MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THESE......

Spam sandwiches, fairy cupcakes and lifes simple pleasures......

There is a big place in my heart for vintage tins and this comes from the days when I was a little girl. My dearl grandparents used to take me out for drives in the Cambridgeshire countryside where they lived and we would do the grand tour......

We would putter along in my grandfather's old green Morris Minor 1000 and when a suitable place turned up (usually the entrance to a field) we would pull in for a small picnic. No fancy picnic spots for us, just anywhere a little car could find a parking space with a bit of a view. Should the view be a field of ripe wheat.......

The humble Morris Minor 1000......

There was nothing posh about the picnics and they were nearly always held inside the car. Out would come two old biscuit tins both lined with greaseproof paper and goodies. The first tin would hold the Spam sandwiches......

I know, Spam......

But honestly to my little girls heart they were heaven indeed. Fresh white bread, yummy English butter and slices of spam in between, there was no better feast than this. The second tin would hold fairy cakes as they were known in our family, in the States you call them cupcakes but to my grandparents and I they were always fairy cakes......

Truly something delicious and magical indeed......

My favorites were with juicy soft sultanas baked into every yummy bite. Of course being British there was always and I mean always the flask of hot tea. It did not matter how hot it was outside we always had our hot sweet tea. My grandmother would get the old tartan litho flask out and carefully unscrew the little cup and stopper at the top. The steam would rise from the contents and then the ceremony would begin of pouring each of us a little cup......

Tea when it has been in a flask all day has a completely different smell and flavor and I remember it well. The tea was always made with tea leaves and not teabags, good old fashioned strong and sweet English tea. The little windows at the front of the car would be wound down and the soft summer air would whaft through the vehicle. Once my tummy was full and I was content I would sing in the back of the car like a little bird......

This was the best part of the day for my grandparents......

I still have one of those precious tins and to me it's value is above pearls, it is the second tin from the top and covered in pictures of fruit. Isn't it funny how the best memories in life are rarely about anything of any great monetary value, but more about the people in our lives and how they touched us......

May you find joy and happiness along the path of life and remember to stop and enjoy your spam sandwiches and fairycakes......