What a pleasant surprise

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Horus
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What a pleasant surprise

Post by Horus »

I do hope she does not mind me posting this, but saying as Kiya was so complimentary about the DVD’s that I did for her and her brother I feel I must return the thanks. :) Today I received a fair sized unexpected parcel, it was extremely well packaged and it took me forever to get it open, once I did it contained several really pleasant surprises. :P Where to start? Well for one there was a very large and very detailed Tea Towel showing all of Scotland and many national and tourist attractions including our Kiya’s home town well to the North. Next I spotted a large bag of special sweeties, some of which were ‘Irn Bru’ flavour, another Scottish favourite, after stuffing my chops with a few :oops: I quickly rummaged further into the box, “A Haggis!” :o a real fresh local made Haggis :) and it even included instructions on how a Sassenach like myself should cook it. I have to confess that the ‘oatcakes’ that were also included had me baffled, I had not come across these before and as we in this area also have an ‘Oatcake’ I was understandable confused on how to eat it. I now have the full Monty from Kiya and myself and a guest will be devouring it all in the traditional manner around the middle of next week, we will be having Haggis, Tatties (mashed potatoes) and Neeps (Turnip) accompanied by the Oatcakes (without gravy) and a small glass of the amber nectar, :eat I will let you know how it turns out. I have hunted Hagii in the past, but since they banned the sport they are very hard to come by. Apart from a nice personal little note and card there was another special gift very carefully wrapped in lots of bubble wrap and tissue paper and it contained a small ceramic Coliseum!!!!!!!!! Wow what a smashing souvenir! :ks It now resides in what was Anne’s display cabinet where it will be treasured and who knows maybe one day I will get to see the real thing. :up


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Re: What a pleasant surprise

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

:up :up WOO HOO! LUCKY YOU!!! :) :up :D Sounds like a really super duper treat!! :up ;) ;)

Niceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :) :) :)
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Re: What a pleasant surprise

Post by Grandad »

Horus you are always there to help and advise when we call on you and this shows how much Kiya really appreciated all your efforts. Lucky you, yes, but so well deserved. :up

And we all know that Kiya is our lovely Scottish friend (even if we can't understand a word she says. ;) )

Thank goodness we all get on so well. :up Not like some forums. :(
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Re: What a pleasant surprise

Post by Horus »

Never a truer word spoken Grandad :urm:
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Re: What a pleasant surprise

Post by Kiya »

Horus...really no need but Thank-you :) not only with the Dvd's you made for us but as Grandad rightly says in all the help you show to us all here many times when we have had computer problems, all the Photography Tutorials you made for us to follow/learn your always there to lend a helping hand, the list goes on & on & appreciated by all of us.

I'm honoured you placed the little souvenir of the Colleseum in your dear Anne's display cabinet & hopefully someday you will get to see it for real.....the journey would be worth it :)

Thank-you :)
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Re: What a pleasant surprise

Post by Horus »

Kiya, as promised myself and my specially invited guest sat down tonight and tucked in to the lovely haggis you sent me :eat
I did my best to follow the traditional method of serving up the 'beastie' with Tatties & Neeps together with your special Oatcakes. The only change that I made was that the whiskey as it was Jameson's Irish Single Malt, mainly because I like Irish Whiskey and also because it was the only decent one that I had in my supplies cabinet at the time, the others were what I call 'mixing’ Whiskeys which would have been sacrilege to serve that up with such an excellent fare ;)
My friend and I can report that it was an excellent Haggis and a most enjoyable meal, regrettably from her point of view Annie only had a wee taste. :wi

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Re: What a pleasant surprise

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

The meal looks absolutely lovely H!!!

BUT - and hope I'm not being intrusive - BUT ;) (and I think my eyes just immediately move to what attracts them ;) ;)

In the first photo in the background there is a figurine of a horse, a draft horse with feathers - definitely looks beautiful! Could we get (ok - could "I" get) another close up of it? Is it old? Does it have special meaning? Looks quite detailed and lovely and I just couldn't help but notice it and draft horses are favourites of mine as are figurines of them. Reminds me very much of the collection my father's father had. He kept his collection of figurine horses on top of the piano and if I was good and did all chores he'd bring one down and let me look at it. Not touch or hold but just let me look. As a child I thought they were some of the most beautiful ornaments or figurines I'd ever seen. The workmanship of those horses was pretty darn good too. No idea whatever happened to them but I loved them.

AND -

Are there 2 carved abalone shells in front of it? Could I get a close up and some history on the acquisition of these shells? Am asking as I have a small collection of them. A few of mine are fairly old and were part way back when of the tourist trade in Hawaii and in the good old days they were all hand carved. Now they're carved by machine and not nearly as beautiful as the oldies.......

