Friday 20 July 2012

"Retirement" or "All Good Things Come To An End"

Sonata:
I've been admiring my leaving present cookery book since I brought it home at lunch time . All the recipes , contributed and written by the parents and beautifully decorated by the children with glittery stickers and wonderful drawings ( one , a weirdly wandering black felt-tip trail has been subtitled by the artist's Papa , "This is your spider" ) , photos and cards , are collected in a folder , covered with a tailored cotton slip cover . On the front there's a full size photo of me and one of the youngest preschoolers cheerily grinning and no , you're not going to see it ! You can see me here instead



(It really is time to buy that Pilates DVD , obviously !)
Recipes range from Oma's Pancakes to Thai Shrimp with Straw Mushrooms . There's Russian Egg salad , Fish Pie , Jugoslav Pilav , Chicken Piri-Piri , Crepe Suzette , Meatballs and Mash , Pink Risotto , four pages full of wonderful Indonesian dishes contributed by the father of twins , HOT chicken curry ( decorated with beautifully peaceful , weaving sketched swirls ) , scones , Pretty Trifle , Hearty Soup , a Vegetable Biryani for Madam Geraldine and the Thankyou-Geraldine-Bean dish . And lots more . Laughing photos of the children .... and their hands , carefully traced round ... something I'd do with all of them when they first came





I haven't got the heart to cook anything tonight . Oh , I'm going to miss them all .

9 comments:

Planet Penny said...

Oh, a heart rending time. Lovely memories for you though, and lots of time for cooking to come x

Lucille said...

It was as you thought. What a great memento. Happy and sad face!

love those cupcakes said...

Funny, I'd always pictured you with arms!

Goodbyes and endings are not easy but hellos to new phases are very exciting. Welcome to the 'We Do Whatever We Want' club. You'll enjoy every minute.

Mrs Smith said...

Stunning gift. Congratulations on your retirement. I bet they will miss you too.

Rattling On said...

Marvellous! I hope you'll feature them all on the blog in a special Recipes from Retirement series?
My old boss came back for the end-of-term speeches yesterday, he can't stay away and even went on camp this year.
I bet you'll soon wonder how you had time to work.

shandy said...

Congratulations! Like you, I have retired this year. I'm trying to see it as a wholly positive thing, but there will certainly be a lot fewer people in my life now.

English Rider said...

Sweet Sorrows, and all that...There's a place in your life that will need filling up and a place in your heart that is full.

Marcheline said...

Hugs! Not sad hugs for an ending, but happy hugs for a NEW BEGINNING!

Speaking of which, come on over to my place, I've just had a facelift!

*wink*

Liz Hinds said...

That is just the BEST present! Enjoy the memories it will bring.