Friday 22 May 2015

O, P, Q, R, S, T, U - Alphabet of my Mother

O-juice, a childish name for orange juice.

P - that piano..I bought a very second-hand piano when I was around 12 with my birthday money. My mother had to spend way more than that to get the ancient, but beautiful piano moved from St George's Square, round the corner to our house and up the stairs. It had dark scrolled legs and brass candle holders, but not too many hammers! They'd fall off inside. Mmm, it smelt lovely when I opened the lid and made strange noises by reaching down to play with the metal strings!

Q - Queen, I don't know whether she has met the Queen. If she has, she is keeping quiet about it.

R - refusing to play cards with us point blank, though she let us use a lovely double set of French playing cards they must have been given as a wedding present. Or did she never realise that we had started to use those cards? They have come with me to this house.

S - the Studio at Ovington Square. How can she have managed with such a huge, cold space to live in? The kitchen was primitive. There was no wardrobe or washing machine. No storage. No freezer. A paraffin heater.

T - theatres, threads, tatting, toblerone...none of these have any resonance. Tricycle, tidbits, Tyndrum...nope. "Tink, tink" is what she says when clinking her spoon against something, but I don't really know what it means, just a cheerful expression.

U - Umbrella, up, uven! 'Useful' as in 'a useful bit of string' when handling something clearly useless and which I'd bin straight away.

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