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Wednesday 12 December 2018

Mince Pies, Music, and Endless Queues



As I approached the village hall I could hear the sound of music.   No, not Julie Andrews & Christopher Plummer.   The sound of a keyboard.   It was as lovely as it was unexpected.    I was half an hour early for our meeting, planning to get in to warm the place up before the others arrived, but someone was there before me.

The music, plus the car parked outside, gave the identity away - Carol Ferrari -  the friend who had offered to play her keyboard so that we could have a Christmas carol sing-a-long.   

I made my way into the hall, to be met with a blast of arctic air, it was much colder inside than out.    Carol hadn't known how to switch the heaters on,  but they would hardly have made an impact on the cold, anyway. 

She had been in very early, setting up her keyboard,  pulling a few tables together, finding some green tablecloths and placing some very attractive foliage arrangements (made to grace a dinner party, which she hosted two days earlier)  plus tealights, to make the place look jolly.     Each place had ten sheets of typed-out carols, a beautiful seasonal napkin and three golden coins of the chocolate variety.  It looked beautiful.   Thank you, Carol!



When we greeted one another you could see the breath hanging in the air, it really was that cold!  Luckily she was snuggled in an enormous and very warm quilted jacket which she had found hanging in the storage cupboard, so she wasn't about to slip into hypothermia just yet.

I zipped round and put the heaters on, though to be honest the tealights probably gave off more heat.



When the others arrived they opted to keep their coats on, then we settled for a quick chat and a catch-up, before we faced the inevitable.

We sang. 

Unfortunately, although we all sang the same words, we each had a  slightly different tune from those of the keyboard and the other singers, and all at different paces.    Half-way through we paused for sustenance, most delicious of all were the mince pies which the squire's wife had baked.   A couple of years ago, she won our Mince Pie Tasting Competition, they were worthy of the prize then, and this batch tasted sublime, too.

Then we got back to the singing.     Gareth Malone would have no chance of moulding us into anything fit to be heard.   So I will draw a line under that little episode.


This is a jigsaw puzzle which I found at the back of the store cupboard, I had to take almost a decade's worth of dust off it.     I have brought it home to work on, once we finish the one I showed you in a previous post.

Yesterday morning I had to post a few bits and pieces - there were 31 people in the queue ahead of me...   By the time I reached the head of the queue I knew my neighbours very well.  The woman in front of me had recently lost her beloved rescue dog, after 11 years of patience and love, but felt that she was now too old to take another one on.       The woman behind me was excited because her son was having Christmas Dinner with her this year, the first time for five years.

It is amazing what conversations happen when you are forced to queue, unless you prefer to stand isolated in a little bubble and discourage chattiness.

I had to walk the length of the queue to get back out of the shop, it was almost double the size of when I first joined it.      Post offices are few and far between around here!

Time has run away with me, again.   I need to go and check on the jacket potatoes and beans which I will serving to my grandchildren in about ten minutes' time, which means that I have no time left to proof read this, so apologies for typos.   

Fingers crossed that I remembered to switch the oven on!

33 comments:

  1. Sounds like despite the singing you had a lot of fun. I'd love to have had that mince pie. My mom used to make it but without any meat just lots of fruit mix.

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    1. Modern mince pies are made with dried fruit, spices, sugar, fat of some sort, and often a good splash of alcohol, too. Really delicious. The squire's wife mixes her pastry with orange juice instead of cold water, it makes quite a difference. Would that I could send one over to you!

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  2. Carol is a sweetheart!!!!!!

    Couldn't you just mouth the words, while others are singing out loud? ,-) Would anyone notice? Or even whisper out, every 4th word? -grin-

    Well, other than the cold and the singing, it sounds like a delightful time.

    What else is there to do, in a queue, but chat????????? :-)

    Hope you turned the oven on!

    Jacket potatoes. Is that what we call baked potatoes, I wonder?

    🎄✨🎄

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    1. She most certainly is, Nanci. Unfortunately, when there is a very small group of just six people, it is not possible to just mime and get away with it. Believe me, had there been a few more I would have done just that!!
      Lots of people were standing in silence, which was their choice, but at least we had a little bit of fun and conversation while we waited. It helped while away the boredom and frustration.

      The potatoes were perfect, jacket potatoes/baked potatoes. I served them up with baked beans and a knob of butter, perfect for a cold afternoon. The grandchildren ate every bit - success!

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  3. Blogs like yours make me want to live in a rural place, instead of in a city! Seems to be a much friendlier environment at this time of year.. and I love singing carols!!

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    1. Hello Thrifty Towers, (Right, here goes for the second time, Blogger swallowed up my earlier response.) Welcome! Small villages can be a seething pot of aggro and angst, luckily this one suffers from so much apathy that it isn't a problem, our group is small and always on the look-out for new members. I love singing carols, too. I sound particularly good when accompanied by my vacuum cleaner...

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  4. I like the look of that puzzle - the Morris Minor post van makes me quite nostalgic. So cold today!

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    1. Hello Sue, According to the weather forecast you may need to find your log-johns and fleecy vests. I am such a sucker for those puzzles which transport me to times gone by!

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  5. My wife has perfected making her mince pies, she uses a realy old recipe she foun din a magazine. Glad you had a good time

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    1. Lovely to see your photograph, Bill! I think a good home made mince pie is absolutely wonderful, bought ones just can't compete.

