I've had a lazy day imposed on me by a bad headache, so nothing much has happened. I went back to bed after half an hour up this morning, slept the morning away and then came back down again, feeling a bit better, because I'd promised to look after the children for Dilly. However, I couldn't do anything much, so fetched them some food and reclined on the sofa with them watching television. I know, terrible granny. We watched Horrid Henry, Ooglies, Shaun the Sheep and Scooby Doo. I remember vastly preferring cartoons to educational children's programmes such as Blue Peter when I was a child, so I have no bad conscience about it at all. That is, it didn't stop me reading or playing outside or doing other things, and I mostly avoided having friends anyway and lived nearly a mile from any children I did know, so wouldn't have seen them anyway.
Dilly was going with her sister Dala (I'm going to forget what I've called her sisters; let it suffice that Dilly is the oldest of three and they all have the same initials) to order Dala's wedding cake. She entered a competition in the local newspaper and won £300-worth of cake. So she booked an appointment and asked Dilly to go along as a back-up. She wasn't at all sure that it wasn't one of these things where you get a voucher that commits you to a big additional payout.
They found that this lady does the cakes from her home, which is full of accessories and decorations in every drawer and cupboard. She was delightful and enthusiastic and showed them everything, and then they started to design this cake on the computer. It became beautiful and elaborate and lots of things were discussed, but price was never mentioned. In the end, D & D just relaxed and went along with it and had fun. Finally, they agreed on a three-tier cake and then she checked the price. "Oh dear," she said. "It comes to £311. Oh well, never mind, we'll call it £300." Delivery is included, a distance of more than 20 miles.
So, not everything is a scam and some offers aren't too good to be true.
Anyway, about Dilly and her sisters - it so happened that their parents have the same initial letters, so they thought it would be rather jolly to use them for their children too. Of course, this meant that all three daughters' correspondence arrived addressed to 'Miss D L Surname'. "Wasn't this a nuisance?" I asked Dilly once. "You never knew who should open the letters." "Not to me," she replied. "I was the eldest, so I assumed that all letters were addressed to me."
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11 comments:
There is nothing wrong with having a day off. Did the cartoons bring back memories?
My children have the same initials too. It saved on ordering name labels for school clothes.
Not really, though Scooby Doo hasn't changed a lot since my children's childhoods. Now, if they put on Yogi Bear, that would be a different matter.
Splendidly frugal, you probably saved at least a fiver over their schooldays. Many a mickle makes a muckle, of course. No problems with addressed letters though, they being a boy and a girl.
I liked the cartoons too. And there's nothing wrong with me.
Ahem.
Any chance of a photo of that cake? I can't imagine a cake being worth over £300 - or am I just living in the past?
Exactly, Caitlin. As you say, Ahem...
I'm sure there will be, Sandy. I can't imagine it either. The wedding isn't for a while, though.
My children are called Patroclus and Nibus, but nobody ever wrote to them (under these names) anyway. Nibus in particular is partial to cake, Patroclus to making them.
Like all competitions, you've got to be in it to win it.
Sounds like a splendid brother/sister relationship, Christopher. My sister never made cakes for me.
Weeza similarly won a competition for free hypnobirth classes which would have been expensive otherwise.
How lovely to hear of a small business giving away such a large prize. I hope they get lots of publicity for their kndness.
The ladies I know who make cakes from home are people who love creating cakes - they don't do it to make a profit. By the time you cost in the ingredients for rich fruit cake, fuel, marzipan, icing etc, there's not a lot left for all the many hours of labour, even at £300.
Well yes, you're right. It takes hours to decorate a cake, and it's made of the best ingredients. They said that she was terribly enthusiastic and her house was completely taken over by cakey things - actually, they felt sorry for her husband.
It could be a joint promotion with the newspaper, I don't know, it was in a wedding supplement that I didn't read. Dala is going to ask for her cards to hand out to anyone who admires the cake - and I think she's going to insist on giving her a decent tip for transport expenses, £50 or so, just to feel she's not taking advantage.
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