I was the kid who never dared. Who always said, 'I'm not allowed'. Who didn't want to break the rules. Who, briefly, was an eco warrior.
I was the kid afraid to fall. The kid who never climbed a tree. Who never rode a Ferris wheel. Who learnt to fly a glider, solo!
I was the kid who feared the dark. Who struggled so to learn to swim, convinced that I would surely drown. Who skinny dipped at midnight once.
I was the kid with spiky hair. The kid who knitted
all the time. Who'd eat a Tunnock's Teacake whole. Who knew
some things would never change!
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
That's me. But who were
you? And how do you eat
your Tunnock's Teacakes?
A 'Welcome' shout out to
Meadow Yarn - check out their
shop! -
Tattie Weasel, Trudy at
Playing in the Attic, Robin at
Crochet Nirvana, Nicole at
Off the hook on the East Coast, Dorothy at
Hooks and Grannies, and
Ruth.
I was the kid who was painfully shy and would never talk to strangers- who learned to be make with friends out of strangers through blogging.
ReplyDeleteI struggled with this one Annie! The only thing I could come up with was that I used to be a size 8 and had a 22inch waist when I was married but not any more!!!! ;) That may well have something to do with afore mentioned tea cakes. We had a picnic lunch today and I had a real craving for Tunnock's Teacakes and I had to go to 5 shops before I could find any. I almost had the shakes by this stage, my husband thought any biscuit would do but no I was on a mission!
ReplyDeleteWhat a coincidence you blogged about them tonight! :)
Vivienne x
I was the kid who always, always obeyed the rules. I never skipped school, never went anywhere I was told not to, never did anything I wasn't suppose to do. I was so afraid of getting into trouble. Now I wish (I'm 61)that I had tried a little harder to be just a little bit of a rebel. Not that I had a bad childhood, it was quite nice actually, but when I hear friends talking about things they did, I feel sort of jealous.
ReplyDeleteOh, I am the old lady kid who just pushed the wrong button..my esoteric comments just disappeared.
ReplyDeleteI was always the kid who saw what happened to my older brother and sister. It wasn't bad, just learning.
I was the kid who climbed trees, played in the streams of Hawaii, wanted to run faster than all of the boys in my class. I was the kid who played football with my brother..and broke his finger. I was the kid who loved that school, who went to a much larger school and was lost at times. I was the kid who never felt that she fit in with the "right crowd".
I am now the old lady/kid who thinks and knows that you are such a special person..so talented and caring. Talent is a gift..caring is intentional work and purposeful...and you, Dear Annie, do it all so well.
I too was the kid who was painfully shy, who retreated into books as into another and better world, who read "Jane Eyre" and "Pride and Prejudice" at the age of 8. Although I struggled to learn to swim, I was always the last one out of the water when we went to the beach. I was the girl who requested (and got) Hot Wheels for Christmas when other girls got Barbie dolls.
ReplyDeleteAnd I've never tasted a Tunnock's Teacake! But I've eaten Oreo cookies whole. :)
and..i just re-read..you are a very skinny dippy lovely and loving person.
ReplyDeleteShesh..what a beauty. and I want to taste that Teacake too.
xoxo
Tunnock's Teacakes aren't in Australia but they sound delightful. I was the kid who was shy, who obeyed the rules, was under the thumb of my parents and looked on in awe at my older sister who did her own thing. I became the young women who was too scared to make a choice from the resturant menu, who didn't trust anyone.
ReplyDeleteI'm the woman who now doesn't care what anyone thinks of her and who can make conversation with almost anyone. I'm the woman who when recently visiting Paris, climbed up on a statue to have a photo taken. I'm also the woman who was brave enough to explore the non tourist back streets and alleys of Venice to discover how Venetians live. I'm the woman who paints in oils and when visiting the Orsay Museum in Paris realised my art teacher is narrow minded and restricts me when I'm trying to paint my way. The Masters were not constrined by rules I don't have to be either.
Growing older brings so many freedoms. :)
Anne xx
Well, I was just the opposite, Tomboy, had to be outside all the time and wasn't afraid of anything...more guts than brains! LOL! Still that way but that's why you're the better knitter! I'll never catch up to you...too many years outside...playin' around! LOL!
ReplyDeleteI was in the forest all Wednesday and Saturday afternoons running for hours. I wanted to be a pioneer (my father gave me a book with all information you need to survive in the wilderness, including making shoes from a tire).
ReplyDeleteI loved school, reading and handcrafts. I was brave but shy and wanted to be a boy. I was always in love with someone but did not have a boy friend. I did not brake rules, but there weren't any that restricted me.