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  6. Don't you learn a lot about people when you're standing in a queue. In that bad weather we had last year, I was standing in a long queue in Barclays. The woman behind me was telling me how she had almost gone A over T on the ice on the pavement. The woman in front joined in the conversation. The three of us were all chuntering away and didn't notice the cashier at the empty counter waiting for a good few minutes for one of us to move forward.

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    1. Hello Molly, Who would have thought that queuing could be so much fun! I hope all is well with you, that your Christmas Fair went well, raised lots of funds, and was fun for you.x

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  7. The gold coins make it more Christmas, when they appear by magic. And it is magic that keeps them hidden until Christmas. I like calling baked potatoes jacket potatoes instead. Makes them more nourishing.

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    1. Hello Joanne, They were wonderful, the skins had crisped to the point of perfection and the interior was soft and fluffy - can you tell that I like the occasional jacket potato! I brought the gold coins home, one each for the grandchildren, plus one for Grandpa! They all had a happy chomp.

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  8. I swear I could smell those baked potatoes!
    This post reminded me so vividly of the WI. I miss it so much.

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    1. Hello Valerie, I have a very special project which I am working on at the moment, connected with some of the history of my village's old WI group, I think you will find it interesting.

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  9. Sounds like a fun time was had by all. Love jacket potatoes, so versatile and warming xcx

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    1. They were delicious and a great choice for a day when the school bus just happened to arrive ten minutes' late, Chrissie!

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  10. Your description of the hall reminds me of the winter days of going into my Grandpa's antique store which was an old school house. You could see your breath even after the coal stove had been stoked for two hours. I remember even in the summer a body needed a jacket or sweater...lol... what awesome memories! There are sing along times, when perhaps a small glass of wine would help the vocal cords, or the ears, which ever you'd prefer...lol!

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    1. Hello wyomingheart, That antique store sounds wonderful, if a bit on the chilly side! Does this mean that you have grown up with an encyclopedic knowledge of antiques and fine things? As to the sing along, I must remember your suggestion next year; if we do something similar I shall take along a bottle of ginger wine and some small and pretty glasses, that would really get things warmed up!

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  11. Sounds like so much fun - no matter how the singing turned out! Your hall sounds like my house. All visitors come wrapped in layers. I find that it's always more enjoyable to chat up your neighbors when having to wait in a long queue. It makes the time fly by and you can learn so much!

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    1. Hello Susan, Many years ago, not long before Christmas, I remember waiting in a long queue, so long that the shopkeeper sent out a tray of mince pies and tiny glasses of something warming! He knew how to keep his customers happy and in that queue. Conversations and laughter ensued, no one left!

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  12. Wow...jacket potatoes! I haven't heard that term in decades! :)

    Sounds like a lot of fun; I'm so glad!

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    1. Hello Silver Willow, I hope your sweet little granddaughter is well and truly on the mend. I keep reading your new blog, but have real trouble in trying to get my comments to post, for some reason. I will continue to keep on trying, but please don't think I am ignoring all that you are going through.x

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  13. I love the story, and I love how you write. Sounds so like Christmas should be. I thought that I had followed your blog?? I am now. Henny

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    1. Hello Mel, I am glad you enjoyed it - talking of Christmas - your beautiful home was looking decidedly like a Christmas card the last time I looked! Those snow photographs were definitely worthy of being made into Christmas cards. One more week until my grandchildren break up from school, then it will all step up another gear. They are excited!

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  14. Crumbs, I am in awe! Your post is perfect, even when I proof read mine BEFORE posting, the grammatical gremlins and that word check robot seem to think they know better than me, sneaking in behind my back. Mind you that wouldn’t be difficult?

    LX

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    1. Lettice! Wonderful to see you 'out and about' again! I hope that the festive season sees you caught up in a whirl of fun, and I hope that everything else is proceeding as you would wish!!

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  15. What a lovely day, but I don't envy you that chilling cold. That's the trouble with stone buildings - they take a looooooooong time to warm up.

    I now have jigsaw-puzzle envy and think I will go in search of the one I bought to do LAST winter but didn't find the time. I was hinting to Keith today, when we were in Charlie's, at how nice the jigsaws were I was looking at, but I fear it fell on stone deaf ears!

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    1. Hello Jennie, It was bloomin' freezing, just as well we all had all been sewn into our warm winter vests and fleecy longjohns!
      Our six year old granddaughter is the one who got us interested in doing the jigsaw puzzles. We dragged some of our old ones down from the loft for her, then found that we were enjoying them as much as she does.

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  16. I am so looking forward to our wood stove once in the new part of our home. I know how important a deep heat is and we are heading into the -20 somethings very soon in Ontario. I love your posts, Elaine. They are so real and funny. I just purchased a jigsaw puzzle for our oldest grands (8 and 6) that should keep them very busy this Christmas. lol Enjoy the coming holidays. hugs, Deb

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    1. Hello Deb, Your new house is going to be a wonderfully light and spacious home. It will all come together and you will be reaping the benefit of all that hard work and patience! Meanwhile, I hope you have a great Christmas with all the family around you. It was really nice to see how Wilson has settled in and is getting on so well with Annie, no doubt you worked a little cat magic!

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Lovely to hear from you.
I will try to answer comments in the next post.