tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post4762722451551280851..comments2023-05-24T23:33:57.516+10:00Comments on My Unwelcome Stranger: Not the colour purpleDenis Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-44583998924393661962013-10-22T07:19:56.727+11:002013-10-22T07:19:56.727+11:00Reading this is like watching a movie in my mind, ...Reading this is like watching a movie in my mind, so vivid are the images.<br />It reminds me of a similar instance in 1990 my four sons and I were travelling around Australia for a year.<br /><br />We called into the family farm near Pambula (place of my birth) to see my Aunt Janet who was then in her 70's. Just as I collect tea-towels in my travels (nb - unbreakable), so Aunt Janet collects bells (nb - breakable!)<br /><br />How foolish of me to take four young boys, 7-14 years old, who'd been cooped up for a thousand kilometres, to visit an ageing, widowed Aunt in her quiet, ordered old farm house. <br /><br />Of course, when I was in the kitchen helping my beloved Aunt, some gentle shinnanigans ensued in the living room, which, I believe, involved some giggling and leaping. Unfortunately, the sweetest of all boys and most able in the leaping stakes, 10 year old Joshua, caught his heel on the highly polished, many-tiered, but slightly wobbly walnut corner display cabinet containing a few hundred exquisite bells from all around the world. <br /><br />The crash made a beautiful sound.<br /><br />My Aunt's distress did not.Roshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13339472107640597921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-21834734300171773492013-10-19T08:32:36.308+11:002013-10-19T08:32:36.308+11:00Yes, that makes all three. Each in her own way wen...Yes, that makes all three. Each in her own way went on her own different pathway, but we never stopped being close.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-45777389988790401132013-10-19T08:28:06.813+11:002013-10-19T08:28:06.813+11:00Your wish etc,,,,Your wish etc,,,,Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-66968131456418323872013-10-19T08:27:29.197+11:002013-10-19T08:27:29.197+11:00I think that's the fate of puce - in English a...I think that's the fate of puce - in English anyway, though I think it's the same in French - to be associated with 'puke'. At least your PNG accommodation was memorable for something!Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-82037515405729047632013-10-17T17:05:22.337+11:002013-10-17T17:05:22.337+11:00A very nice plate (for puce), but what intrepid li...A very nice plate (for puce), but what intrepid little girls your sisters were! As well as a lovely one who saves family history. Anne PAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-36806577978336670882013-10-17T07:09:54.038+11:002013-10-17T07:09:54.038+11:00Greetings from Wangaratta - I look forward to seei...Greetings from Wangaratta - I look forward to seeing the sole survivorzmkchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08972549292961948240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-38806253249105562952013-10-16T18:44:10.087+11:002013-10-16T18:44:10.087+11:00Loved the story Denis - what a close shave. And it...Loved the story Denis - what a close shave. And it reminded me that the accommodation provided for my first overseas job, in PNG, had puce interior paintwork, throughout. I wrote home and said I was surrounded in puke pink! Trish Nnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-7376946143486867272013-10-16T11:17:16.962+11:002013-10-16T11:17:16.962+11:00PS I was using it simply to illustrate what I beli...PS I was using it simply to illustrate what I believe to be the closest colour to puce. In practice, there's not much point, because the screen on every device will make the colour look exactly as it chooses!Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-29298267309406952052013-10-16T11:11:30.246+11:002013-10-16T11:11:30.246+11:00You've rightly discerned, with your acutely di...You've rightly discerned, with your acutely discerning eye, this belongs to a particularly fine piece of crockery. The crockery Dad brought home was a utility set from 50+ years ago, and after that much use and replacement by ones which appealed more to my mother [a fine pottery and porcelain painter and teacher of the art herself once the farm was sold] was reduced to one piece, wisely kept for posterity by my sister Jan. This morning she sent me a photo, bless her, of the last piece of the crockery Dad brought home. I'm going to include it in the story when I resize the image.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-17291426444471933792013-10-16T10:40:56.638+11:002013-10-16T10:40:56.638+11:00I agree with you that it's onomatopoeic – I...I agree with you that it's onomatopoeic – I've always thought so – practically a term of disparagement about an unpleasant colour. Yet it's obviously not – it's no more than a variation on shades of the colour wheel. <br /><br />To me it is just another illustration of how deeply we're influenced by the prejudices of our kin.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-62354080486213503322013-10-16T09:09:55.281+11:002013-10-16T09:09:55.281+11:00What happened to the new plates? If that picture o...What happened to the new plates? If that picture of a detail is anything to go by, they were beautiful, (I'm still shuddering at the thought of potentially crushed child, as we had a not dissimilar incident involving a cupboard and our youngest, in the hands of incompetent babysitters)zmkchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08972549292961948240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-1431632232786127312013-10-16T07:57:22.418+11:002013-10-16T07:57:22.418+11:00Puce is onomatopoeic or, if not, then quite descri...Puce is onomatopoeic or, if not, then quite descriptive of my reaction to its over-use. It's also the French word for flea, so perhaps assisted in The Black Death or Plague - which also seems appropriate. I don't like puce, but I enjoyed your story :)<br /><br />kvdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-30990885716325310992013-10-15T23:37:31.313+11:002013-10-15T23:37:31.313+11:00On the farm, anything could happen, so a couple of...On the farm, anything could happen, so a couple of near-misses with certain death were all in a day's fun!<br /><br />Thanks, Briar.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-31360957404519577772013-10-15T23:22:28.448+11:002013-10-15T23:22:28.448+11:00I laughed, because well, puce is one of my favouri...I laughed, because well, puce is one of my favourite colours.I ' m sure you were all pretty horrified at the near disaster...or were you??Briarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07522460183765372883noreply@blogger.com