I think Tunnocks Teacakes are "Mohrenköpfe". If I buy a box, I have to eat them all at once.
I was the timid and shy kid, in my mind i was a famous tv chef though and used to pretend to be Delia Smith, outside in the garden using and old twin tub washing machine as my cooker and leaves from the hedge for bay leaves!
ReplyDeleteI would eat my teacake...s.l.o.w.l.y...layer by layer....yum!
love jooles x
What an intriguing and thought-provoking post. I was the kid with short curly hair which my mother wouldn't let me grow and which I hated. Also the kid who didn't switch on at school until it was almost, but not quite, too late. I discovered Tunnocks' Tea Cakes and Tunnocks' Caramel Wafers when I was seven when they were distributed at school before afternoon lessons, IF you'd paid your weekly "chocolate biscuit money", from an old fashioned unpainted metal biscuit tin. They were a revelation - we never had bought chocolate biscuits of this type at home. Chocolate Digestives were as far as it went. I am afraid I used to peel off the chocolate shell and eat that, then the deliciously soft marshmallow and then the biscuity bit underneath! The Caramel Wafers had the edge for me though - I adored their soft textured caramelly chewiness... Talking of which, whatever else I have to do today, buying a packet of these now seems rather imperative! Still hate my curly hair by the way but these days it's grown out to a length I can wear pinned up so that the curls get pulled out! And for special occasions there is always God's merciful gift to curly-hair-hating humanity of a pair of ceramic tongs! Enjoy your day Annie! I'm off after supplies from Tunnocks!
ReplyDeleteI loved reading this post! I was the child who was always a tomboy, loved making mud pies, went swimming in the 'open air' Lido's at ridiculous times of the year and longed to be one of the Famous Five or the Secret Seven and yes, I too love those Tunnocks tea cakes - first introduced to me at the junior school tuck shop where you could get two for a penny! And there was only one way to eat them, small bites to remove the chocolate and marshmallow topping and then enjoy the biscuity base. X
ReplyDeleteTunnocks - carefully nibble the chocolate, lick out the yummy middle and finally eat the biscuit. Walnut Whips? bite off the bottom, lick out the middle and save the nut for the end (hoping it wouldn't taste nasty).
ReplyDeleteMe then - compliant, scared, wanting to please.
Me now - not afraid to be me, mostly happy, occasionally a bit scary.
Lovely post, thank you.
Er - I've never had a Tunnocks Teacake...
ReplyDeleteClearly this is something I need to rectify. So I was the child who never had a Tunnocks teacake. I'm struggling to remember a specific childhood food I loved, too. Oh dear! Everything? Everything except sprouts?
Lovely pictures of the iconic Tunnocks tea cakes! My main memory of them is not of eating them but of drawing them when I was an art student :)
ReplyDeleteHelen x
OK I'm smiling now. First because of the lovely message you left over at Millefeuilles and now because of this post of yours. The first image which springs effortlessly to mind is of me sitting in the first violins (later to become THE first violin) of our county orchestra furiously chewing Extra Strong Mints whilst bowing in the opposite direction to those who surrounded me. I had launched a 'Who Can Consume An Extra Strong Mint In Under 10 Seconds?' Competition and as I was determined to win my bowing concentration was not qutie what it should have been.
ReplyDeleteI bet I was giggling too. You can do that when you are playing the fiddle much more easily than when playing the oboe ;-)
Stephanie
You are so naughty Annie. It was you who tempted me off my eating sensibly diet by showing me your malt loaf and now you're doing it again!
ReplyDeleteWe LOVE tunnocks here, the plain choc ones included. Never eaten one whole but certainly in two x
Loving this tunnocks post! I am currently biscuit obsessed and have just seen a recipe for homemade tunnocks teacakes that I really want to try...
ReplyDeleteI was shy and lacking in confidence as a child and teen, but surprised myself with how confident, competitive and ambitious I became in the work place during my twenties. I still love to make and create and read, all the things I loved as a child, and, after five years at home, am just settling in to my domestic role as I need to start thinking about returning to work! x
Childhood .. memories I try not to visit *sigh*
ReplyDeleteAs for Tunnocks Tea Cakes, I can't eat them now, too much sugar, but I do recall being allowed one for a 1d when I was briefly at Merstow Green School in Evesham at milk time each day. It was here I learned bout the remarkable achievements of Sir Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tensing. I learned about the men that had conquered Everest for the first time in our Queen's Coronation year. Fast forward some 30 years, and I became friends and neighbours with one of them and his wife. I was completely awed when the penny dropped who he was. Not long after my introduction to Tunnocks teacakes, I was packed off to boarding school at the ripe old age of 7. They didnt have them there. Food was very plan and proper, and if we were very good, on the monthly film night, we might be allowed a cup of sickly sweet hot chocolate as a treat. Its put me off the beverage for life!
