A Sunday Lunch to Remember.

Crusty was invited to a delightful luncheon party on Sunday afternoon at the home of Wing Commander Bertie of Chipmunk Squadron.

It was a very private affair and one of the guests invited was a young expert, called Steven, from the local auctioneers.

Earlier in the day, Bertie had said that he was more than happy for me to bring along something for Steven to have a look at.

At first I was shocked; as a rule, one would not generally take the expensive antiquities and artwork, that fill Crusty Hall, from their natural habitat (you may do that sort of thing in Jesmond, dear, but Crusty is a little more discrete).

Anyhoo… to humour him, while getting dressed, I had a thought of something our expert might like to have a look at.

It was a wonderful afternoon of anecdotes and delicious food and the time flew by; the wine, champagne and Gin flowed free and when we retired to the lounge for coffee, Wing Commander Bertie asked if I’d brought anything along with me.

I whipped out my old pair of jugs and popped them onto the coffee table. There was a gasp as the whole room stared at what was balanced in front of them. I smiled a gin-soaked smile at Steven, “I would imagine you weren’t expecting to see those today, dear!”

He leant forward, with his mouth wide open, and started to move his fingers around their surface, looking closely for any blemishes.

“They…are…m-a-g-n-i-f-i-c-e-n-t!”, he said, “They have the sheen of the finest porcelain.”

He lifted them up to have a quick peek underneath, commenting on their gorgeous finials and - with his mouth watering, said, “Dame Crusty, your jugs are priceless!”

One didn’t expect anything less, dear!