SPRING GRUMP!

This is my mother's spring plate - enamel fired onto porcelain.

Far from great art but it was one of her ways of escaping the crashing, crushing, mind-numbing boredom of cleaning house, washing & ironing shirts &c, producing perfect meals for the mean-spirited, unimaginative, uncultured boor that was my stepfather.

My Ma took great pleasure form small things - she was of the "Make do & mend generation" - maybe that's how come I got to be a repairer on stringed instruments.

My Ma had a pint bottle of Sarson's malt vinegar in the kitchen cupboard which she kept topped up with Famous Grouse...

After the stepfather had taken himself off to bed at nine pm, she would say, "David, do you fancy a nice glass of vinegar?"

"Oh yes!!"