Can't help myself - I just see things and love 'em and just have to know all about them. The story behind idea.......
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Re: What a pleasant surprise

Post by Grandad »

Gosh LLL, you certainly look closely into a picture. ;) But as you prompted me to take a second look I am laying money that there are two horses and I am further guessing that they are Beswicks. A pottery not too far from where H lives but now part of Royal Doulton.....Am I correct H? :lol:
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Re: What a pleasant surprise

Post by Horus »

You are bang on there Grandad except for the quantity as there are actually 3, :up although these are original Beswick Horses purchased well before the Doulton connection. In fact these have survived (well nearly) a return trip to Africa more than 40 years ago plus all the time they were out there and at a time when shipping was a bit more rougher than maybe it is today. The small horse on the right did not make it back in one piece and had a hind leg snapped off at the knee, much to Mrs H's annoyance I can tell you :x but as you can see it was expertly fixed ;)

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LLL, yes they are carved Cowrie shells and are only a couple of what was Mrs H's extensive shell collection, you can see them closer below. There are also a selection of Conche shells from your own Gulf of Mexico region including a Queen Conche in the center, all carefully carried back to the UK by me in my hand luggage. :o

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Re: What a pleasant surprise

Post by Kiya »

Excellent Horus :) & well presented with added table cloth & napkins.....I do love a table well dressed with table cloths, something I now miss with my new kitchen having a breakfast bar, mind you when Roy moves on I could make his room into a dining room ;

Well done & glad you enjoyed it :)

Your horses are very attractive & in your 3rd picture of shells, the middle shell I have a side table light made out of these shells, while touring Norway many years ago I went to Sweden for a day & bought the light there :)
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Re: What a pleasant surprise

Post by Grandad »

My various family members in Staffs all have some Beswick Horus, somewhere in their houses. Also usually some pieces of Derby.

Before we had our families Mrs G and I used to go up to the midlands quite regularly for the weekend and we would always go to the little shop in Tutbury and buy a few Webb Corbett glasses. Another lovely product from that area. We DID have a very good glass cabinet full (all to be used, not just for show) but sadly over the years we only have a small number left.

But the sherries get used daily at about 4.30 for a little 'snifter' before Mrs G prepares dinner. ;) :lol:
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Re: What a pleasant surprise

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

The horses are absolutely lovely Horus. I love them and seem to be able to spot a figurine or ornament a mile away. When I was a child and still to this day I'm fascinated by pieces like this and horses are special as there are so many poses and positions they can be captured in which definitely impart feelings to those who look at them. These 3 pieces are lovely and give really good 'stand still' and 'motion' perspectives. They bring me back immediately to my Grandfather's living room and his collection which was probably 30 or so pieces that he had also collected in his travels back and forth from the UK. No idea whatever happened to these horses though. They were very precious to him and, as I said, he loved to show all us Grandkids (he had 8 sons and daughters himself so he had multi Grandkids at any given time) his horses but we never got to touch (at least I never got to touch but can't blame him at all for not letting me fumble around and/or play with them).

I quite recognize Royal Doulton and it is quite exquisitely expensive here and not hard to find but not easy either. Hudson's Bay Company is probably the only local one that carry it regularly. Now that you say Beswick Grandad I recognize it as a word I've heard but would have never known to generate that word myself. I never realized (and will Google it) that Royal Doulton evolved from it.

Interestingly I very much associate with and love ornaments and knick knacks. They were very much part of my youth and growing up and as my parents gained shall I say middle classness or the ability to have disposable income they would purchase items like Horus' horses to place about the house. I was given when I was probably 8 - 12yrs of age several horses that I kept on my book case in my bedroom. I also had bird figurines too. To me having ornaments, figurines, knick knacks is just part of a house that makes it a home..........if you ever feel the need to part with your horses I know where a lovely stable for them could be found! ;) ;) ;) ;)

Neither of my daughters feel the same way about figurines though :( They have been given ornaments but by and large they have passed all of these on and much prefer houses with, to me, bare shelves. Truth be told they don't even have china cabinets or tables and places to put figurines. They saw my parents house as cluttered and messy and always bemoaned all the dusting aka work it would take to keep a place clean given they'd have to moved and dust each figurine.

I love the shells too. I said abalone last night but they are cowrie shells. I have a basket of them that I have collected over the years. Most are from Hawaii and some are quite old and were hand carved. Now I think they all come via China where they are mass machine cut. I can also say that carved cowrie shells are no longer that popular in Hawaii and are actually relatively hard to find. I have a few of the larger conch shells too. They were acquired during my travels and are relatively large like yours Horus. Right now they're still in boxes and haven't been unpacked yet from the USA days.

