Wednesday, 9 April 2025

"Am I Turning Into Eric Olthwaite?"

 I bought this spade at the carboot sale on Sunday;



A really "interesting" new spade

In Ingerland or Blighty they call this spade/shovel a " Grafter" in the building trade.  They were used by navvies to dig trenches for pipes and cables etc.  

It is quite old and I paid ten Euros for it,  I said to man: " It's a cracker". I sounded like Frank Carson if I had an Irish accent? Well he did live in Blackpool didn't he?🤔

I want the spade/shovel for planting shrubs.  It's such the right weight and strength for the job.  I think I could be turning into Eric Olthwaite:



 

Do you ever buy a tool that feels the right weight and just perfect for the job?  I am not talking about a jemmy for a cat burglar.

Isn't Michael Palin a national treasure? So was Anita Carey who played Eric's sister.  I loved her in: " I Didn't Know You Cared"

21 comments:

  1. Yes, I've got a ladies spade and a ladies hoe. They were just that bit lighter. Perhaps it wouldn't be allowed now. The spade is standing in my hall right now. It is well loved. Palin is great; they don't do humour like that any more. Great post Dave.

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  2. Hi sister Irene didn't think so JayCee. Eric was very bored or even boring. Wasn't the BBC comedies good in the nineteen seventies? Tv gold!

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    1. I have always had a soft spot for Michael Palin.

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    2. Yes he's probably my favourite Python JayCee. A humble Sheffield lad full of northern sardonic humour that went to to Oxford and put England at the top of the comedy tree. He's a comic genius , very clever and I have a lot of time for him.

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  3. Please will you write a post and show us the ladies spade and hoe Rachel? I love old tools. I once had an old garden fork that was so reinfowith steel it was too heavy to dig with. It was too well made. You are female Palin when you blog about your travels Rachel. Did you see the Recent Michael Portillo Portugal 🇵🇹 programmes on Channel 5. The camera shots and subjects were amazing. Thanks Rachel.

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  4. The Portugal programme is on You Tube Rachel. The Algarve episode is excellent.

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  5. I have loads of my mums tools, they will outlive me, far better quality.

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  6. Wonderful Marlene. They really took pride in their work and made things to last. I love finding old gardening tools, clay plant pots and other equipment.

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    1. I purchased a load of clay pots, a lady was clearing out her mums greenhouse, I took them all, offered her a good price, we were both happy.

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    2. I rarely see clay plant pots these days. I have hundreds of plastic ones that people have given me. Clay is far more ecological and even broken ones make good crock for drainage in pots and beds.

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  7. Oh poor Eric! But I do have a question. Was coal really stored in a buffet like that? It's so beautiful...and coal is so dirty.

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    1. Buffet Debbby? It would be called a sideboard in England. There's always been a myth that northern people kept their coal indoors. It's a great skit at the myth. I loved Ripping Yarns.

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  8. My tool is the right weight and perfect for the job. Do you want a picture of it Dave?

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  9. Michael Palin is one of the best. Love the comedy but even more so his travelogues. Is he a Sir yet?

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    1. He is a sir Linda. I loved his travelogue.

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  10. Your new shovel looks a bit short - or is this the new raised beds experience. (Thanks for the video chuckles)

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  11. It's great for digging out roots and planting shrubs and trees TM. Glad you enjoyed the video.

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