Goodwood

Goodwood

Wednesday 21 December 2011

A Jewel box of a gem

It is not often that I’m totally surprised or taken aback by a friend but recently I had a wonderful and unexpected experience. It may sound odd but I feel I’ve found a place I’d like to curl up and get very, very drunk.

I have a friend who lives in a house that is deceptive. From the street it looks quite normal, a two up two down Victorian terrace. But oh my, once inside there is another surprise. The house has four stories as it clings to side of a small cliff face and there are two further floors below street level, with narrow flights of stairs that are quite steep, which need care to be negotiated successfully.

Down at the basement level of the house is a door, narrower than usual and just wide enough to gain access.

The lights were turned out except for the one behind the door and then my friend suggested I open the door.

I was dubious, unsure what would greet me…

Oh the wonderment, the sheer beauty! Row upon row of neatly racked bottles. Iridescent colours, pale yellows, rich oranges, ruby reds and deep sexy clarets. Each bottle another version of sloe gin or raspberry vodka, well any clear alcohol that had been steeped in fruit from greengages to blackberries.

Truly it was a sight to behold.

Honestly I could have stayed there a very long time and consumed a vast quantity of medicine. Yes to me it looks like these bottles have truly magical and medicinal powers.

I think I was also struck by the neatness. Each bottle shone, glittered in the light, its own shade plucked from the rainbow, each bottle a different shape and size snugly fitted in orderly racking that displayed each individual item to its best advantage. Perfection.

It really was a broom cupboard in a previous life but boy what a transformation. Truly the best ‘make over’ I’ve ever seen.

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