GEOFF THE KNIFE - PART TWO

 

You’ve probably been worrying about my lack of oyster knives.  You may recall I broke a couple:

 

The local kitchenware shop was no help so I went online.

 

I found one I liked the look of but it cost 15 quid plus delivery, whereas I could buy 4 plus a pair of gloves for about the same price. The gloves are 'Cut Level 5"!! and no, I don't trust them at all.

I ordered the set, but then I had to wait.  The supplier did keep me informed with updates about the order's movements around China, and I admit there was some anxiety, but finally it came.

 

Not a bad haul for the price, I thought.

 

And then I went down to the fish man at the local farmers’ market.  He had some oysters – which isn't always the case.  They were, I think, the biggest oysters I’ve ever seen in England, though I think I may have seen bigger ones in Japan, from Hokkaido.

Photo by Caroline Gannon; and yes that is a UFO outside the window.

 

The new knives did the job, though when it was over I saw that one of them was bent like this, which may not be the very best sign of quality:

 

On the bright side it didn’t break – and I have 3 others in reserve

Meanwhile I am left with some very big oyster shells, which I like, and the feeling I should DO SOMETHING with them

 

Norman Mailer apparently used to draw faces on the inside of his oyster shells but I’ve seen no examples of this.

 

The internet is full of crafty and creative things to do with oysters shells.  Here’s just one of the things I shan’t be doing with mine:

 Below - Geoff and his Hokkaido oyster - in fact not quite as big as I remember it.