A Girl Named Rose opens on a scene wherein our heroine and her friend Sadie are caught out in the rain. Rose knocks on a stranger's door looking for shelter. I'm not sure how I feel about that. It's not like they were in imminent danger of freezing to death, or fainting with heat exhaustion. I think it would take something more than a rain shower to drive me to 'knocking someone up' and dripping all over their floor. In their defense, there was thunder and I don't know of one Neels heroine that felt comfortable with the sound of thunder.Sadie is sort of engaged and still goes out with anything wearing pants. Is she sowing her wild oats or simply keeping her options open? Discuss.
Chrissy ter Brandt is busy 'starting the baby' at home but sends her husband to collect Rose and little Duert home from the hospital anyway. I don't have a problem with her having a home birth (...she says with a nod to Betty Kylene), but to send her husband on an 80 mile trip right then??? Just so that her toddler can be home too? Frankly, knowing the little darling was safely out of the way and being cared for by Rose would have decided me in favor of leaving little Duert in Amsterdam while getting on with it. What would you do?
The description of the nurse's waiting room is the best in Neelsdom.
The visitor's room had been designed to damp any ardour felt by the nurses' men friends, it smelled of polish and the linoleum floor struck chill into their hearts as well as their feet. The chairs were tubular steel and imitation leather and gave no comfort to the sitter. There was a plain wooden table in the exact centre with a rubber plant upon it.
It sounds remarkably like the DMV.
Sybren has to rush off after his proposal(ish) and says, "It's only fair to say it was Mies." Why does Mies even have anything to do with the accident (aside from reporting it) and how much more effort would it be to say, 'She was reporting an accident.'?!
Percy Pride treats Rose to beans on toast. I probably shouldn't have used the word "treat" in conjunction with 'beans on toast'. Later on Sybren tells Rose that he doesn't care for beans since he ate beans out of a tin as a scout. This Betty has 5 boys, all of which have been (or are) Boy Scouts. Not a single one of my boys ever ate beans out of a tin - at least not to my knowledge. Dr. van der Stevejinck is my youngest son's Scoutmaster - he goes camping for one weekend nearly every month and has been known to eat chili out of a tin (usually heated up in a pan, but occasionally heated directly in the tin). He just informed me that he did eat pork and beans out of the tin when he was a Boy Scout. My boys were much more likely to have eaten Spaghettio's or Chef Boyardee Ravioli from a tin. What have you eaten from a tin?
Sybren has to rush off after his proposal(ish) and says, "It's only fair to say it was Mies." Why does Mies even have anything to do with the accident (aside from reporting it) and how much more effort would it be to say, 'She was reporting an accident.'?!
Percy Pride treats Rose to beans on toast. I probably shouldn't have used the word "treat" in conjunction with 'beans on toast'. Later on Sybren tells Rose that he doesn't care for beans since he ate beans out of a tin as a scout. This Betty has 5 boys, all of which have been (or are) Boy Scouts. Not a single one of my boys ever ate beans out of a tin - at least not to my knowledge. Dr. van der Stevejinck is my youngest son's Scoutmaster - he goes camping for one weekend nearly every month and has been known to eat chili out of a tin (usually heated up in a pan, but occasionally heated directly in the tin). He just informed me that he did eat pork and beans out of the tin when he was a Boy Scout. My boys were much more likely to have eaten Spaghettio's or Chef Boyardee Ravioli from a tin. What have you eaten from a tin?
Betty Barbara here--
ReplyDeleteWhy does the little boy in the Van Camp's ad look like something out of one of the scarier Stephen King books? Just sayin'.
I personally cannot remember eating anything straight from a can. Now--straight from the peanut butter jar--guilty, guilty guilty!
That is a scary looking little boy (who else would be smiling about eating pork and beans out of a can?).
ReplyDeleteI remember eating pork and beans out of a can once - our family had gone on an impromptu picnic and forgotten to bring plates...and a can opener. This was waaaay before Betty Keira's day. Our dad improvised getting the can opened (I'm not sure, but a rock may have been involved - along with a knife). Pretty sure we forgot matches too, which means those beans were cold.
Our family was always doing things like that - going to the beach and forgetting to bring towels. Going to the beach and neglecting to bring a change of clothes...the one thing we seldom forgot? To have a good time. So what if we shivered in our wet clothes all the way home? We had fun getting wet.
All those experiences taught me a lot about being prepared. And about improvisation.
I have been known to eat Nutella straight from the jar and then lie -- gasp! -- yes, actually lie to my 2 boys (ages 7 and 10) and tell them we are all out of Nutella when there is only a smidge left and I want it. My defense is hormones -- sometimes I MUST HAVE Nutella.
ReplyDeleteMy dad was an economic missionary on the Texas-Mexico border (very, very remote) when I was a child and youth. When between villages (where the locals provided lunch to me as a flour tortilla rolled into a cone with a spoonful of red beans inside--seriously good), Daddy had beanie weenies in a can wedged next to the radiator to warm it up. We'd stop, open the can, and eat with the accompaniment of slightly crushed from being stuffed under his pickup seat saltines ("soda crackers). Hmm hmm. Still love beanie weenies.
ReplyDeleteOf course, there is always the old stand-by for camping of a can of chili (no beans-Texas style) put in the hot coals. When the label is burned off and it bubbles through the slit in the top then it's ready (grab those soda crackers).
I am also fond of canned sardines in mustard. Hey, hey I heard that!
There was a time when I was totally into baked beans. Beans straight out of the tin after coming home from the gym were a treat I looked forward to many a time.
ReplyDeletePeanut butter — me too, Betty Barbara!
Nutella — dito.