Bummer

I have spent most of the last 48 hours in bed. Having what Jo calls a ‘catching up’ period. She likes to have a positive term for everything! I call it feeling like hell (and that’s the polite blogging version!). I find it very hard to be positive about lying in bed in agony, too exhausted to sleep in more than snatches, too unwell to get up, and generally feeling that I would like the world to disappear up its own mineshafts.

However, I’m now getting back to normal; which means passable levels of pain, only moderately shattered and able, with effort, to vaguely focus my eyes. Yesterday’s blog posting appeared by Google-magic having been pre-posted. If the day gets even better I may manage a sensible post later today....

Flesh-forming Cocoa

In the Royal Academy Notes that I reviewed the other day there is only one advertisement. That’s a shame because I do love Victorian adverts – such a source of interest and amusement. This is the advert – for Cadbury’s cocoa.


At the time there were lots of posters advertising Cadbury's absolutely pure Cocoa - sustains against fatigue - increases muscular strength - with admirable nutritive, flesh-forming qualities. I’m not quite sure what flesh-forming properties were but they were obviously considered very important in 1890!

Days gone by

Yes, I'm still scanning photos into the computer. Here are a couple I just couldn't resist showing you.


Bryony aged 20 months on holiday at Dolwyddelan, July 1980.


Helen aged two in the back garden in Formby on 30th May 1982..


This one of myself, Richard (aged 9) and Jo (aged 21+) was taken by Dad on his ninetieth brthday in December 1997.

Do You Like Butter?

As children we used to ask a girl that we were fond of 'Do you like butter?'. The way to tell was to hold a buttercup under their chin and see the yellow light reflected there.


It seems the idea goes back a lot longer than our nursery play days. I came across this sketch in the Royal Academy Notes for 1889.


There is also this well known work by Charles Burton Barber (1845-1894) entitled ‘Do you like butter?’

I wonder for how many centuries children have played that game.
 

Coffee