I was given this a while ago.
W
e’re an increasingly green household – not that the children leave us much choice. Thus single use takeaway cups for my copious coffees are verboten. Sitting, enjoying myself with a cappuccino I realised we have several mugs that percolate with family history.
This was decorated by the Lawyer as part of his then passion for insects. This he acquired from his grandfather mostly and was practically based. He loved turning over leaves, in the same way he anticipated Santa hoping for a present in the form of a caterpillar. Not so much of the technical or biological background though but give him a caterpillar or pupae and there was one happy bunny.
Mind you the crate of whistling cockroaches he kept in his bedroom for several years were probably at the extreme end of our tolerance for this hobby.
This was a retirement gift. Back in the day you got a clock. My dad was given a specially commissioned oil painting of his beloved New Forest. Those cheapskates I worked with gave me a mug.
But then it was carefully through, happily treated me as able to take a joke and lacked pretension. If that was a metaphor for how they viewed my time at work, I’ll take it.
Naturally I have this one. Some smart arse in the family thinks my love of words is something to sneer at, to scoff at. Ha! I may be a tad sequipedalian but that’s a burden I happily bear. I used to read dictionaries as a kid. Get used to it.
Do you have a set of objects that trigger memories thus?
TanGental 
You read dictionaries as a kid? Wow, you truly are a wordsmith and I’m kind of jealous. 🙂
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I did. Not sure how it began but we had a large brown Chambers I’d leaf through. My brother read the Encyclopaedia Encyclopaedia Britannica but he always did show off. Thanks for popping by
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My set would be photographs or books. Congratulations on keeping those mugs intact.
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They are kept well away from me most of the time
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🙂
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Great mug collection to bring back memories! I have sets of books, teapots, china, pitchers, roosters, linens, pictures, bookmarks, etc. that all have strong memories attached, as well.
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I love the idea of a memory rooster… pecking away at the past I guess
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Great collection of mugs, Geoff. I have nothing that compares.
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That may say more about the respect in which you are held John
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😀
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I read dictionaries as a kid also. I was very excited when my mother bought an abridged O.E.D. I was insufferable with words like “crinkle-crankle.” I also became fascinated with regional vocabulary differences complete with maps of the U.S. with the various words. Before the national news standard, in the 1950’s words really still varied. I wouldn’t want to drink from a mug with my 1981 face on it!
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You think the drink might curdle?! I love differences on dialect that we still get here. It’s the joy of english that it has such variety and is constantly evolving
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I’m glad that the regional differences have held there.
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I do like the mug. Had to look up ‘sesquipedalian’. Now that’s a winner.
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Ha, yes i was showing off sadly!
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Do really Geoff and at this time of year they come out to haunt me. They are Christmas decorations made by the boys when they were young …lol old tatty and loved…a tad like me.
I loved this post Geoff very erudite 💜
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Ha. We have some pottery that is kept just because of who made it. So sweet eh! And erudite! Gosh thanks!
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Things made by our children always mean the most don’t they. Well you are erudite if not so hirsuite 💜💜💜💜
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Hello 🙂 I used to read dictionaries too and those ReadersDigest ‘Word of the day’ things. At age twelve I graduated to Shakespeare and peppered my language with his odd words, though often mispronouncing because I had never heard them used, only read. Now I mostly stick with simple or four letter words for brevity and ease of communication…… I don’t have any collections though and all my old mugs are broken.
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Hi ‘waves’. I think i liked words because I was such a slow reader and the stories are short in dictionaries. And i can’t imagine you being classed as simple!
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These are brilliant mugs!
My cupboard consists of a mish mash of Best Teacher ones and random gifted ones with slogans on, as well as a Little Miss Chatterbox one…
But I do have posh matching ones for guests!
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Ah yes the posh! Tea cups and saucers that my mother left. Something very old school about that
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My Lil Man has, at fourteen, developed a penchant for a tea cup and saucer recently!
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Does he have a decent pinkie to balance the cup?
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He’s working on it 😝
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Great mugs. I still have the mug my very first employer gave me on my first day of work. It is, let’s say, quite old. Just has one tiny chip. It may outlast me!
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If only i could say i only have one tiny chip!.. they don’t make them like that, eh?
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It is a sturdy piece of stoneware for sure.
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Love the first and especially the last one. The family are great at delivering the most lasting sarcasm 🙂 We put baby photos of our nieces on a couple of mugs, both are now treasured [exggerated] family heirlooms and are still intact and regularly used by the family. That is two Christmas gifts that didn’t go to the Op Shop. Winning.
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Such a rare treat!! Families know exactly where your fault lines are, dont they! Love em as we do
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Didn’t family create those fault lines with buttons on them? Yes, gotta love them no matter what.
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I wouldn’t consider that you are, ‘an open drain of inordinate length’, which is my interpretation of sequipedalian (sequi+pedalian). Had you said sesquipedalian, then no one would have doubted the fact.
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Are you suggesting an error was involved? Horrors!! I will have to submit to a suitable punishment and have my page corners turned over.
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Mugs can truly keep special moments or times alive. I had so many mugs with special history… but almost all of them were broken by a clumsy husband… lol
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I understand the clumsy husband shtick
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LOL 😄
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You have some great mugs. 🙂
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I too read dictionaries as a wee sproglet, and encyclopediae, back when both were tomes so heavy they required solid pedestals on which to read them. 😀 … it was the only way I could access the information that truly interested me. 😀
None of my childhood treasures made it to adulthood with me, but I do have a crochet hook that is so well-used and beloved that I have worn off the enamel. It is at least 40 years old and still in use.
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No overloved teddy!? How have you survived!?
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I know … le sigh. 😦
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I knew it! Had you pegged for not only a dictionary reader, but also oddly drawn to obscure dictionaries at that. I do have a few mugs with photos of my kids, but I still prefer the real items. As to things that trigger memories, I just had a story come together that does just this for me even to today. I think you may get a kick out of the distress my father accidentally put me into and how it all resolved. Finally, I could counter your question with one of my own, what was the most nuts thing your dad had you believing while your age was still a single digit?
Here’s my story if you have 10 minutes for a grin.
https://garyawilsonstories.wordpress.com/the-poppies-are-back/
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