OCTOBER—”season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”! It is also in our country the month for harvest celebrations. In my youth, every group in our church decorated a different part of the building. I was in the choir and we always “did” the window sills. We prided ourselves on making them still-life works of art! Les Davison told me that here in Frenchay when he was Scout Leader, the scouts ate the apples during the service—so the following year they only had onions on the window sills!
We always enjoyed the Harvest Supper on the Monday evening. People donated cooked hams which were sliced and served with the Harvest vegetables. The ticket money was given to charity. There are no such celebrations in France unless you count the meals at the end of the “grape picking season”. In Switzerland they have 7 course meals to welcome the return of the cattle from the high pastures. It’s not so much the arrival of the cows that cause the excitement, but having the men home again!! Russia has an apple festival and in Albania they celebrate the harvesting of egg plants. Perhaps you know of other events?
FASHION
Several gentlemen have asked me if I intend to include advice to them in this section! Pourquoi pas? Why not? Actually much of what I think about clothes applies to both sexes. There are no rules—if you feel comfortable and at ease you are probably hitting the right note!
I think that most men look their best in a jacket (black, dark navy or deep grey) worn over a plain coloured shirt. The ties chosen are a good reflection of a man’s personality. With the subtle colours already suggested they can be adventuresome with colour and design.
My son loves his ties. He is a teacher and his students take an interest in his choice. Over the years I have bought him many—my favourite being a scene from a Monet painting! It was bought at a visit to Monet’s house and garden at Giverny.
My pet dislikes in men’s clothing are items in fawn or brown or “Grandad -type fair-isle cardigans. They really age a man! When we lived in the South of France we often ate at the Club House. This overhangs the Port and we went across the water in water-taxis. These were free!. At dinner time almost every man was dressed from top to toe in white or cream. Some of the more flamboyant wore gold chains around their necks and wrists. Not my husband!
Our best friends were Opera singers—their main home being in Paris. Saturday evenings were themed nights such as Russian or Spanish. Our friend Claude often sang! He also sang when we dined on their terrasse. His voice was so powerful that people walking around the port would stop and listen…..and then applaud. We had some fabulous times living there and would you believe that it cost less to live there than at Marshfield Park in Downend?! Why? There were over 900 yachts in the harbour and although many of the owners were only on board for a few months of each year—they all contributed to the charges!
I planned to “talk” about Royal Fashion but space being limited—I’ll do this next month. Just one more fashion fact—all the magazines and T.V. fashion shows have stressed that the most popular dress length is the maxi. Not true. On our three visits to France this August we saw only four maxis! Two were worn by teenagers on the ferry. One was white cotton and looked like a nightdress, and one was attractive and worn by my daughter-in-law. I think I’ll shorten mine and thus get more occasions to wear them!
COOKERY
I asked my French friends about “Le Welch”. They said it started to be eaten in France about ten years ago. They make a cheese sauce and add beer before pouring it over the toast. This morning I watched a chef make our Welsh Rarebit by putting mustard and Worcester sauce plus grated cheese into a sauce. By the way, my young friend thought that we called it Welsh RABBIT. He said to me that he was surprised because he thought the British don’t like eating rabbit!!
MY THOUGHT FOR OCTOBER
If the escalator of your life isn’t taking you fast enough to your dreams—try using the stairs. ENJOY EVERY DAY
Esmé
We always enjoyed the Harvest Supper on the Monday evening. People donated cooked hams which were sliced and served with the Harvest vegetables. The ticket money was given to charity. There are no such celebrations in France unless you count the meals at the end of the “grape picking season”. In Switzerland they have 7 course meals to welcome the return of the cattle from the high pastures. It’s not so much the arrival of the cows that cause the excitement, but having the men home again!! Russia has an apple festival and in Albania they celebrate the harvesting of egg plants. Perhaps you know of other events?
FASHION
Several gentlemen have asked me if I intend to include advice to them in this section! Pourquoi pas? Why not? Actually much of what I think about clothes applies to both sexes. There are no rules—if you feel comfortable and at ease you are probably hitting the right note!
I think that most men look their best in a jacket (black, dark navy or deep grey) worn over a plain coloured shirt. The ties chosen are a good reflection of a man’s personality. With the subtle colours already suggested they can be adventuresome with colour and design.
My son loves his ties. He is a teacher and his students take an interest in his choice. Over the years I have bought him many—my favourite being a scene from a Monet painting! It was bought at a visit to Monet’s house and garden at Giverny.
My pet dislikes in men’s clothing are items in fawn or brown or “Grandad -type fair-isle cardigans. They really age a man! When we lived in the South of France we often ate at the Club House. This overhangs the Port and we went across the water in water-taxis. These were free!. At dinner time almost every man was dressed from top to toe in white or cream. Some of the more flamboyant wore gold chains around their necks and wrists. Not my husband!
Our best friends were Opera singers—their main home being in Paris. Saturday evenings were themed nights such as Russian or Spanish. Our friend Claude often sang! He also sang when we dined on their terrasse. His voice was so powerful that people walking around the port would stop and listen…..and then applaud. We had some fabulous times living there and would you believe that it cost less to live there than at Marshfield Park in Downend?! Why? There were over 900 yachts in the harbour and although many of the owners were only on board for a few months of each year—they all contributed to the charges!
I planned to “talk” about Royal Fashion but space being limited—I’ll do this next month. Just one more fashion fact—all the magazines and T.V. fashion shows have stressed that the most popular dress length is the maxi. Not true. On our three visits to France this August we saw only four maxis! Two were worn by teenagers on the ferry. One was white cotton and looked like a nightdress, and one was attractive and worn by my daughter-in-law. I think I’ll shorten mine and thus get more occasions to wear them!
COOKERY
I asked my French friends about “Le Welch”. They said it started to be eaten in France about ten years ago. They make a cheese sauce and add beer before pouring it over the toast. This morning I watched a chef make our Welsh Rarebit by putting mustard and Worcester sauce plus grated cheese into a sauce. By the way, my young friend thought that we called it Welsh RABBIT. He said to me that he was surprised because he thought the British don’t like eating rabbit!!
MY THOUGHT FOR OCTOBER
If the escalator of your life isn’t taking you fast enough to your dreams—try using the stairs. ENJOY EVERY DAY
Esmé
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