Wednesday 18 November 2015

18 Nov : Diversion

St Pancras champagne bar

My mother-in-law says...


Did you know that Limestone Edward lived in the village where I grew up during the war? [MrsM admits she didn't know this] Well, there was only one person who could look after him because he bit off a man's head [MrsM looks aghast. MissM explains sotto voce that Limestone Edward was a horse. MrsM feels slightly weak because she had assumed he was an architect] Well my dear, one day I was pushing my doll around in a little pram. You could let children do that in those days because everywhere was so safe. Anyway, I pushed the pram under a fence and I was in the field with him. He saw me and rolled his eyes and gnashed his teeth and charged. [Audrey does dramatic reconstruction of rolling eyes, gnashing teeth and rearing hooves] So I scuttled back under the fence with my pram and capered off. [MrsM notes concept of 'safety' has changed over past 70 years. MrM considers how close he came to not existing] Of course they shot him when he didn't win the Grand National. [MrsM pours some more champagne to revive herself]

8 comments:

  1. I love these old anecdotes. My in laws tell a cracking tale about a local farmer who 'off his head on drugs decided to run his mother over in his tractor but first drove it across several fields and through various hedges.' The tale was told amid enormous snorts of laughter. Fortunately he gave up after the fourth hedge and his mother remained safe. Presumably the drugs wore off and it didn't seem worth it after that :o)

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    1. Thanks for sharing that! It sounds like horse sedative - the recreational drug of choice for farmers.

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  2. Champagne is very good for reviving oneself. Especially at that champagne bar.

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    1. A long time ago MrM was involved in the creation of that champagne bar. Much tasting of champagne was involved.

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  3. Limestone Edward did indeed race in the first post-War Grand National in 1946 and finished the course which is some achievement considering the fences were tougher in those days.

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    1. Be careful - my gentle readers might suspect that you spend your days studying the Racing Post in some disreputable establishment.

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  4. I love it when blog posts make me laugh out loud. (I work with a lot of architects and I could see where the confusion arose as some of them really are quite capable of biting a man's head off.)

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