Friday 7 January 2011

Grumpy's Disappointment


Just before Christmas a very generous friend arranged for this enormous Fortnum & Mason hamper to be delivered to me.

I can't tell you how exciting it was to open the beautiful wicker basket and unload all the delicious goodies ranging from Turkish Delight, Earl Grey tea, Vintage Marmalade cake, Piccadilly biscuits, English assorted chocolate creams, preserves, the list goes on and on. I've kept some of these delights back and now we've finished off our Christmas food supply, we're going to cheer up a rainy, cold month and enjoy some of these treats.


The only member of the family not to find anything to fit his taste was the grumpy one and as you can see from this picture, he had a pretty good nose around to make sure he didn't miss anything.



All was not lost, as despite his initial disappointment, he was eventually pacified by a dental chew.

PS Please let me know if you like the footprints on this blog, or if they're a bit too hard on your eyes. I haven't made my mind up yet...

24 comments:

Anna Scott Graham said...

Oh bless his heart!! And what a gift for you! Enjoy as those short days stick around; nothing like a special treat to brighten the day!

Casdok said...

Wow what a fab hamper!
Happy new year!

Hope and Chances said...

What a wonderful gift and such a lovely basket to keep too :-)

Lisa Ward said...

I just love the basket, but the fact it comes with all that glorious food, makes it so much better! Enjoy!

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

anna - I was so excited to receive this. The hamper alone was enough to delight me!

casdok - Happy New Year to you and C.x

christine - that's what I thought too.

lisa - my thoughts exactly!

Queenie said...

I didn't notice the footprints till you pointed them out, I'm not a particularly visual person and always focus on the text. Amazing hamper, I'm envious! I had one from F&M once, a cheese and port one, very lovely with delicious contents but much smaller than yours. Now I use the hamper to keep my kindling in.

B.E. Sanderson said...

What a wonderful gift idea. Too bad for Grumpy that some doggie goodies weren't inside, but I'm sure he loved whatever treats he got. =o)

Melissa Amateis said...

I LOVE the footprints! Very cute. Poor Grumps. You'll have to get him a special treat the next time you go to the store. :-)

Margaret James said...

I think the footprints are lovely! Do you need any help with the contents of your hamper :-)

Troy said...

The paw prints are a nice feature.

I once went into F&M before Easter and looked at their Easter eggs. They were all very expensive except for one large egg filled with small chocolate eggs. So I bought that for my parents. When they unwrapped the foil off the large egg it was actually just cardboard not chocolate. Only then did I realise why it wasn't such a bargain price.

The hamper though looks a brilliant present to receive at Christmas.

David said...

I like that Grumps is having his say on the blog too with the footprints. Enjoy the remainder of your hamper. What a lovely, thoughtful gift!

Faye said...

I've heard of these F & M hampers but only on novels. Thanks for sharing the real thing,Debs. And, could you give us a report on the Vintage Marmalade cake when you slice it? I'm imagining how well it would do with a cup of tea or coffee.

Dogs are so cute with packages. Like Grumps, Willie has to investigate any that the UPS guy delivers--mostly Amazon so he's disappointed too. Enjoy your hamper this weekend. We're getting a very lovely snowfall right now--perfect reading weekend.

Jen said...

What a lovely treat - it's always a joy to receive to something you simply wouldn't buy for yourself, isn't it?

I hadn't noticed the footprints either but now you've pointed them out, I think they're just the ticket to jollify a grey day.

Kat W said...

I do like the footprints. They're not directly under the writing and so don't bother my eyes.

Poor Grumpy :-( A dental chew doesn't sound much when you compare it to the gorgeous stuff you got but at least it passified him :-)

I love the basket. As much as I adore food, for me, the basket would my favourite part of the gift.

Kat X

Kat W said...

Oh dear I really do need to go back to school or on an intensive spelling course. "Passified"!!!!! Shameful spelling error. Obviously I do realise this is not the correct spelling *hanging my head in shame*. I wish blogger included a spell check on the comments section that would save my regular mistakes.

Kat X

HelenMWalters said...

Poor Grumpy. He needs a doggy hamper really! I love the paw prints x

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

queenie - I know, I would have been almost as happy just to have had the empty hamper it's so gorgeous.

B E Sanderson - He's such a greedy dog and was very disappointed not to find anything for him. He loves his dental chews though and so was happy enough (almost) to be given one of those.

melissa - thanks, I'm glad you like the paw prints. Any excuse to go to F&M and I'm there, although unfortunately it doesn't happen often.

margaret - thank you for saying so.
I probably would if I wasn't married to someone with a hearty appetite.

troy - what a shame to find the large egg was cardboard, so disappointing.

david - he always has to be in here somewhere. He's too big a personality to ignore, even if he is only 14" tall.

faye - the poor postman is always thoroughly investigated by Grumps, no wonder he comes and goes as quickly as possible.

The cake was quite light and very fruity, but it somehow left a bit of an orangey after taste that I wasn't expecting to be so strong. Good though.

jen - it was an unexpected treat and so generous too.

I'm glad you like the paw prints, I thought they were rather fun.

kat - I agree. The dental chew was a bit of a meagre offering after all that we'd found in the hamper.

I adore the hamper. It's in my room at the moment and probably going to be somewhere I can hide more books.

helen - I'm sure he'd be thrilled with one of those.

Flowerpot said...

Dear Grumps - what a face! I like the footprints actually.... give him a hug from me and Molls x

Talli Roland said...

I love the new template and the paw-prints.

Oh, poor Grumps. But lucky you!

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

flowerpot - I know, he was sorely disappointed. I think he wanted to get into the hamper.x

talli - thank you, glad you like it. I think I do too.

The hamper (and everything in it) was lovely.

Phillipa Ashley said...

Debs - that hamper is completely gorgeous and Grumpy is so cute!

But if he's naughty, you could threaten to parcel him up and send him back to F&M. :)

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

Phillipa - I could, but I'd bet they'd send him straight back again :)

Glynis Peters said...

Enjoy your hamper, how lovely. LOL, your poor little dog looks so left out.

The paws sit nicely in the background for me. :)

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

glynis - it was such a lovely gift and I was so excited to unpack all the wonderful treats inside. Himself was very miffed at being left out.

Glad you like the paws, thanks.