What a ramble ..... and all I meant to say was - I love the photographs you took of them.
Zoe
How to eat a Tunnock's Tea Cake (in private):break the chocolate dome with your thumb; pick off the prime pieces of chocolate; suck the marshmallow; bite the biscuit; wipe chocolate off face.
ReplyDeleteA bit like life - when you get over breaking the rules.
I still feel like that kid...but without all the daring. Do we ever stop feeling like we have to play at growing up and just enjoy the fun stuff.
ReplyDeleteBite the top off, lick the marshmallow and I don't really enjoy the biscuit bit at the bottom so I tend to chuck it away....it's a bit too dry.
Nina xxx
ps. sorry - I hope I haven't come across as a misery guts...I'm just really tired at the moment. Sorry. N xxxx
shy, bookish, overprotected, goody-two-shoes, only child....who never HEARD OF TUNNOCKS'S TEA CAKE!!!!! Still rather bookish, no siblings---and have only just now discocvered Tunnock's; must do something about this!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the shout out! We've just introduced our 3 boys to the delights of Tunnocks Tea Cakes... they loved them, although the mess was quite something ;-) I eat mine demurely, with a very strong cup of tea!
ReplyDeleteI was the kid who... didn't know whether to be wild or mild... and settled for a bit of both ;-)
x
You're a bit of a rebel aren't you Annie - fancy eating a tunnock's teacake whole!!!
ReplyDeleteFor me it's like this : bite off all the chocolate off the dome, then carefully peel the biscuit of the marshmallow and eat the biscuit leaving me with the marshmallow to savour at the end! Heaven.....
Have a happy week and be wild!
Fleur xx
LoVe teacakes! Depending on my mood, I either stuff them in whole :) or eat the top bit off first if I have more time :) I was the very shy, bespectacled kid who loved to read and be at home.
ReplyDeleteLovely post Annie! Victoria xx
Ha ha, Annie I do like the picture of a spiky haired mini you smiling a tunnocks tea cake smile! I'm a nibbler (same with mars bars) nibbling round the edge to get the chocolate off, next the marshmallow and lastly the biscuity bit. I've not had one for ages but feel a rather strong craving now! I was the kid who gave her mum grey hair (in my teenage years anyway) who settled down to be a home-loving, bunny-knitting, peace-seeking 40 year old.
ReplyDeleteAnnie, can you imagine that I have never eaten a Tunnock's Teacake? Perhaps that is because I live in the States?
ReplyDeleteI must remedy this lack of experience soon.
Meanwhile, this summer I am reading The Wind in the Willows for the first time ever, and am thoroughly enjoying it. Perhaps there's still quite a bit of child left in my head and heart.
xo
Oh, I love this post and I love Tunnock's Teacakes.
ReplyDeleteI was the kid who always liked to draw and who was desperate to learn. I was the kid who liked to put her books in alphabetical order (next to my bed I still have my first Oxford Dictionary with a carefully place sticker with O1 at the bottom of its spine). I was the kid who like to sew and knit and make and play Scrabble or Lexicon (do you remember that game?).
As an adult, I pretty much remain the same.
And I tend to eat my teacakes as Nina does ; )
I was the child who was always filthy rotten dirty but loving it. I was the child who learnt to bricklay and wallpaper instead of learning to draw, the child who learnt to "chariot race" like Ben Hur with two ponies instead of learning to ride a bike! I was the child who struggled to read and do maths all the way through O'levels, A'levels, a degree and a PhD only to be told at 30 that I was dyslexic!
ReplyDeleteI like to think there is still a bit of a wild streak in the two of us, Annie! We just need to get out a bit more together! xxxx
I haven't had a tea cake in years. Of course now I will put that right. I would be a nibbler. I was a kid who daydreamed her way through life, a smiler, who wanted adventure and loved company. Never truly happy alone. I have changed quite a bit and my adventures are small ones, but I am always happiest with people around me. Also I am still afraid of the dark, I don't think that will ever leave me.
ReplyDeleteI was the kid who always had to quietly rebel, who liked to be different, who didn't care, who flouted authority, who wouldnt conform, who led rather than followed, who wouldnt be told what to do....even though I was shy. I havent changed much. Stubborn I guess.
ReplyDeleteAnd I was the kid who didn't like Tunnocks Tea Cakes.... shock, horror!!! Sorry guys, just don't like 'em!
