Apples and Pears

"I'm in the garage" has been sourcing wood again and fortunately, although perhaps unfortunately for our friends, a pear tree decided to split and a huge branch came down on their garden laden with unripened pears.  The result was that "you know who" jumped into his van with chain saw in the back and had a really good Saturday afternoon salvaging some lovely pear wood.

The picture shows some of the results of his hard work, the pear wood is obviously the pieces with the said fruit on top and the same goes for the apple wood, which has come from one of the trees in my late father's garden. "I'm in the garage" has been after these English woods for a long time and is so delighted that he now has a good stock of them. Eventually he will be able to make plenty of shuttles from these pieces.

"Apples and Pears" is a well known Cockney Rhyming Slang for "Stairs".  A Cockney is someone who was born in London within the sound of the "Bow Bells" (St Mary-le-Bow Church in Cheapside).  The origins of Cockney Rhyming Slang are uncertain although it is frequently suggested that it began its life as the tongue of the London street trader, the costermongers, perhaps in an attempt to conceal their often illicit practices from the public or more importantly any illegal activities from the recently established police force, known as the "Peelers".

Here are a few more examples of Cockney Rhyming Slang :
Adam and Eve  =  Believe
Dog and Bone   =  Phone
Daisy Roots     =  Boots
Brown Bread    =  Dead
There are plenty more, some probably not a good idea to publish on this blog!  But just imagine listening to a sentence with these words in and trying to understand what the person is on about.

Now more shuttle news - Jane is going to be putting more shuttles in her shop later on this week, would you Adam and Eve it!  Details will be published in her blog tomorrow, this next batch will include the large post shuttles with hooks on.  So go and have a butchers!