4 Apr 2012

A - Z Writing Challenge: D




The letter for today is: D, where I feature darling and damson.

My family has always used the endearment, darling, for loved-ones. When I say family, I mean my mother, sisters and me. Although we remained in touch when he was alive, my father moved to another home when I was seven years old.
Being stubborn and self-reliant, I married young—too young for my own good. I called my husband darling from the start and each of our three children the same. It's a wonder they didn't get confused, but the term never caused any hassles.
When the children were old enough, we used to drive into the hills outside Melbourne, Australia, to pick damsons. No. I'm stretching the truth for convenience. Blackberries stained the little fingers and the prickles tore the darling's arms. But there is nothing like the flavor of a freshly picked damson, ripened by the warm sun. Here in England, I can't find anywhere to get fresh ones.

20 comments:

  1. Nice one, Francene! Calling all the children 'darling' sure helps to avoid confusing their names. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's lovely. I love terms of endearment but I won't share mine for Mr A with you and the rest of the Internet! You don't often see damsons in the UK these days. I bought some from Waitrose last Autumn but they weren't very juicy.

    ReplyDelete
  3. We're all 'darlings' too but our children use 'honey' and 'sweetheart'.

    Damsons are rarely seen in UK. I guess the only way is to grow your own . . .

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree with Edith above....my mother always confused all our names. Darling would have been superior to be called by the dog's name....which I was, a few times.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like "darling." It's romantic when you call your husband "darling." More glamorous than "honey." Reminds me of a black and white movie where all the characters are in evening dress and are drinking martinis. Do they even use the word "honey" in the UK?

    ReplyDelete
  6. "Darling" makes me think of Katherine Hepburn for some reason! Very
    cultured. But then there's "Hello, Darlin,'" the country song by Conway Twitty. A different cup of tea.

    Our pet names for our children were:
    Paddington, Bobo, and Squonk. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Francene! Thanks for visiting my blog this morning! And I see you're in England now, not Oz! :) I lived in Australia for a year (to attend Monash Uni) and have never heard of a damson! I feel like I missed out! Such a wonderful country, so little time! ~ Angela, Whole Foods Living, http://www.wholefoodsliving.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like darling as an endearment, it's quite lovely.

    On another note, we just planted six blueberry plants last year on our property. I'm hoping for a few berries this year, not much as there quite immature! I suspect we'll be fighting the birds for the fruit like we do with our cherry tree!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Can I tell you that I have never heard of a damson?

    Love how you call everyone Darling!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog and your kind words about my cakes.

    Christine
    http://scraphappychristinescorner.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  10. In my wife's family the term is "gorgeous." Its an all inclusive positive term that can be used to compliment everything from a bride to what you find in a new baby's diaper!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Lovely photo of those Damson plums. I used to have a tree in Oregon when I lived there. They make a divine chutney, darling. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I do love the term "darling." I think that it's a beautiful term of endearment. That and I like it when I hear the term "love," too.

    Great entry! :0)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm in the mood for fruit now.

    I love the term darling. I should use it more. I normally say "dear".

    ReplyDelete
  14. My husband and I use "baby" like your darling. Sometimes our daughter will stop to ask, "Which baby are you talking to?" Thank you for visiting my post. Your comment was very touching.

    ReplyDelete
  15. It's Hon around here. You are doing a great job with the challenge. It's fun isn't it? I'm a new follower :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. That approach would have worked for my Mother - she had a habit of calling us by name, except the one she wanted was *always* at the end of the list of 4!

    So she'd have to go through the list of us before she got to the one she wanted (usually because of some trouble the one was in.)

    ReplyDelete
  17. I didn't know they were called Damsons!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Nice :-) now I want fresh, sun-warmed fruit, but my blackberries aren't out yet ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  19. I remember England fondly. I was 6 when My family moved into a flat in Wadenhoe House in 1955. I I remember gooseberries, black and boysenberries, But not blue. Damsons. Hmmm have to pull that one on my friend when she goes bb picking this summer.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thanks for visiting my blog, Dogs Rule Cats Drool during the A to Z challenge.

    ReplyDelete

Please tell me what YOU think.