Great post, that got us all talking! Thanks for visiting mine!
Gill xx
*whispers* I eat them in one uncouth bite. NOM. (note present tense there)
ReplyDeleteI was the child who was so afraid to make a mistake in her paintings and craft that she'd get out all of her materials and just sit there, frozen and a little terrified. Mostly she'd put them away again having made or painted nothing. Thank God that terror went away.
Hi, Annie! Lovely post! That`s almost me :o) And I still love to crochet, to knit, to draw and I love my tea with Teacake as well :O) And I stil affraid of the high
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely week
love
Natasha
I was the kid who tried so hard to be liked....and failed! Who moved school 9 times (with her father's work) Scotland, England,Wales, Scotland, England...etc...and had to start again...sussing what the others were like and having to try and remodel myself so that I would fit in....trying so hard to be liked and accepted...even at home!! I nibbled my teacake and enjoyed it bit by bit.....put the last scrumptuous piece on my plate and my mother pinched it and ate it!! That was me..... Lovely post again, Annie! Joan
ReplyDeleteHow can you eat a Tunnocks teacake whole? I haven't eaten one of those for ages, they will be going in my shopping basket next time I see some! I liked to crack the chocolate on the top and eat bit by bit. The wrappers where made to wine goblets!
ReplyDeleteI was the quiet kid who didn't break the rules, couldn't swim, couldn't ride a bike. I think I am a bit different now!
Sarah x
Thank you for the mention! And I love Tunnocks tea cakes but never tried to eat one whole - at least not until now...I wonder if I could???!!!
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I'm not sure what Tunnock's Teacakes are being from Canada, so I'm really not sure if I could eat one or not! I was the kid who followed my own rules and fiercely opposed anything contrary to my internal conscience. Luckily I've never exhibited any antisocial personality charactaristics (although my parents may have disagreed with this during my early teen years--I was horrible!) and thankfully my conscience was always well-intentioned and socially-motivated. I have gained wisdom in aging and have learned to carefully pick my battles and approach controversy with patience and compassion (or at least I try my very best ;^).
ReplyDeleteI've knit since childhood, learned to swim but just barely enough to keep from drowning (I was scared of this too), never liked Ferris wheels because of motion sickness, and never skinny-dipped because I'm far too conservative.
Whew... A very thought-provoking post Annie, I really had to think about this one!
Janine xox
I think a Tunnock's Teacake would be what you call a Whippet in Canada Janine, but if I'm right Whippet's are bigger.
DeleteWhole, for certain.
ReplyDeleteLove this post! Just wrote a little post about what kind of kid my kid is, so this has been on my mind. Thanks.
I was the child who only had piano leassons for a year or so as we couldn't afford them, and struggled painfully with music theory at school, but who can now (if pushed) play guitar, mandolin, autoharp, fiddle, and melodeon - all without music. I was also slim and sporty at school - hah! No longer!
ReplyDeleteTea-cakes? Well for sure, same as Thomasina, remove chocolate carefully with tongue. Demolish. Slurp soft mallowy centre and demolish. `reluctantly chew biscuity layer because as an adult one can't be seen to 'leave one's crusts'!
Hi Annie, I've just read Gillyflowers comment and am a bit concerned because she written what I was going to write....almost word for word, apart from the bit about still being shy. Now I'm not at all. Still horribly stubborn and don't like those globby, nasty teacake things at all. But if I HAD to eat one, for a bet or a dare, it would have to be whole.
ReplyDeleteYou've really touched us here; great post! Axxx
Hi Annie
ReplyDeleteI'm the person who may look quite calm on the outside, but who is constantly afraid that people are laughing at me or I'm making a fool of myself...getting better as I get older, but it's still lurking in the background all the time! Grrrrrr.
Unbelievably, I'm not that fond of tea cakes, but I have just enjoyed a caramel wafer, with my girl, sitting on the sofa, relishing a bit of quiet time before the hordes return from school!
Emily x
Oh my...I am feeling very North American here. I don't even know what a Tunnock's Teacake is!
ReplyDeleteI'm the fattie that 'ppfffs' at you eating a teacake whole. I'm more likely to eat the WHOLE packet. (seriously)
ReplyDeleteWe once witnessed an angry husband throwing (with some force) a tunnocks teacake at his poor wife, from the window of his car. They WERE friends of ours. It is known as the 'drive by tunnocking' incident around here.
fee x
(great photos)
What a fab conversation piece this post has created Annie! Just what you like in a blog :o)
ReplyDeleteI was the kid who had to climb any tree given,jump into other peoples gardens to pick (ahem actually nick) other peoples fruit from their trees, skinny dip at night in the sea when I was old enough and my parents relinquished to their wild child's request and I was the one who was the extrovert always making friends and plotting silly day dreaming adventures of being the only female pirate on a skull and cross bones ship and making dens under blankets and cardboard boxes to hide as a secret agent. I was also a rather good girl and respected mum and dad unlike my rather spoilt big sister! I had a very happy-go-lucky childhood, thanks for reminding me Annie.
