E, That Was Funny



Expostulate v (foll. by with) reason (with) esp to dissuade.
This word has an old fashioned flavour. I feel it would be best used whilst sporting a monocle. It brings a nostalgia for the days when I would pack my children into my rickety car and commence on road trips visiting old country estates. We would swan the aged hallways and pretend, of course, that this was our home, and we really must chivvy the gardener as the roses have been too straggly this year.
Our trip to Castle Drogo was, most memorably, on the same day that I forgot to put the shield on the hair clippers and quite balded my son. He was rather little and pale then: the effect was a post-chemo chic that caused people all day to usher us to the front of every queue. And we were too embarrassed to expostulate with them.


Comments

KC Kendricks said…
Neat theme for the A to Z challenge :) Thanks for stopping by Between the Keys earlier as part of the challenge.
5 April 2014 at 12:42
The Armchair Squid said…
Good story about your son's haircut. It's a good reminder that most people really are decent, even if it was under false pretense!
5 April 2014 at 16:15
Jolie du Pre said…
I loved this post!! Thanks!!

Precious Monsters
5 April 2014 at 17:52
Teresa Cypher said…
Haha! Lily, you haven't lost your touch! I love this: "I feel it would be best used whilst sporting a monocle." Brilliant! lol. Happy anniversary! I think we met during the A to Z a couple of years ago. How have you been? How is Mr? Dog? Son? Baby? :-)
5 April 2014 at 18:23
Lisa Southard said…
Thank you all! You are further proof that people can be lovely :-)
And yes, Teresa, must be a few years ago on the A-Z! The family are well, Dog in mild disgrace for eating a bit of river drowned sheep and making her self sick, the grandchildren are growing up and there's four of them now- Baby is morphed into Little Granddaughter, my bossy sidekick :-) x
5 April 2014 at 19:04
Jo said…
It is a lovely word isn't it. Not one that you hear much these days.

5 April 2014 at 20:25
Geo. said…
Glad you chivvied the gardener because I've been remiss in my comments. However, I have kept apace, insofar as humanly possible, with your cheerful inquiry into existence. You are remarkable. My compliments!
6 April 2014 at 08:00
Suze said…
You are very good at what you do, woman. Magic-maker and we don't even see it coming. (Guess that's what makes it magic.)
6 April 2014 at 19:04
Lisa Southard said…
Thank you some more :-)
Jo, it is hard to pronounce though!
Geo, I can't imagine you would let the rose grow unguided: and forays into your lovely green world from here often lack comment: a reflection on my flagging internet access never on the words or scenery x
Suze, this is treasured praise dear lady, absolute gold :-) x
6 April 2014 at 23:09
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Contact Pants Conundrum

Image
There is weather today, I do note it: take a few moments to reckon the size of a cloud (big) and the frequency of rain (sporadic.) Centre of my interest though is a stack of magazines. Not the fashion kind. This is martial arts research. I'm not even sure what it is I'm looking for, but intuition calls loud. A range of old adverts skew some amusement. Contact pants, for example. Pants are not trousers where I come from. They are underwear. Professional contact pants: improved smirk value. But why would a person be likely to purchase a grappling hook and a lock pick set? For specialists and hobbyists only, the blurb assures. Guidance on the pheromone spray that attracts women against their better judgement? I doubt it works any more proficiently than the mysterious potion that defines your muscles while you sleep. But, then: I wonder is some sprayed on this paper? What was my intuition thinking, making this ghastly shout… Tea break time. There's a lot of words...
Read more

September's End

Image
September is all but done. Our fingers are purple from plucking berries, scored by thorns, sore and satisfied. How lucky we are, and how grateful! Through the cold spring, and the soggy summer, we have worked to make this place more and more beautiful. We are charming sustenance from the soil with our toiling; using the present to craft a kinder path- a tree-lined, fruit-bearing way.  And so here we are, in autumn, a time of harvest, glut, and storage. A time to plant trees, a time of festival. Our lives are seasonal, tidal, temperate, held in repetitions that are never the same; variations of repeating patterns, a common uniqueness. How lucky we are, and how grateful! Pollinator friendly saplings added to  the firepit hedge, lower field.
Read more

Spring Is Ticking

Image
It has been a while since I wrote a blog post - I have been writing books, and keeping a diary, the days and the work aren’t lost, just ticking quietly in a corner. [There’s a little dust in that corner but the shelf is made of strong oak planks, and the light is enchanting. A plant grows in a pot, it spouts leaves. A half candle stands in a china holder.] At Paddock Garden (properly titled Paddock Garden Orchards, I am a lazy typer) a tree corral has been constructed. It contains persimmons which may not have survived the recent cold blasts and heavy rain, along with some happy pepper trees, bladdernuts, and plum yews. We plan to underplant and interplant extensively in this concentrated area. Around the grounds also we have begun some windbreak hedges, mostly of elaeagnus and hazel. We have a line of sapling native oaks edging the spinney. The first of our camping bay areas is growing emerald grass that was seeded last autumn; the second has recently been seeded; the last three need ...
Read more