Mum was musing about the Old Boot. It has rested by the side of the field for many a month and had provided 5 Star accommodation for a variety of creatures. About a size 9 or 10, she thought. It had certainly seen better days though - and now had two quite sizeable holes in the toe, but why only one boot? It was knowing quite what to do with it.
There are places that you can recycle old footwear apparently. Mum said they have to be tied together - a pair - so that was no good for our Boot. And then what do they do with them all? Mash them down and make a universal shoe - or repair them?
"Pop used to be a Snob you know" We had heard about those sorts of people. "A Cobbler - Bootmender," she clarified. Pop was Mum's Grandfather. When Mum was a young chick he used to play games at his kitchen table with her after school. Mum would explain the rules, which could be quite complicated as she made them up as she went along, and then used to say to Pop "Your Go!"
"What's that Peachey?" And Mum had to explain them all over again (with a few modifications) as Pop had dropped off halfway through. He used to scratch his forehead gently, but when the News came on the wireless, as bright as a button, he would hold his hand aloft and say "Hush." No one would dare interrupt - Mum thinks it went back to listening to reports during the 2nd World War on the BBC Home Service. Anyway Mum said he used to re-sole and heel the family's shoes in his shed after work. It smelt of leather and glue and there were shelves with pots of nails along one side. If Pop was here today he would have known what to do with The Boot!
We busied off and left Mum to her sweeping when we noticed the old newspapers that Dad had stacked in the Log Shed. Gordon scraped at the top sheet excitedly "Look Sylvia! The perfect solution - and we may get some tasty morsels with the proceeds!"
It read 'INDOOR BOOT SALE. ALL WELCOME' Gordon & Sylvia x
"Pop used to be a Snob you know" We had heard about those sorts of people. "A Cobbler - Bootmender," she clarified. Pop was Mum's Grandfather. When Mum was a young chick he used to play games at his kitchen table with her after school. Mum would explain the rules, which could be quite complicated as she made them up as she went along, and then used to say to Pop "Your Go!"
"What's that Peachey?" And Mum had to explain them all over again (with a few modifications) as Pop had dropped off halfway through. He used to scratch his forehead gently, but when the News came on the wireless, as bright as a button, he would hold his hand aloft and say "Hush." No one would dare interrupt - Mum thinks it went back to listening to reports during the 2nd World War on the BBC Home Service. Anyway Mum said he used to re-sole and heel the family's shoes in his shed after work. It smelt of leather and glue and there were shelves with pots of nails along one side. If Pop was here today he would have known what to do with The Boot!
We busied off and left Mum to her sweeping when we noticed the old newspapers that Dad had stacked in the Log Shed. Gordon scraped at the top sheet excitedly "Look Sylvia! The perfect solution - and we may get some tasty morsels with the proceeds!"
It read 'INDOOR BOOT SALE. ALL WELCOME' Gordon & Sylvia x