I only discovered Tunnocks tea cakes when I got to this glorious country and have to say they give me a thrill each time I have one because in South Africa we had some kind of whip which was similar and only rich kids parents bought them, I always was envious! Now I can afford these and devour them bit by bit,oh so slowly for every moment of pleasure xox Penelope
I was the kid who lived in a sweet shop/general dealers. Who didn't have a sweet tooth. Who has been making up for it ever since.
ReplyDeleteTunnock's have to be eaten chocolatey marshmallow topping first, biscuity base last. It's the law.
Hi, I was the kid who no one really noticed, I was quiet and never drew attention to myself! Now I am someone who people like to be around, I'm still not the life and soul of the party, but always up for a laugh! I've 'grown' into my personality! Top off with the tea cake, every time! Ada :)
ReplyDeleteI was a daredevil, a tomboy with two little brothers, climbing trees and playing in the stream - but I was also the eldest, the one who should know better, the one left in charge .... both sides are evident in my personality today and I think and hope I am a good mix :-)
ReplyDeleteTea cakes are lush, but the chewy caramel bars are my favorites - definitely one to savour! Bee x
Aw ,i was one of six who wasnt overly inteligent ,couldnt spell as you have probably noticed ,had older sisters who were great at everything,but over all i like me xxx
ReplyDeleteI was the same sort of kid. Fearful of swimming, fearful of many things. I was nicknames Cautious Claudia and it still sticks! My husband called me that the other day.
ReplyDeletexo
Claudia
I was the kid who was scared her mother would find out .... but I'm also the kid who has survived what life has thrown at her and that has been quite a lot. Unfortunatly I've been a vegetarian for the last 15 years and as marshmallow isn't vegetarian I can't eat them any more .... miss them much more than meat - I used to eat each part bit by bit (they lasted longer than any other sweet treat). Thanks for reminding me.
ReplyDeleteActually I was a bit of a smartarse and my mum used to call me hannah with the banner 'cos I was a sucker for a lost cause
ReplyDeleteOne in each cheek like a demon hamster! jusx
I've been looking at your pics Annie thinking I so want to eat a Tunnock's Teacake!..I haven't had one for such a long time!....Marshmallow first for me because I loved the biscuit and chocolate base and had to save it....I never got round to trying the all-in-one technique....Ooh yes, I have to buy some ...they will be just the thing with a cup of tea this afternoon.I may try it then out of curiosity!
ReplyDeleteI was so shy as a child and loved my knitting too but most of all I was always drawing. I spent hour upon hour with my pencils and drawing pad...(Between us, I do wish I'd broken the rules just a bit more but I did get a lot more adventurous in my late teens...hehe!)
Hope you have a happy weekend,
Susan x
I was a weedy , rather shy child outside the family . Luckily there were lots of us cousins so I slowly dared to do more and more until I now occasionally surprise myself by being brave !
ReplyDeleteI've never eaten a Tunnock's and don't desperately like marshmallow . Instead I indulge my wild side by eating large mouthfuls of almost everything else .
Great post, Annie! I was the goody-twoshoes, the girl who knitted on the bus to junior school, dabbler in every crafty pursuit I could think of - quilling, pyrography, weaving, embroidery, knitting and so on and so forth!
ReplyDeleteBut I was never an eater of tunnocks teacakes. Or wagon wheels. Truth be told I don't much like marshmallow. Now, give me a toasted teacake and that's another story altogether!
Hi Annie, thank you for the welcome to your blog!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this lovely post.
I was the girl so shy that people would say "has the cat got your tongue?". I was the girl so shy that I would go red in the face if someone looked at me, let alone spoke. I was the girl so shy that others spoke for me. And for a time I was an actor who stood in front of an audience delivering lines I had written.
I love this! So beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI was the girl who read in the playground. I was the girl with the heart of a roamer who was too scared to leave.
I am the girl who left one day, but still misses the Tunnocks.
I was "never allowed" to have these as a child as I was told that they were too expensive. Now I am much older and earning my own way guess what? I have been known to buy these on a very rare occassion and how much do I enjoy them..lots and lots.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for visiting my blog today. I have signed up as a follower. Your knits are excellent, my skills at knitting a just about functional.
x