Thanks for sharing Horus!! How lovely to have a delightful Haggis at a delightful table surrounded by your treasures :) :) :)
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Re: What a pleasant surprise

Post by Grandad »

I never realized that Royal Doulton evolved from it.
It was not quite like that LLL. Doulton was founded in Lambeth, London, early 19th century and moved to the Potteries at Burslem, Stoke on Trent in the 1880's.
Beswick was founded in Longton, another one of the six towns that make up Stoke on Trent, The Potteries, in 1892. They were taken over by what was now Royal Doulton in the 1960's.

I have not been to Stoke for many years and it was very down at heel at that time. I love the history of Stoke and its potteries and did some work with one pottery for the production of porcelain foot forms used for latex dipping verrucae socks for swimmers with verrucae .

In the Victorian potteries before modern mechanisation, there were some wonderful job titles. Two that amuse me are 'The Sagger Maker' and 'The Sagger Makers Bottom Knocker' :lol: :lol:
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Re: What a pleasant surprise

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

Ohhhh - I know nothing of the history of any of the potteries. Got it.

I find it very interesting that "in the OLD days" as they are commonly know there seemed to be a greater appreciation for art in all forms and so much attention was given to detail, fineness, colour and capture of realism. Horus' 3 horses ARE depictions of animals in their natural positions. The draft horse is wonderful with detail to the flowing feather etc. That takes lots of work to capture something so realistically and then put it all into something as fragile and decorative as the horses.

I also find it very interesting as to 'who' buys what. I feel that people who are from "the OLD days" do have a different appreciation for art than those who are living "in the NOW" or today's times. Today the art seems, and is, more mass produced, cheaper, not as much attention to detail and people IMO don't tend to keep it or treasure it as a family heirloom and pass anything down. I know my daughter want none of my STUFF. They honestly don't like it and actually see it as clutter. I see it as memories of where it all came from, who gave it to me and when I look at what I have it always brings back the past and allows me to think of a time when people saw beauty and tried to capture it.

I enjoy it so I know beyond a shadow of a doubt I'm going to continue to keep collecting and decorating ;) I keep telling my daughters that my style is Victorian! ;) Which here is defined as a mishmash of anything and everything.

Have been out and about all day so haven't had a chance to Google anything yet but probably wouldn't have found the tidbit you shared Grandad. Interesting!! ;) :) :)
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Re: What a pleasant surprise

Post by Grandad »

We have gone through a de-cluttering stage LLL so are now in accord with your daughter ;) Not so long ago we used to go to fairs and we collected works from a particular pottery, R S Plant.

Then we got rid of it all at auction and now have just a few pieces of modern pottery and glass. The only 'older' pieces are a few Art Deco that we kept when we cleared out, and a Doulton figurine 'Biddy Pennyfarthing' that we had bought for the mil and after she died that was the only thing we wanted from her things.

Generally we have moved towards the minimal. :lol:
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Re: What a pleasant surprise

Post by Kiya »

I like minimal also Grandad but, I dread anybody that has to clear out my loft if I don't get up there myself first :o ;)
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Re: What a pleasant surprise

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

Since Horus showed his I'm going to show mine :o

This shell is rather my pride and joy of carved shells. It isn't a cowrie shell and the only one of this type that I have that is carved. I bought it at an estate sale years ago rather in the day of the dinosaur so I really feel it IS hand carved vs machined like the newer shells are today.

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These are some of my other shells. I tend to keep them in a big wicker basket now as I don't have a decent spot to display them. Some are older and I believe hand carved. Some of the others particularly the two darker smaller shells to the right are from Hawaii in the past 10 years and I do think represent machine work.

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I tend to just like cowrie shells in general due to the smooth hardness of the shell and the different patterning on it. Some of my shells have lots of white on them with the brown spots while others are darker brown. No idea if this is because they're from different areas of the world or the diet of the animal. All in all I do tend to like shells amongst a million other things
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Re: What a pleasant surprise

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

I like minimal also Grandad but, I dread anybody that has to clear out my loft if I don't get up there myself first :o ;)
@ Kiya - personally I use my 'loft' idea as a threat to my daughters ;) ;) telling them if they don't behave I'm going to go on a world wide collection spree, hoard it all away and leave it ALL to them when I pass! Very effective threat ;) ;) Definitely gets them listening to me. ;)
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Re: What a pleasant surprise

Post by Kiya »

LLL You have really beautiful shells :)

Good idea if mine don't help me up there they'll have it all to do ;)

Reminds me when I emptied my Mams house when she came to live with me before she passed & there was still as much to share around with my 5 brothers & myself + the grandchildren ;) :) later.
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Re: What a pleasant surprise

Post by Horus »

Beautiful shells LLL :up :)
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