Jammy!

Few things in life remain the same forever, but one exception appears to be the iconic label of Tiptree jam. The design of this label must be one of the oldest on the supermarket shelves. It hasn't significantly changed in the last 125 years. Ironically, the plainess of the label now makes it stand out more. A few weeks ago, we made the pilgrimage to the factory which unsurprisingly is in Tiptree, Essex. ( I have to point out we were in the area anyway- we're not quite insane enough to make a special journey from Cornwall.) It was a shame that you couldn't go round the actual factory, but there was a museum which was (jam) packed with related artefacts . They also had a very informative film and of course, a tearoom . The jam, by the way, is mighty fine - it was my granny's favourite. As well as good old strawberry they have more obscure jams such as quince, medlar, and damson . They've also branched out into sauces. I've only tried the brown sauce so far, which is yummy! Anyway, I'd be interested to hear if anyone can recommend any other factory tours as I do like that sort of thing.

Here Comes The Bride...

Here's a picture of the royal wedding. Not the one just taken place, you understand. No, this is perhaps the oldest surviving piece of artwork done by myself. And I'm not even going to tell you which wedding its of, for fear of revealing myself to be a complete old fogey. All I am prepared to divulge is that I was 7 when I drew it. I can actually remember doing this and feeling like I'd spoilt it by not colouring in the union jack properly.