Mint and Tea Tree!

Regular readers of my FACEBOOK page will know that I have been in correspondence with the manufactures of Tingly Mint and Tea Tree products. Earlier letters are below - but here is my reply which is now winging its way to Manchester:

21st September 2018

Team Original Source

PZ Cuzzons (UK) Ltd.

MANCHESTER M22 5TG

Dear Lads and Lasses of the Team Original Source,

Forgive the familiarity, but having received your parcel of goodies and your highly informative, amusing and helpful letter, I feel that we are friends already! Your generosity almost brought me to tears and the goodies are the envy of all who know me – and some who would like to.

How very kind of you to reply. You will not be surprised to know that I shared my original letter with a few friends and one or two enemies (who shall remain nameless) on FACEBOOK and in my blog (which you may access at justanessexlad.blogspot.com if you are of the mind to do so – but it is up to you and I will not feel hurt if you decide that you are far too busy counting mint leaves to read the meanderings of an 85-year-old whose daughter threatens to put him in a care home unless he behaves). Most of my friends doubted you would reply and will be red-faced to learn that you did so; they will be pretty peeved when they see the box of goodies you have so generously sent to me. Yum, yum!

I have noted that some packs display the number of mint leaves in the product. The 250ml Tingly Mint & Tea Tree Shower Gel has 7,927, whilst the 500ml pack has 15,854, precisely twice the number (I checked this on my calculator, in case you think I am some sort of mathematical wizard). However, the pack for the Foam Shower Gel Mint & Tea Tree 180ml does not state the number of mint leaves, whilst it is the same for the smaller Tingly Mint & Tea Tree Shower 50ml packs (which I will use with great pleasure when fly out to visit my youngest son who resides across Oslo Fjord with Stine, his Norwegian wife, in a log cabin with a view to take your breath away. And, also, of course, should I be fortunate enough to travel to India – about which see later). Why is there a lack of leaf numbering? Is there some slacking in the counting department? If so, I am sure Team Original Source will soon sort them out, putting them back on the straight and narrow. A good talking too and threats to stop their lunchtime Marmite and Peanut Butter sandwiches should do the trick.

Last evening I tried the 250ml Tingly Mint & Tea Tree Shower which has 7,927 tingly mint leaves in each pack. I came over all a-tingling, so much so that I had to sit down on the seat we installed when we converted our shower to one suitable for the aged. It took me some time to recover, I can tell you, but I will be back for more this evening. Yipee!

Until yesterday I had no idea that you produced such a wide range of Tingly Mint & Tea Tree products. In the past I have purchased the hand-wash from the Pound shop and used a variety of shower gels, but from now onwards it will be Tingly Mint & Tea Tree for ever and a day. I will trot off to Boots the Chemist as fast as my little legs will carry me to stock up with Tingly Mint & Tea Tree Shower Gel, although a friend tells me that the Foam Shower Gel Mint & Tea Tree product can take you unawares if you are not careful. And that could be dangerous when you are galloping towards 86, so I will take suitable precautions (but, like your leaf counting procedures, these are a closely guarded secret).

I have immediately and forthwith entered the competition to win a trip to the source of your mint leaves. I have selected India as my destination of choice for I understand that the climate is more suited to those of advanced years.

You may be amused to know that the Vicar at St. Peter’s here in sunny Aldborough Hatch was the first to volunteer to carry my bags if I am off to India, closely followed by one of our Churchwardens. But I told them to hold their horses for as my Old Mum used to say as she wound the handle on the mangle on washday, ‘Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for he shall not be disappointed.” My Old Mum also used to sing an odd little ditty at the same time which went something like this: “I have no pain, dear mother now, but such a terrible thirst. Connect me to the brewery and leave me till I burst.” I understand that My Old Mum’s Mother taught her that when she was knee high to a grasshopper – as they say in these parts.

But enough of my ramblings for I am sure that all of you at Team Original Source are working your fingers to the bone and have very little time for reading the many letters you must receive daily from satisfied customers. In any case, I need to make sure my passport is up to date and dust down my travelling baggage in readiness for the possibility of a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Mint Belt of India in the Himalayan region. I have done my research (where would we be without Google?) and discover that the Himalayas are inhabited by 52.7 million people (that’s a lot!) and are spread across five countries: Nepal, India, Bhutan, China and Pakistan. I guess we will not have the time to visit all five and I will gladly make do with India.

