SMF

Long ago, in my innocence, I liked the Eucris cologne. Then I learnt about both subtler and more outrageous scents, and the relatively simple green note of blackcurrant leaves (how I wish it had been elderberries; I could have given a bottle to my father*) seems naive and simplistic. I was very happy to discover that the venerable Eucris hairdressing is a vastly more complex scent, and that as my household doesn't possess any anti-macassars, I could still use it as a wonderful winter post-shave moisturiser. I soon discovered that the Eucris hairdressing, applied to the face, could then be combined with many colognes for better or worse. Best so far is the Taylor's No.74 Original (you end up smelling of fictionally perfect grandfathers). Today, to celebrate my first day of retirement, I got up late (0730), ate my boiled egg and a slice of toast, had three cups of coffee, then shaved in a leisurely fashion (Hart 6/8, homemade soap, Somerset Tulip) and massaged the Eucris hairdressing into my face, following with a splash of Eucris cologne. Contra the 'strange person' below, I do not smell like my father (Erasmic shaving stick was his thing), but it is interesting. The cologne overwhelms the hairdressing, but I can tolerate this as a now and then thing. All the same, I have to ask - what the hell was GFT thinking when they made this strong single note scent, and that note being one that would be easily predicted to be unpopular? They must know their clientele very well, and I am probably not one of them. Meanwhile, I shall exude the smell of crushed blackcurrant leaves (it is accurate - I have a couple of rows of blackcurrant bushes in the garden) as I stir the pea soup I am cooking, sip my pink gin, and contemplate a walk with a Hasselblad SWC loaded with Fuji 400. I hope the rain holds off, as it is hard to use a two-handed camera and a lightmeter under an umbrella.

Chris
Some details provided simply to annoy Cussons, who has had the nerve to take as a username the maiden name of my grandmother who belonged to the family of Imperial Leather soapmakers.

*

Enjoy your retirement. It beats the hell out of working!

Regards,
Stan

Ah, the first day of retirement, what's to be said? Only positive things come to mind but let me start with congratulations. It was weeks after that glorious day when I realized I'd achieved the lifestyle of my dog Alex.
Which is to say when he gets up in the morning he doesn't care what day it is, doesn't care what time it is (waking time simply being the periods between meals), doesn't have to go anywhere, meet anyone, return messages or calls, doesn't even have to answer the damn phone.

For me retirement means I can do precisely what I want exactly as I please and have a drink while taking the time to create a proper gumbo. Carpe diem.

Wise words indeed!

C.

Enjoy your retirement. Nonetheless shaving after three cups of coffee sounds like a very dangerous activity to me. I wouldn't be willing to attempt it even after two.

Congratulations Doctor.
No more looking forward to the weekend to relax, every day is a relax day.

Enjoy your well earned leisure. You may need to get one of these:

Nah, I couldn't be bothered with changing batteries what with time constraints and all. When you have the choice of doing what you want your daily calendar is quickly filled.

Twice a week I have to wind the grandfather clock, and that can be a struggle to remember. It gets a bit tetchy about being allowed to stop, and then you have to synchronise the chimes with the hour, which is a noisy business of whizzing the hands around until the number of chimes matches the hour. But it has earned the right to be eccentric - somewhere back in the sixties we learned from Arthur Negus on Going For A Song that the little cherubs in the corners of its face, along with a peculiar design of the hands, that the latest possible date of manufacture was 1764, the year that the keel of HMS Victory was laid at Chatham dockyard. It's funny how I don't hear the loud tick anymore, and can sleep through the hourly whirring, clanking and chiming. Made by one Tho. Rose of Stafford, and while I can find no information on him, there was a clockmaker Michael Rose of Stafford who joined his guild, The Clockmakers' Company of London in 1676, so probably a descendant.

C.

I love old clocks and watches, Chris, and that is some interesting information. When I was a kid, I had all sorts of wind-up clocks going in my bedroom and I was oblivious to the noise. Now, however, it might take a little effort to re-accustom myself to the racket.

Enjoy the retirement.

- Murray

Enjoy the days of leisure and feel free to fedex leftover pea soup any time

clive

I have to commend Trumper for taking a risk with Eucris. Currant and fig were the two frontrunners for new odd fruit note to stick in every fragrance. Fig won. Trumper didn't wait for the race to end, though, and tried to get in front of things. Eucris is an earthier, edgier take on currant than most anything else I have smelled. It's just not as good or complex as it ought to be. I wish it were more dynamic or had a bit of balance, but it's one of the few times Trumper didn't do the most conservative thing imaginable.

Wearing Eucris hair dressing (in one fashion or another) while sipping Pink Gins? How Fleming like.

Dr. Moss, enjoy your retirement. I am very happy for you and wish you all the joy in the world to enjoy this time with those you love.

Chris