunderthighs has just called up "Mu-um, where are the oven gloves?"

He gets more like his father every day.

 

An Anthology

I don’t blog or post on social media except through our desktop pc.

 

Before the present unpleasantness we used to go away for half term and other holidays, so Facebook posts are thin on the ground for those dates.

 

Here are some from the Facebook archives I would have posted had I been home at the end of last week.

 

 

 

22 October 2010 at 22:37 ·

I was really not looking forward to searching out the spoken word cds for our trip tomorrow. 

Then discovered Ferretfingers had sorted them all out and put them in a backpack: 

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy; Round the Horne; Just a Minute; Alan Bennett diaries; 

The Goons; Under Milkwood.

So pleased I'm letting him cart along all the dvds and games he's packed in his own rucksack ...

21 October 2011 at 20:55 ·

Went next door to talk to Miss Doozer about cat feeding and medication while we're away.

On the way bumped into the ladies from No3 who abducted and fed me red wine.

An hour later make it to next door.

Come home.

No-one noticed I was gone.

Now I must pack.

I feel being slightly squiffy might make it less of a pain

 

21 October 2011 at 23:10 ·

Just realised, a little poignantly, that the last time I packed the big black trunk it was to go down home at Easter and for Dad's funeral.