Fruit and Veg

The colours in the shop window caught my eye as I went through town this evening.

My Great Grandfather, Tommy MacNamara, was a fruit and veg merchant. As well as his shop he sold his wares from a horse and cart. He was fond of a drink and most evenings, let's make that every evening, he would stop his cart outside the pub while he went in to have a refreshment. He would not emerge till much later having drunk most of the day's takings. It was just as well that his horse knew the way home as Tommy was in no fit state to find it himself.

Another story which my Father told us was that Tommy had once bought an old horse which had been in the circus. One day while pushing the cart along the horse heard the Salvation Army band strike up. It reared up on it's hind legs and started prancing, spilling all the oranges off the cart onto the road.

This story made us laugh as children but we always suspected that my Father had made this one up. Then one day my sister met an old lady who asked her who her family were and my sister explained. The old lady repeated the story of the dancing horse and said that, as a little girl, she had picked up one of the oranges that had tumbled onto the road.

I would like to thank everyone for their very kind comments and good wishes on my 200th blip yesterday. I enjoy looking at all the journals on here and am amazed by the wonderful and talented people who inhabit Blipworld.