Judith

I picked up Judith’s shopping list from the footpath the other week, and I certainly hope she lost it on her way home from – not to – her shopping. I have no idea who Judith is. I was walking to the tram stop from yoga and it had just started to shower, when I spotted and picked up the rather damp note from the wet footpath.

It is a small piece of paper that had been cut from a larger sheet. It wasn’t Judith who was the thrifty recycler, but her friend Val, who had originally left this note – quite obviously with the book she was returning to her friend:

Judith
P.S. I was concerned about the library book getting back to you.
What a delightful book & a change from all the serious ones I’ve read this year.
The characters are so believable weren’t they?
Val

Val’s handwriting is that old-school, well-tutored, slanty cursive handwriting that I have often envied but never mastered, in a rather scratchy, almost faint black ball-point pen. What book did Judith enjoy so much that she was prepared to recommend, and lend her library book to, Val? And that Val so enjoyed, and found its characters so believable?

That’s surely the kind of praise every author wants to hear. If only the author could know what Judith and Val thought of the book.

And the note I found was just the ‘PS’. I wonder what else she had to say to Judith. Perhaps she’d dropped in unannounced and had to leave the parcel on the doorstep because Judith was out. Did Val have to cut the notepaper from a larger sheet and rummage in her handbag or glovebox for a pen that worked? You know what that’s like. Three pens in your car/bag/next to the telephone but none work? And you wonder why you’re still hanging on to them? I hope Val got a new pen.

Being a recycler herself, Judith must have written a shopping list on the back of the note Val had slipped in with the returned book. Judith prefers a strong, dark blue felt-tip or gel-ink pen. Liking capitals, Judith’s handwriting is more rounded – untamed. And harder to read.

Judith’s shopping list

Mandarins
Sweet potatoe
Tomatoes
Lge handful Rocket
Ginger – little piece
Garlic
Little potatoes
Avocado
Homous
Goats cheeses
and just below the goats cheese, something indecipherable in a jar (is there a brand of goats cheese in a jar called Meredith?)

And under the heading ‘Coleslaw’ are these items:
Carrots Parsley
Celery Red Onion
Red pepper
Cabbage

Flatbread

I wonder how Judith’s coleslaw went. Judging from the fresh ingredients alone, it sounds like my kind of salad. Then again, I don’t know want went into her coleslaw’s dressing.

What goes into your coleslaw dressing? What fresh ingredients do you use? Have you ever tried adding fresh apple and walnuts to your coleslaw, or should they only be used in a Waldorf salad? I’ve had a potato salad with a little apple and walnut in it, and that seemed to work well.

And would you leave a friend a note if you’d found them not at home, or would you text them?