Finally, you mention in your letter that you are enclosing a postcard for my fridge as you wouldn't want me to forget about you. I searched the packaging and the cardboard box in which the fine wooden box containing the goodies arrived – but could not find the postcard. Perhaps you would be kind enough to drop it in when you are next passing this way. No hurry. The wooden box, by the way, will now grace my bathroom to be topped up regularly with Tingly Mint & Tea Tree products.

Take care. Enjoy Autumn, the 'Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness' as Keats would say.

And thank you again for your kindness, generosity of spirit and good humour which I am sharing with my friends, some of whom tell me they already enjoy your products whilst others are going to try them.

Yours sincerely,

Ron Jeffries

The People's Walk for Wildlife - in the rain!

Today Chris and Margaret invited me to join them on the People's Walk for Wildlife. The rally was in Hyde Park where Chris Packham launched his manifesto, with speakers ranging in age from 16 upwards. Brilliant - with great passion and common sense. Billy Bragg and a young lady singer (who everyone except me seemed to know) sang great songs. One sticks in my mind - where the words included: You build walls, we build bridges (a sentiment that will stay with me). The forecast was for a fine morning with rain from 4pm. But when we arrived at Marble Arch at 11am it was sending it down in buckets. ! stayed till just after 1pm by which time I was cold from my toes upwards. I did not join the walk to Downing Street - sadly - but sense told me to go home and I had to agree. I was almost frozen. A bowl of hot soup, a shower and a couple of hours in bed revived me - and Socks was pleased to see me home again. Thanks Chris and Margaret for your company - and for completing the walk. You were right when you said I go on demonstrations - and this was a new one for me. I will go again - and hope the sun shines. Now for some Horlicks!

Mint!

You may - or you may not - recall that I wrote the letter below to the manufacturers of Original Source Mint and Tea Tree Anti-bacterial Handwash.

Some doubters thought that would be the end of the matter - but lo! Today a very large box arrived and packed inside - with loving care - was the wooden box of goodies seen above! And a letter too which had be laughing all the way upstairs.

I cannot wait to get into the shower with this lot! But I must have my supper first.

And, of course, I will be writing a reply. I could not do otherwise. But that can wait till the morning.

Here is the reply:

Dear Mr Jeffries,

It is ever so wonderful to hear from you, thank you very much for getting in touch. Reading your letter gave us great pleasure here at Original Source HQ, so as a thank you we have sent you a few goodies to keep you feeling fresh, clean and free from anything nasty.

Your zest for life is exactly what we want our customers to feel every morning, even at the age of eighty five years young! We too are raring to go every morning, constantly exploring new and exciting ways to capture all the potency nature has to offer and pack this intense power into every bottle. A little like you in your garden, experimenting with the best conditions to grow your mint leaves and how many make the perfect sauce for you Lamb.

But now let us address your concern; we can't have you losing any sleep now can we! We only want to make you feel more energised and ready for adventure! The variety of mint we use is the wonderful Mentha Arvensis-chosen for its high yield. So now onto the million dollar question... YES there are indeed 3,203 Mint leaves in each of our Original Source Mint & Tea Tree Hand wash and 7,921 Minl leaves in each of our Shower Gel bottles. Hard to believe I know, but it's true! lt's this

amount of mint leaves that packed into each bottle that deliver that unique sensorial hitl

Sadly we can't invite you to join our counting helpers. Counting of the leaves is such a closely guarded secret that we can't reveal the details, even to such a good friend of Original Source as yourself. What we do know for sure is that we select the best Mint leaves from the plants of Mentha

Arvensis, from the Mint Belt of lndia. The Himalayan region in fact. Rather cooler and slightly more hilly than llford! But don't just take our word for it, see it for yourself. What we can offer you is the chance to WIN a trip to the source of our mint leaves, check out the details on the back of the pack

we have sent you for your chance to win an epic trip to lndia !

