Vegetable peelers (C8)? Gerhard Engleitner of Hurstville no longer has room for such common utensils. “I now have such cool things as melon ballers, butter curlers, larding needles, an asparagus lifter, sardine forks, citrus zesters, grape shears, caviar spoons, grapefruit knives and several types of fondue pots and forks.”
Russ Couch of Woonona is overwhelmed by this addition to his to-do list. “I know I have to dot my eyes and cross my teas, but now I also have to peel my peas (C8)?”
Talking of shelling peas (C8), Peter Johns of Forresters Beach asks: “Was anyone else as a child told by their mother to whistle while shelling the peas? As long as she could hear the whistle she knew you weren’t eating the peas, as raw peas were much nicer than cooked ones.”
Janet Turner of Frenchs Forest has “a knife marked ‘stainless feather touch USA’, bought at Nock and Kirby’s from Joe the Gadget Man (C8), who claimed it would ‘cut through leather’. I use it every day, and it has never needed sharpening.”
Dr Michael Johnston of Mosman says there is a very good reason for the titles on pre-admission forms (C8). “It is useful to know if a patient uses the titles Doctor or friend because the risk of complications rises dramatically.“
On a recent road trip Geoff and Angela Turnbull of Ashfield made use of the public toilets in Matong, a small village east of Narrandera, and were impressed to find the cleanest toilet block they had ever encountered, which was maintained by locals Jennifer and Chris. “Jennifer, who was tidying the surrounding grounds, gave full credit to Chris for the pristine state of the toilets. Meanwhile, Chris was busy cleaning the windscreen of our car. Old school hospitality is alive and well in the bush!”
Stewart Copper of Maroubra has noticed that it has “been a while since I last saw a grasshopper in the garden. Even after mowing, grasshoppers used to be seen jumping about but, going to town with the dreaded Whipper Snipper may have spelled out the end for the little guys. Anyone got any to spare?”
According to Allan Thomas of Lochinvar, that up-and-down washing machine motion (C8) preferred “by the aptly named (and aforementioned) Stewart Copper goes back to the 1880s. A dolly posser, used in a copper boiler, was a long wooden stick with legs which, when pushed up and down, improved dirt removal.”
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