The ladies of the village
were a notorious lot
gossips one and all
On Tuesday morning
Miss Praed was hostess
to the week’s first meeting.
Gathering weekly
to spread the wealth,
the Recipe Club was a summit
sharing the latest cuisine.

Everything from sausage and soups
puddings and pies and tarts of all sorts.
Roasts and stews and pastries galore
always tempting the pallet.
But try as they might
only Miss Praither
could hope to manage a meal
that wouldn’t be mistaken
as coming from the pub.

Mrs. Bramely felt it was her duty
to share old dishes
from years gone by
much to the group’s dismay.
No one had the heart to tell her
that most were best forgotten.
She might know better if she
noticed that even dear Warren
turned his head at her dishes.

The Sisters Waller, and Miss Dane
contributed regularly,
while Sarah Stride was quite shy.
Ms. Hartly always made
a pointed point of attending
although the rest preferred she didn’t
“Questionable character” one might note.
Twenty some-odd ladies
filled the roster for the weekly outing.
But there was one,
one conspicuously absent.
Tess.
The ladies pleaded and cajoled her
but never would she budge.
“Cooking just isn’t my knack” she said
though they all knew she was lying.
Rumour had it that her plum pudding
was cause for a dieter’s ruination.

Even so, Tuesday morning’s Recipe club
was the start of the social calendar.
Sunday mustn’t be counted, as that was
“The Day of the Lord”
and socialising just didn’t happen.
But this held the tide of a lady’s boredom
until the Wednesday afternoon.
When the ladies of Wickshaw would descend
with books in hand
to the stately home of Bramely.

To read more about The Village click here http://www.authspot.com/Poetry/An-Ordinary-Place.336195