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Thank you Lynne. Glad you like it. NOOO I’m not ready. Got the tree, got the logs, ordered the turkey, but it’s all coming round too fast! Happy Christmas to you x

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Thank you so much for this comment. Garden tools - yes - I too have some of my father’s - a hoe, an edge cutter, shears and the most important of all to me is my dad’s garden riddle. I used to watch him driving the soul for his vegetable garden. It now hangs above the back door in my kitchen with a row of several others.

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What a fabulous memory to hold onto. Tables seem such simple things and yet, when you use the same one for many years, they can be wonderful reminders of important and emotional times spent with those we love.

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Thank you Jane. So pleased you enjoyed it. Sounds like you have a pretty extensive collection there despite not having your Grandma’s mint roller!

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Thank you Denise, so glad you like it. What a lovely memory of your mum you have with her stainless steel pan - especially with her signature on it

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Thank you Inga, glad you like it. Ah yes, a brass jelly pan would indeed be a find - and so lovely to remind you of all the times your mum used it.

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This is among your best pieces. Beautiful and authentic. In the US we hang all our horseshoes with the opening at the top so the luck doesn't fall out.

Advent gives us the reason to start again. Are you ready?

Happy Christmas.

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Beautiful photo, bench and words. A joy to read as always. I still have a teak garden table from my childhood home, my god it must be well over 50 years old! It moved from London to the mountains of North Wales and mum used it as her dining table which she always covered with a red gingham cloth. There were so many delicious meals and much laughter around that table and I still treasure it x

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I’ve grown to love your Sunday morning writing so that is now one of my favourite things .

For me also is this time of year as the roses are upturned and facing the sun with the sweet scented honeysuckle rambling through the hedge . When the cows peer over the top, the view is complete on a warm still evening ( treated by the subsidence of the North East wind of late ) when the Westerly wind goes to bed . At the top of our three quarter acre is the new potting shed. Inside my growing collection of antique tools from Garden and Wood , alongside my mother’s precious trowels , spade and fork . I can almost feel her with me as I continue to use them . Now that they are all hanging perfectly arranged I am more committed to piling them. X

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I can relate to this so well. My grandma had a little green and cream roller that she chopped fresh mint with. The smell and visual memories have never left me! But strangely, this is the only item I don't have and would really love to have, despite every cupboard containing Tala cutters and tins, terrifying hand mincers, battered colanders and carving knives that have been sharpened into wavy lines resembling waves on the sea! A lovely article, thank you.

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Such a lovely collection and reminder of your Mum. We're currently clearing my Mother's house and I'm keeping an eye out for her brass jelly pan

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I love how your wall display looks but my favorite item from my mother’s baking days cannot be hung on a wall. It is her stainless steel 9 by 13” pan - unusual that it’s stainless steel rather than aluminum and also treasured because at one point, she etched her name on the bottom because she was always baking for someone but subsequently having to hunt down and retrieve her pans. So i have that memory of her calling around to find her various baking and storage items, plus I have her signature on the bottom as well. It reminds me of her every time I use it and I remember how much everyone looked forward to her baking.

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