Positives from the last few days:
1. I finished my mountain of proofreading.
2. I won Phillipa Ashley's contest and now have a nice copy of Wendy Holden's The Wives of Bath sitting on my bookshelf.
3. I had a precious extra hour in bed on Saturday morning.
Negatives from the last few days:
1. An elderly member of the family, who had been unwell for some time, passed away.
2. Little Frog has contracted a very nasty bout of gastroenteritis.
At times like this I find it helps to think, "This too shall pass."
While I'm away from the blog for a few days, I'd like you all to put your thinking caps on for me. Brenda Novak's Diabetes Auction is coming up in a few months, and I will once again be contributing a gift box full of great items, probably on the theme of "England". So, I'd like to know a few things:
1. What sort of things would you love to get in a gift box?
2. What sort of gifts/prizes do you think of as being typically English?
I'd particularly appreciate the viewpoints of those of you who don't live in England, for whom English things will be a bit more of a novelty! Everybody who leaves me a comment with their suggestions will be entered to win a signed copy of Haunted Hearts -- and I might throw in some English chocolate too :)
Just finished reading: Full Exposure by Diana Duncan
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9 comments:
Maldon Sea Salt! I'm having sil bring some over.
Sending ((()))s on the lost of you relative.
Hope Little Frog is on the mend.
lizx
Jess - I hope Little Frog is better now ans sorry to hear about your loss. I suggested Wives of Bath because I knew it was about babies so I hope you enjoy it. It's very satirical.
I'm sorry about your relative. And I hope Frog gets better, quick.
English stuff:
It's the everyday stuff that is actually the most exotic, because you never get it imported.
Fruit pastilles or wine gums, Marmite, PG Tips (forget the fancy tea--you can get that in the US--PG Tips is the biz), Hobnobs, Coleman's dried mustard, HP brown sauce, marmalade, lemon curd, Cadbury's Flake or Crunchie, liquorice allsorts, pear drops, Hello! magazine and the Sun.
Oh, and pilchards. ;-)
I bring my mother Maldon salt when I go back to the States, so I agree with Liz.
Oh and you know another everyday thing that gets me all excited because it doesn't exist in the States? Jelly cubes. It comes powdered in little boxes in the US. I love the cubes!
Chocolate digestives...probably can get them anywhere though. Sorry not much help, I'm usually asking mother to bring me anchovy paste from South Africa.
Hope little Frog is much better and sorry to read about your relative, hope you are ok.
((())) to you and lil frog.
English stuff - Bridget Jones and a big bar of Galaxy. HP sauce for defs, mustard also, country garden wildflower seeds(?), humbugs and clotted cream fudge (yum) After Eights!! English lavender products (I love Norfolk lavender stuff). A nice lavender essential oil? I always think of Crabtree and Evelyn as being very English. I also think roses and sweet peas - garden theme stationery? We do fabby eccentric jams like apple jelly - how about a chutney?
I'm not very inspired so I'll stop the torture now.
jx
Hi Jessica,
I like English candies and chocolates. I also like tea and biscotti (I think that is the name of it).
I also think small English gifts like handkerchiefs. I also like small gifts from an authors home town. For me, it is like you are sending a little of who you are with your books.
This probably did not help a whole lot...LOL
Billie Jo
like goodies, cause you usually cant buy the bookmarks and little items the author uses as matching to the books, gift cert. but of course books!
Hi, Jess - how about a gift voucher for a meal in a typical English country pub, redeemable whenever the recipient is over there on holidays?
And perhaps a sachet containing heather from the Yorkshire moors and models of London red double decker buses and taxis.
Maybe you can do an Aussie expatriate basket some time. When I lived in England I pined away for Vegemite and Queensland blue pumpkin.
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