Cups and Saucers

'Ohhhh aye- no show without punch' said G, dry and wicked to the last, sipping Coke from a squat beige mug with an orange flower pattern.

For years The Emergency Tea Set, confined to the cupboard with the narrow door and only ever to be used by family, the orange flower pattern mugs have come into their own in the past six months. Teacup-shaped but more robust, they are Keep Calm and Carry On and Father Ted combined: pretty and uniform for chats in the living room; saucer-free and portable for family members on the beat around the house. Fine grey spirals have been stirred out of the paint on the bottom of almost every one, and these days they're seldom in the cupboard. They live on the drying rack and the window sill and the coffee table, and every day there's an amnesty and someone washes them all and then the kettle boils and they're dispatched all over again.