[BITList] Sensitive bloke

[David Harvey]

Thanks Hugh,

I enjoyed reading that and the great idea that a "bottle of something is
not a gift" will now become part of my future Christmas celebrations

Dave

On 15 January 2012 06:24, HUGH <chakdara at btinternet.com> wrote:

> **
> Ena and Malc(olm),
>
> I don't how how John Feltham's mind works, but I know how mine works.
> He's got a short memory - his site was started after one too many bust ups
> on BIShip caused by John Prescott's prissy attitude, and also by the
> supportive remarks of his coterie of sycophants.  Only one engineer
> contributes to it now (I get the Digests from Fred Waddington in France),
> and that's Bill Power.  George Preston in Oz sends in the odd comment, but
> hardly ever.  I agree about Mike - a nice chap. I met both at the 150th in
> Glasgow, but I only remember Mike.  I commented on Mike's latest, a series
> of jokey items.  I'd seen them all before, but I never waste time saying
> that to people - my motto is, either don't respond, or else be polite and
> say it was funny. I said it was funny, and I hoped he'd checked it on
> Snopes first, lest it be thought of as crud.
>
> Our Christmas was a bit cramped. Our 50th wedding anniversary was on the
> 15th (December), and from the last Saturday in November we had 4 at-homes
> for friends and family on each Saturday evening.  Neither of us wanted a
> "party" in some hall, and we specified no gifts, but many translated that
> as "a bottle of something isn't a gift", so we have a goodly selection of
> booze and cholcolates that might last till next Christmas. We had two
> dinners and two buffets.  There will never be another buffet - too hard to
> organise. For the last event, a buffet, we said 6.00 for 6.30pm - this was
> mainly Janet's cousins and step siblings, and our next door neighbours.
> Some arrived between 7.30 and 8.00, having stopped off for a Chinese before
> arriving, hence they had no appetite for the buffet, of which the hot
> things were then cold.  One brought his own bottle and took it away with
> him. That's what we did in BI, when the gathering was in someone else's
> cabin, but that was BI.  One of Janet's cousins who lived locally had been
> ill for a while with liver problems - a combination of alcohol abuse and an
> unfortunate weak frame that couldn't cope with it.  He took bad just before
> Christmas, rallied, then died in hospital. So we put his brother up for a
> few days while he helped arrange the funeral with the widow, and we went to
> the funeral.  So it was a hectic Christmas, with not much done towards the
> actual Christmas.
>
> Janet's birthday (21) was on the 29th, and on the same day I went to the
> funeral of John Smith (ex-BI) at Dalnottar Cemetery, across the
> river. James Slater drove up from Rochdale and kindly picked me up here, as
> it's an awkward place to get to without a car. John had a good send off -
> there were about 6 ex-BI there.  There was a light lunch afterwards, but I
> didn't partake of it, since my lift home (Tom Kelso) wanted to get home to
> Troon himself - James went straight back south from the funeral.
>
> Which only left Hogmanay. As has become our custom, we had it quiet.
> During WW2 we used to go along the street on the 31st to great aunt
> Maggie's house behind her greengrocer's shop.  She'd have the fire relaid
> but not lit, a cold meal on the table (usually her version of a quiche)
> with the table covered, bottles of home-made elderberry wine corked and
> glasses upside down. At midnight, usually marked by the ships in the river
> sounding their sirens,the fire would be lit, the table uncovered, and a
> drink poured out.  The wine being home-made, she deemed it non-alcoholic,
> so we got a glass - I was 8 at the time of the blitz up here, and I was the
> oldest. Her custom, most of it, has been carried on by our family ever
> since.  If I drink at all on Hogmanay, I never touch a drop after lunchtime
> until midnight. Then we have a sherry and some shortbread and cherry cake,
> and whatever we've set out - soup is a favourite. We have a quiet drink
> afterwards with the TV, and if nobody visits we turn in around 2.00am.
> First footing on Ne'erday morning seems to have died out around here - our
> family exchange visits during the week after.
>
> So here we are at 10.22pm on a cold night.  Time for bed.  I finished my
> bedtime reading last night, so I'll have to dig out another.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Janet and Hugh.
>
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