Oblong and Fleshy

"You need to send out an email about dates!"  Karen called through from the kitchen.

"What dates?" I called back from the front room, whilst surreptitiously munching on a delicious fairtrade ginger biscuit and pondering on the possibility of spending a week in a bath full of fairtrade muesli for charity.  "You mean the oblong  fleshy fruits of the date palm? Are they on special offer then at the Mustard Seed?"

"No - dates. You know - DATES.  The dates during Fairtrade Fortnight!"

"Ah yes - right!" I called back - trying to disguise the mouthful of biscuit - "Dates?  - Like going out on dates - and dating sites? To meet other fairtrade supporters you mean?" .  It sounded bonkers to me.  I pondered on whether the bath full of muesli would be better dry  - or with milk .

"NO - DATES.   Diary Dates!" she called out - volume and pitch both significantly up. "Like the Fairtrade market stall next Tuesday! 1st March - that kind of date!"

It was probably better dry - because then you could simply put it back in the packets again afterwards and sell it. Maybe at a discount. And the milk would probably go off anyway. And - what was that Karen was saying about dairy dates? 

At this point Karen marched in and thrust a sheet of paper into my biscuit hand, dragging me out of my milky reveries. "Look - just type this in and send it off" .

"OK ".   I put the rest of the biscuit in my mouth.

• Tuesday 1st March: Fairtrade Market Stall at Farmers Market. 9am-1pm .   A couple of volunteer still needed. Can you help perhaps? Call 241707 
• Thursday 3rd March: Meeting with Palestinian Farmers - Fairtrade olive producers . 7.30pm - Catholic Church.  All welcome - should be very interesting!
• Saturday 5th March: Fairtrade Bunting World Record Attempt! 9.30-11.30am under Old Town Hall.  Come & Decorate your own bunting flag!
• Saturday 5th March:   Fairtrade Sale at the Shrivenham Methodist Church Coffee Shop. 10-11.30am . All welcome. 
• Sunday 6th March:  Fairtrade Sale & Big Brew Hot drinks  in the Catholic Church Hall in Faringdon. 10am-11am . All welcome . 
• Sunday 6th March: Fairtrade Sale at St Nicholas Fyfield. 10.30am (after village service) . All welcome. 
• Tuesday 8th March: Fairtrade Pancake Feast at the Shrivenham Methodist Church. 10am-12midday . All welcome. 
• Sunday 13th March: Fairtrade Sale at St Mary's Buckland - after the Morning Service. All welcome. 
• Saturday 19th March: Fairtrade Sale at St Denys' Stanford in the Vale. 10am-12midday.  All welcome. 

 "Gosh - what a lot going on!" I commented - noting that there would be lots of milk required for the Pancake feast. "Can you cope yeah ?"

"Cornucopia? Hmmm" ... Karen mused - "Interesting choice of word.  A cornucopia of fairtrade events ..."  

And I was thinking of Nomads in the desert getting all of their dietary requirements just from milk & dates.

Dairy dates indeed.


P.S.  Look out for the discounted muesli  in the Mustard Seed in the Spring .