We hope that this has answered your questions and that you have no more worriesl We've included a selection of Mint & Tea Tree goodies for you to enjoy

o One of our new 50ml travel size bottles- for when you are on the go

o Our much loved Shower Gel - we hope you love the new pack as much as we do!

o Our brand new Foaming Gel Shower - we feel you deserve the ultimate Mint & Tea Tree

experience

. A post card-for your fridge - we wouldn't want you to forget about us

Thank you ever so much for your wonderful letter

Warm Wishes,

Team Original Source

On 30 Aug 2018, at 12:52, Ron Jeffries <ronjeffries@live.co.uk> wrote:

I have posted the following letter to The Managing Director, PZ Cuzzons (UK) Ltd., MANCHESTER M22 5TG for it does say on the bottle that they would love to hear from me.

Dear Sir,

For some years I have used your Original Source Mint and Tea Tree Anti-bacterial Handwash.

I enjoy the aroma and find it serves me well in keeping my hands fresh, clean and free from anything nasty. I am, you see, an eighty-five-year-old who enjoys life and wants plenty more of it, thank you very much.

But one thing intrigues me about your excellent product and I write to seek you help, for the matter has been giving me much concern over recent weeks, to the extent that I wake in the middle of the night and lie there pondering – which can be painful at my age, as you will appreciate.

On the front of the container you have inscribed the statement: ‘3,203 TINGLING REAL MINT LEAVES ARE PACKED INTO . . .” followed by the name of the product (and the capitals are yours, of course). How, I have to ask, can you be certain that there are precisely 3,203 tingling real mint leaves in each and every bottle? Who in your organisation counts the leaves? Is he or she a permanent member of staff? What is his or her job title? Are there occasional vacancies? If so, I would be happy to pop along to Manchester from time to time (for there is a good train service from the Metropolis), although this would have to be arranged when my daughter is available to feed Socks (who is my faithful sixteen-year-old cat, in case you wondered). Finally, which variety of mint is used in your product – I have grown about ten different strains in the past, but these days cultivate the garden variety

I am a keen gardener and you may be interested to know that my late wife enjoyed a cup of mint tea. These days I make my own mint sauce for the days when I enjoy a lamb chop or two. I have never counted the number of mint leaves I use to make mint sauce, but may do so in future if you think it is wise. Please advise on this point.

Please reply as soon as possible for the matter is a worry and at my age too much worry is not good.

Yours etc.

I will look out for the postman!

Regards

Ron

How about this!

I am back from my weekly shop. My grocery and general food bill reveals that there are only four items which cost me more than one pound - cat litter (£1.55) - not for me of course!, Stilton and Mature Cheddar (both £1.49), six Melton Mowbray Mini-Pork Pies (£1.59). The bill for cat food is 50% of the bill for groceries - and of course £1.55 of the grocery bill was for Socks. I would assure my readers (some of whom may be a bit worried by now) that I eat healthily and well - I went to the Farm Shop yesterday and spent over £10 on fresh fruit which is now all boxed and in the freezer for my dessert/pudding/afters/sweet (depending on which part of the country you are from).

A nostalgic trip

On Tuesday 18th I enjoyed a day in London. First to Ilford to the bank, then the 123 to Tottenham Hale and the 76 to Waterloo - watching the world go by is fascinating from a London bus especially if you are in the front seat upstairs. A wander round the South Bank and a sandwich, over the Thames footbridge to the Embankment and the 76 to St. Paul's for Sung Evensong with the choir back from holiday and a seat in the choir stalls, then home on the 26, TfL to Ilford and Radio Cars mini-cab - for my legs were just about to give up!

It was a nostalgic day as these photographs show. First, Sweetings in the City is still there! I was taken there for lunch by a broker from Willis Faber and Dumas in the 1950s. It is a fish restaurant and here for the very first time I tasted Chablis.

When I left home I had shaved, selected a blue check shirt with yellow stripes, a plain yellow tie and fawn trousers. (A security guard at St. Paul's remarked that I looked very smart.) From the top of a bus I observed city gents at lunchtime. If I said that one in twenty were wearing a tie that would be too kind. No wonder Tie Rack closed down. It was not like that in my day in the 50s and 60s when I wore a stiff white collar and tie every day!

