Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Of tray cloths and lazy daisies...


I think I'm a dying breed, for I cannot put a cup of tea on a tray without laying a tray cloth there first. The trays I see nowadays are all laminated and infrequently used, whereas for me there is a  a certain romanticism about the humble tray. Nothing like being served a cup of tea on the old kitchen tray by a loving family member with a favourite, but faded old tray cloth to remind one of day's gone by, or even better, a flute of bubbles on the white damask atop the shiny silver tray on a high day. We also have the "sick tray", a genuine relic rescued from my training hospital when it was refurbished, and stripped down to it's original wood with retractable legs so the patient can eat properly propped up in bed. Touch wood it hasn't been used much lately, but I think the little Miss SQ's sometimes used to feign illness for the privilege of of being thus spoilt. That was also the perfect opportunity to lay out bright and cheerful cloths, often from holidays, to cheer the patient into eating their boiled egg with soldiers.


My love of tray cloths probably started when I was a girl, however long ago that might have been, when we were routinely taught  the rudiments of needlework. Lazy daisies were our staple, using needles called 'crewel' somewhat akin to our needlework mistress we reckoned. Funny to think in these days of gender equality that girls were assigned to the fine motor skills of needlework, whilst the lads got to bash nails into bits of wood in the name of woodwork, read into that what you will.


This got me to thinking of lazy daisies and the fun we had fine tuning our sewing skills in my schooldays. Sadly, like PT, these subjects seem to have been dropped from the curriculum, and whilst I have heard lots of excuses, I really can't understand why this should be so. Methinks too many administrative hassles for the teachers, but somebody must have heard Suzy Q moaning as PT at least is being reintroduced. Hooray, here's to the health of the younger generation. 


Gotta love and give thanks to the special pre-school teachers my daughters were fortunate enough to have, whose inspired Mother's Day gifts remain amongst my greatest treasures. I'm speaking of course of tray cloths with potato, hand and leaf prints as well as primitive self images. As somebody who has just had a red letter day and experienced a life defining moment by paying our last school bill ever (hopefully) these sentimental treasures from pre-school days are a stark reminder of how fast the years have flown and how my babies have grown.


When I tell them how I have a few small things (including some of these charming relics from pre-school) stashed away for their bottom drawers, they howl with derision. They most certainly won't be scrimping and saving to set up house with a few rudimentary kitchen utensils, but will rather be buying their own penthouse apartments with the careers they have planned for themselves. Let's hope so.


I wonder what happened to the tray cloths I made with my first attempts at lazy daisies though? How I wish I could lay my hands on one of those now...


Your, ever sentimental,

Suzy Q 

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