I’ve given my husband Charlie (quiet rightly) the opportunity to comment on the below post and put his side of the story. I sound like quite the dragon lady from his response.
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It’s quite an impressive list and last night we had yet another discussion about my likes and more importantly my dislikes. My argument is that Mary shows me an awful lot of pictures as you can well imagine so of course I have to not like some. It’s my reasoning that leaves her infuriated though!
Portraits of people I don’t know – honestly, can’t see the point.
No to pansies – my grandmother used to have a picture (now owned by my parents so no escaping), of a bunch of pansies painted on a black background. To me they always looked like they had faces and were watching me. The black background (source of last night’s consternation) made it doubly creepy. I can probably live without pictures of flowers overall!
No lilac or purple – Mary made me aware of this but it’s true. It may be down to ‘purple lady’ who used to get the train with me a long time ago. Purple tinted hair, purple clothes and she used to use a purple WHSmith bag as a handbag. Perhaps I just had all my purple in one go and there’s no room left for more.
No to religious iconography – too right. Deeply serious, boring and slightly creepy. Possibly stemming from a childhood trip to the National Gallery where I was bored to tears by rooms and rooms of icons. My Mum still laughs at my reaction as she asked me what I seen, only for me to reply loudly in front of dozens of po-faced art lovers, that “there was nothing up there, only loads of those boring icons”. Again, like the colour purple, perhaps you can have too much of something in one go. A bit like South Comfort or Malibu.
Birds – ooo, no, horrible. Just the thought of the wings flapping about the sitting room. Birds inside, horrible!
Cushions – well, I like looking at them but they do tend to take away, rather than add to my comfort. I also have to fluff them up all the time as I can’t bear looking at them when they are all squished.
I don’t think any of my dislikes are at all unreasonable so I hope I have been able to set the record straight!
Brilliant! This could have been written by my husband – you seem to share the same taste/gripes! š
That said, at least you're both willing to have a discussion about these things (unlike some men I know) so good for you.
My husband does have a habit of making a sweeping generalisation about something – be it bird motifs or pansies – only to express his appreciation for said items having stumbled upon (or been shown) them in a form that appeals to his sensibilities.
Great post, Mary and Charlie – fun and insightful! š
I am laughing my pants off (as you say) at the pansies! so funny š
If it makes you feel any better, Richard told me that his 'allowing' me to have a dressing table (which is actually just a desk with a mirror on it) was a symbol of his commitment to me. Apparently his ex wasn't allowed one as they're 'too girly'.