When May Follows - Discussion Thread

At the end of When May Follows, Nanny sees 4 Magpies--for a boy. The Neels book Three For a Wedding refers to magpies also...so I had to look up the rhyme on that all-knowing and unimpeachable source, Wikipedia, and after reading through several versions of the poem, found one that referred to both wedding and boys:

One for Sorrow
Two for Joy
Three for a Wedding
Four for a Boy
Five for a Fiddler
Six for a Dance
Seven for Old England
and Eight for France

[Betty Keira] I wondered how often even an old Nanny with nothing to do but look out the window, would see magpies in Holland. Also, I love how Nanny recommends her niece for devoted service because she's suitable--married but widowed, childless and semi-middle-aged, utterly without prospects or hopes of forming another attachment again in this life. Such is the stuff of devoted retainers.

Katrina shows her pluckiness by helping out with the yacht rescues, but then thinks, "what would have happened if she had been unable to swim?" Well, what would have happened? Raf would have swum out and saved the yacht party by himself, but there would have been no cuddling of toddlers (who takes a toddler on a boating trip without a back-up adult???) or splinting of broken bones. Neels has told us that she wasn't a swimmer and I wonder if she fantasized about being awesome at it.

Besides thinking of baby boys, Nanny also thinks of christening gowns and 'infusions of raspberry tea. Raspberry tea? Huh? Let's go back to Wikipedia for that one also:
Traditional lore recommends the use of raspberry leaf tea to pregnant women, especially as an aid in delivery...There is considerable discussion around the possible benefits of raspberry leaf tea taken late in pregnancy, and most sources agree that it should be avoided in early pregnancy. The consensus seems to be that while taking raspberry leaf tea should not be expected to bring the onset of labour forward, it may shorten the second stage of labour. Most of the evidence available is anecdotal, however a recent review stressed concern at the lack of evidence for safety and efficacy.

Betty Tia actually took castor oil to get delivery started. I remember walking on a curb (one foot on and one foot off) to loosen things up. Anyone else have any fun delivery starters that they've used?

At the engagement party Raf wants to invite the single vicar to 'make up the numbers'--even things out man/woman-wise. Who does this still?

The honeymoon hotel room is on 'the first floor'. We Yanks start counting at the bottom. Ground floor= first floor...etcetera. Brits start counting at the first floor above the ground. U.S. 2nd floor = Brit 1st floor. Okay so far...but what I'd like to know, is "What about the Mezzanine?" If anyone has seen the Hudsucker Proxy (besides my daughter and I and I! I love that movie.) you might remember a scene that takes place after the chairman of the board has jumped out of the window:Sidney J. Mussburger: Sure, sure he was a swell fella, but when the president, chairman of the board and owner of 87% of the company stock drops 44 floors...
Board Member 6: 45.
Board Member 7: Counting the mezzanine.
Sidney J. Mussburger: ...then the company too has a problem. What exactly is the disposition of Waring's stock.
Board Member 8: Well as you know, Hud left no will and had no family; the company bylaws are quite clear in that event. His entire portfolio will be converted into common stock and be sold over the counter as of the first of the fiscal year following his demise.
Sidney J. Mussburger: Meaning?
Board Member 8: Well, meaning simply that Waring stock, and control of the company, will be made available to the public January first.
Sidney J. Mussburger: Do you mean to say any slob in a smelly tee-shirt will be able to buy Hudsucker stock?
Board Member 8: The company bylaws are quite clear.
Board Member 3: My God, you're animals. How can you discuss his stock when the man has just leapt 45 floors?
Board Member 6: 44.
Board Member 7: Not counting the mezzanine.

Do you count the mezzanine? Dr. van der Stevejinck surprising chimed in on this question. At the large aircraft manufacturing company that he works for, there is a "mezzanine" out in the factory...all of the floors out there are 2 stories high, so the mezzanine is an intermediate floor (it's where you'll find the loo).

When I was between the ages of about 9 and 13, I would "fake sick" once or twice a year to get out school - and stay home alone (after careful perusal of the tv guide section of the paper - to make sure there was a morning movie worth watching). The deception was fairly intricate. I won't describe the efforts I went to here - I would hate to aid in deception, but let's just say, I don't think I really fooled my parents. They allowed an occaisional "sick day" with not too many questions asked. In When May Follows, Katrina fakes a headache to get out of talking with Raf about Beyke--when have you faked an illness?

The wedding takes less than a month to put together and the bride is very off-hand about flowers and details and whatnot. Since when have wedding people gained the right to look horrified when a bride wants a quicker tempo than a year long engagement? When my daughter got married, she had a 4 month engagement - which was fine with me, but boy, howdy, do wedding dress merchants look horrified. We drove down to Portland for a day of dress trying on with Betty Keira and Betty Tia - and whenever the saleslady would ask when the wedding was and we would say "March", their response was "this year???" To this day I have no idea how long it would have taken to buy a dress and have it altered (evidently more than 3 months). 2 months and a week for me and it went off simply and without a hitch. The wedding industry could be a little more accommodating to people who haven't been living in Brighton together for three years (and will continue in Brighton for the year-long engagement) and would like to get the wedding date over already. There is an entire demographic, for whom save-the-date announcements are ridiculous, that they are alienating due to inflexibility.