Christmas!
Dec. 25th, 2007 06:42 pmI bought my father the collected works of Jake Thackray and a Swiss Army oval water bottle in blue-anodised stainless steel; I bought my mother the six-hour Pride and Prejudice and Michael Palin's New Europe on DVD, and the book that I thought she'd like best of all that caught my eye across all the fiction shelves of Borders - unfortunately I've forgotten the title. I bought my housemate-brother Ben a pair of purple slippers and a horror movie about giant man-eating leeches from outer space; I bought my uncle Philip and aunt Eleanor the Lonely Planet Guide to the Middle of Nowhere; I bought my brother James and his wife Marian the promise of dinner at one of Cambridge's nice restaurants of their choice. I bought grandma a big box of Swiss chocolates. The links are for more information; I bought all these in real shops in Cambridge. Mum and Dad bought me a wonderful rucksack that comes in two parts, and has straps and buckles enough to be resistant even to the baggage-handling on Ukrainian buses. Philip and Eleanor bought me goodies from Orkney, including a bottle of 14-year-old whisky. James and Marian bought me a nice bottle of Sauternes. ![]() I was silenced with admiration, and still have a silly smile on my face; nobody's ever bought me a hatstand before. It is of beech-wood, nicely turned, holds six coats, six umbrellas, and either six hats or six more light coats, and was wrapped in enough bubble-wrap that, should I ever be in the position of putting Belgium up for sale on ebay, I will have no trouble packing it. |