our ruby wedding anniversary

Forty years ago today we walked out of church as husband and wife.  It was a small wedding by modern standards - no huge, day-long party stretching out into the early hours.  It was just a simple church service, photos then a reception at a local hotel.

We left with 'L-plates' on the car only to sneak back a few hours later once everyone had gone. We married young and had no spare money whatsoever so the offer of a free room for the night as part of the hotel wedding package was just too good to refuse.

So where should we eat our first meal on our own as a married couple? We walked along the beach where we had done so much of our courting as teenagers and bought fish and chips from a seaside cafe. They were truly delicious and we wanted for nothing - we had each other.

We've celebrated every wedding anniversary since then with a fish and chip meal to remind us where we've come from. Over the years we've been so fortunate to eat in places as varied as a famous fish restaurant in Paris, on the wall outside a chippie in a Norfolk coastal town and down in the basement of family-run Jewish restaurant in Budapest.

Today was no exception. We celebrated with a plate of fish-fingers and chips before settling down to watch some tear-jerking videos from our past rescued by our eldest daughter as our ruby wedding anniversary present.

Simple food, simple times, simple love - what could be better.

simple pleasures no. 10 - heaven in a wild flower

Well, not quite wild. It's actually the head of a cultured allium, grown in our back garden. There is, however, a significance in the title to this photo which I will come onto in a moment.

I love alliums. They bring late spring colour, then as the flower-head fades it reveals the beautiful skeletal globe holding the seeds of the next generation. In more ways than one, life comes full circle.

Which brings us back neatly to the very first posting in this series - 'Time Has Told Me' the title of a song by the late Nick Drake.  It featured on an early compilation album, 'Heaven in a Wild Flower', released following his premature death.

As I look back on the photos I've taken and the words I've written I begin to realise my simple pleasures of life lie in those good things which feed my body, my mind and my spirit.  What better way to finish than with some more superb music by Nick Drake.

 

simple pleasures no. 9 - sandman

Despite my ever increasing years I still love a good comic/graphic novel and this is one of, if not the, very best.  Written by Neil Gaiman over a seven year period it features a family known as the Endless, the members of whom are Dream, Destiny, Death, Desire, Despair, Delirium and Destruction.

The books contain multiple over-lapping story arcs incorporating history, literature, mythology, philosophy and faith. If you haven't heard of 'Sandman' go take a look - it will blow your socks off!

simple pleasures no. 8 - the kissing couple

This simple little automaton has a rather special place in our collection. It was the very first I bought, a gift for my wife.  It came from the magnificent Cabaret Mechanical Theatre in Covent Garden, now sadly closed for many years.

Rotate the handle in a clock-wise direction and a series of small cogs and spindles spin the couple's heads together then apart. A gentle kiss as the couple great each other before they turn to face the operator of the handle, still embraced in each other's arms.

It makes me feel both romantic and slightly voyeuristic at one and the same time, almost as if I am spying on another couple's simple joy in life!

simple pleasures no. 7 - the ticking watch

The gentle tick of of a mechanical watch is a thing of beauty. It will never ever be matched by its electronic equivalent.  

This is one of my mechanical watches and it comes with history. Open the back cover and you will find this inscribed inside...

'The Daimler Co. Ltd for twenty five years loyal and faithful service. 1913 - 1938. T.C. Gandy.'

I wonder who T.C. Gandy was.  What job did he discharge so faithfully for a quarter of a century to earn this watch? What other simple pleasures brought joy to his life? I search in vain for answers.

simple pleasures no. 6 - the pork pie

What could possibly beat a good, honest pork-pie accompanied by lashings of HP sauce?!

There are silly little bonsai versions served at children's parties and pretentious artisan types boasting exotic meat cuts and obscure seasoning but for the best in pork-pies look no further than the humble 'off-the-shelf'.

This one was purchased from the local Co-op for the princely sum of £1.26 and went down a treat after the photo-shoot!

simple pleasures no. 5 - fear and loathing

I love this book! I know I shouldn't but I just love it. It's the story of a journey to the heart of darkness in America fueled by copious quantities of mind-blowing drugs and fast cars. It's written by the late Hunter S. Thompson, one of my all-time favourite authors, and illustrated by Ralph Steadman in his hallmark 'Francis Bacon meets Salvador Dali' style.

I retrieved my copy from the bookshelves to take a photo and now I just have to re-read it. Who could possible resist this as an opening...?!!!!'

 'We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something like, 'I feel a little light-headed; maybe you should drive...' And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around our car, which was going about a hundred miles an hour with the top down to Las Vegas.'

©  1971 Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas