Thursday 11 February 2010

Waning crescent


5% full.


If you've ever wondered whether a crescent moon is old or new,
here is a trick.
The curve of the 'd' for derniere
is last or waning,
the curve of the 'p' for premiere
is first or waxing.

Also as promised:

'At dessert the finger-glass is removed from the dessert-plate, 
placed on the left-hand side, and if a d'oyley is used, 
it is removed and placed underneath the glass.
If ices are served at dessert the finger-glass is placed on the ice-plate. 
It should be removed as before; 
the ice-plates being removed by the servant when finished with, 
leaving the dessert-plate in place.'

I hope that has been helpful.

7 comments:

  1. very useful information ... well, mostly! :)

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  2. When we were on our honeymoon a lovely Italian lady told us "in Italy we say the moon is a liar because when he says crescendo he is diminuendo and when he says diminuendo he is crescendo" I repeat it regularly to myself - whenever I see a crescent moon, in fact.

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  3. Thank you so much for the francophone lunar guidance. My bearer claims to find it most enlightening. (I suspect him of occult Pondicherry ancestry.)

    I confess to being a little perplexed however, by your post on finger bowls and dessert plates. Was there ever any uncertainty?

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  4. Pondicherry was the name of a lovely Laura Ashley fabric that I had made up into curtains back in the quondam days. Do you know how to speak of 'The Marquis of Sussex', 'The Vicountess Buckingham' and 'The Countess of Norfolk'? Hmm?

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  5. 'The Marquis of Sussex', 'The Vicountess Buckingham' and 'The Countess of Norfolk'?

    In person I speak of them as "Sux", "Chuck" and "Hen". But always discretely.

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  6. I have always agonized about doyleys and I feel that you have put my mind at rest.

    Pomona x

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  7. D'oyleys, I'm afraid, are the last refuge of a scoundrel. Ladies should allow them with extreme caution; gentlemen, never.

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