Posts and puddings and, 'It's in The Book'

I went out at lunch time to try to post a letter, I say try because the mission was unsuccessful. Why I hear you ask? Well you would if you were close enough. So here's the scenario. I get to the post office, letter and wallet in hand at 1330, half past one to you. There is a huge queue of at least 20 people. OK, I think, how long can it take to for me to get to a counter. Cashier number three please, cashier number eight please, cashier number ten please. The automatic voice directs the next queuer where to go. Then nothing. I am still at least tenth in the line when everything stops. I can see one cashier trying to sort something out for one woman and calling his colleague over to help, and another is doing the same thing so immediately we are down to six free cashiers instead of ten. Then I hear a chap discussing his unusual name with the cashier so down to five. Yet another has gone off out the back to do something for his customer so now we only have four working cashiers who all seem to be on a go slow. Oh well I gave up after standing in the queue for more than ten minutes and went back to work, letter and wallet in hand.

Yesterday I enjoyed writing about food memories so I thought I would keep going. I always remember Mum cooking a roast for Sunday lunch, even when she had worked all week in the cafeteria type shop that she and Dad ran for a few years. Accompanying lunch would almost always be the radio’s request session. I can never have a roast with peas and mint sauce without remembering that. There were two particular pieces of music that would inevitably be requested. One was called Frog Puddles and the other was Remembrance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5ht4DgKGX4  Not quite how I remember it , as the original would ahve been on the piano, but you'll get the idea .

Another old favourite was a monologue about a soldier and a deck of cards. Very occasionally an excerpt from ‘It’s in the Book’ oh how I loved that. Victor Borge and his phonetic punctuation always went down well 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQA6tBYAvms  You have to laugh at this one., The Man and I did, it took us right back to when we were kids.

Pudding, if there was one might be golden syrup dumplings with custard. Mmmmm. That one I have been able to re-create, and it is a firm family favourite. Mum would also make a jam tart and a custard tart on weekends. It wasn’t until years later when I was investigating my family tree, long after Mum had died that her sister mentioned that they were my Dad’s favourite.