Monday, July 5, 2010

The Most Marvelous Summer - Discussion Thread

Sir Benjamin owns a Daimler. Perhaps it was newish when he courted his missus. Now it's described as 'a bit worthy'. I'm wondering if Dr. Scott-Thurlow's Rolls will get to the point of being 'a bit worthy' too? It's not like it's going to wear out soon is it? Don't they make those things to last? I don't think my aging Windstar will ever be described as 'worthy'. Worthless, maybe.

Lady Fox is described as having 'formidable frontage' - that happens to swell alarmingly. I love this description of a large bosomed woman. 'Formidable frontage' makes it sound like she owns Park Place and Boardwalk, with hotels on both.

Roseanne and Matilda paint the town red...so to speak. They make the rounds of art galleries and exhibitions...they run into Mr. Scott-Thurlow, Plus One. The 'plus one' being Rhoda. Of course it's at a modern art exhibit. The Rhoda's of this world adore modern art. Matilda considers one of the pictures looks like the artist upset his paint pots on the canvas.

Dr. Bramley, the local doctor, has the interesting hobby of bee-keeping. I got a kick out of that - because really, how many people do you know that are amateur bee-keepers? My esteemed father-in-law kept bees. I may even have one bottle of his awesome honey left. It stays good for centuries, right? His beehives were next to his orchard and garden - the honey had a stronger flavor than the insipid 'clover honey' that is common in grocery stores. I remember being around occasionally when it was time to harvest the honey. My mother-in-law was a real trooper about it. I honestly don't think I could have handled all the stickiness...I hate sticky kitchens with the heat of a thousand hot hot suns...and there's no way to avoid sticky kitchen syndrome while extracting honey. No. Way.

Does it gross anyone else out that the doctor is always described as a good meat carver? Ick. Every time there is a joint of meat to be carved, our hero gets to show off his knife skills...See kiddies, cut gently at an angle across the grain in semi-circular clockwise motion holding your wrist perpendicular to the piece of meat...now just imagine our Doctor Hero carving into Cousin Bob. Yeah, ick.

2 comments:

  1. Frankly, when the time comes to carve, I really don't care who can do it or why they have that skill. I just like someone else who can carve.

    (Alas, it's not in the skill sets of either Betty Henry or Betty Ross -- although both of them are good at keeping the knives sharp. Which, when I come down to it, is nearly as good.)

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  2. I have a good friend who is a highly regarded surgeon. I've never seen him "carve" but he has cut into my son, twice. And I was extremely thankful to know that the man who was wielding the blade was 1.) one who prays before cutting, and 2.) one who cared about my son as someone besides a statistic.

    My own beloved is an enthusiastic, if messy, carver. Since it's not something I like to do, have at it, dear! :)

    me<><

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