On the South Bank I was pleased to see that the skate park remains. There were plans to close it down and kick the youngsters out with their skateboards when Yvonne, Marlon and I are there some 10 years ago - we all signed the petition and followed the story online - till the skaters won the day! And here they were - the only reasonable photograph taken shows a lad having fallen off his board!

It was here on the South Bank when Yvonne signed up to sponsor a child in South America with World Vision. I have taken over the sponsorship. This week I received a photograph and message from the current boy - we have had two earlier children who have now left school. I send photographs of Aldborough Hatch and write messages a few times each year. And it all began on the South Bank.

And so to St. Paul's . . .

In the genes!

An email on a Monday morning

Hi Family,

I believe there is something in the genes of the Jeffries Clan that makes them workaholics. 

My father, who died at the age of 51 in 1951, worked six-and-a-half days a week at times in the 30s in my youth, coming home at noon on Sundays to lunch and the garden. Then when we had two allotments in Seven Kings Park during the 1939-1945 War, he worked five-and-a-half days, spending Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday on the allotments - with me as his goffer, looking after the rabbits.

During my working life, I worked in the City first and every spare moment was then taken up with Scouting - more a full-time job than a hobby!  For the eleven years on SCOUTING magazine, I left home about 7.30am weekdays returning home after 9pm most evenings - and spent three out of four weekends away from home travelling the country speaking. On MILK INDUSTRY, it was nine to five - but then I freelanced, wrote books and articles, and was at court.. Retirement has been busy - I wonder how I ever had time work!

Graham leaves home early for the office and returns home late evening, going by train or air to offices around the country and staying overnight at times. I know he takes works home too. His weekends are busy by all accounts. Heather is on the bus at 6.45am and home to cook a meal in the early evening. Heather works on the buses and takes work home. Weekends are busy around the home and with work taken home. Richard leaves home early morning and works evenings and weekends in the garden and on the house. Both Graham and Richard share the cooking.

All the spouses live hectic, busy lives - which I will not dare to comment upon for I am only writing here about my kids! 

I was once invited to lecture at a Scout Association international seminar in Switzerland on ‘Leisure'. My friends thought it was a joke and laughed and laughed hysterically..

Just a few random thoughts to make you all smile on the Monday morning. Nothing serious. 

I must now boil the whites before washing them with Glowhite, then a full machine with coloureds! After all, it is Monday morning which was always washday when I was a kid. Every house in Church Road had a full washing line on Mondays when the mangle was taken from the garden shed to be put to good use - and some small child made to turn the handle.

Love

Dad/Ron/Granddad/Greatgranddad

PS This is NOT going on FACEBOOK or INSTAGRAM

PPS Have a good day

PPPS And do not work too hard.

Community Memorial Garden

Saturday 15th September - workday in the Garden at St. Peter's 

Green!

The water feature in my garden has been a great success this summer. There is nothing like sitting on a bench in the sunshine, listening to the gentle tinkle of running water.

But there has been one problem. Green slimy stuff. 

I tried FOUNTAIN SAFE - the powder recommended by the suppliers of the fountain. 

Still green forming.

Then I went for ENVIL WATER FEATURE CLEAR. 

Still green.

Today Ashley showed me his water feature and told me that he uses MILTON STERILISING TABLETS from the chemists - I gather these are used for something or the other with babies. So I bought a pack - and we will see!  

Life changes . . .

I have a new iron - for ironing! The old one started to play up. First, it blew the fuse in the plug. Then it blew a fuse in the fuse box under the stairs. Then it stopped when Daphne was doing the ironing (I do the tea towels, the handkerchiefs and the pillow cases). I do not know how old the iron is for Yvonne had it before me.

Heather suggested I buy the same iron as she has - a Tefal Access Easy in red and cream. Very smart it is too. I started using it today and discovered that if I press a knob at the front it shoots water all over the thing being ironed. What fun! Furthermore, if I move one of the settings it allows steam to emit from the base. Even more fun! I cannot wait for the handkerchiefs to dry on the washing line in the garden.

If you had told me four years ago that I would have fun on a Monday morning with a new iron, I would have suggested you got lost! Sad really but life changes, with new challenges. My apple and blackberry crumble seems to be going down well locally. I must try one for myself for I have a good few in the freezer.