Posted on by Cathy

Good Better Best

Just doing a bit of thinking out loud as I enjoy my early morning tea…… letting you know because this will probably end up as a lot of unorganised thoughts, that’s how much my mind is wandering these days.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking about the word good:-
very satisfactory, enjoyable, pleasant or interesting (source)

I’m not sure how ‘you’ would describe them (interesting maybe) but I recently learnt/discovered what I think are two really good words
Ones I hope to keep memorised remember and can pull out when I need impress other crafters…..who probably know them anyway 😊

SABLE– A common knitting acronym that stands for:-
Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy.”
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit’s End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

TINKING – Tinking is the process of un-knitting your work
You would do this if you made a mistake somewhere in your row, but you don’t want to rip out your work. Tinking allows you to undo your knitting and fix your mistake. Tink is knit spelled backward.
https://newstitchaday.com/tinking/

It’s possibly a generational thing but do any of you remember this ‘rhyme/saying’ that was drummed into us at home as well as at school?

Good Better Best
Never let it rest
Until your good becomes better
And your better best

Parents and teachers had a lot to answer for in those days didn’t they…….wonder if it’s mentioned these days? I did also wonder if it was just a strict 20th century way of supposedly encouraging children along but it seems it’s been in use since 1897 source.

Better is described as – of a higher standard, or more suitable, pleasing or effective than other things or people (source)

And best is – of the highest quality, or being the most suitable, pleasing or effective type of thing or person. (Source)

BUT thinking about it I still wonder….and you might have your own thoughts

Why wasn’t our good good enough
Why did it have to be better
And more to the point, why did it have to be the best
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Now when you’re pottering around the internet and find a web site
that says if you add all these ingredients together

the result would be ‘seriously amazing’ – my eyes prick up.
Well actually all I look for or rather all I want is something that tastes good
But if seriously amazing is promised that’s even better!

Rummaging around the cupboards this is what I found to work with:-
Lentils – Garlic…….crushed in jar – Onion and Carrot.
Chicken stock and potato water in freezer + extra made with vegetable stock powder
Coriander – Cumin – Salt/Pepper.
Lemon – slices in freezer or commercial lemon juice
Paprika – Bay Leaves…..no
Celery – no…..not nice however cooked.
Tinned Tomatoes……which had garlic and oregano flavours but what’s a different spice between friends 😊

Looked good after cooking – see below
I mashed it up a bit with the Bamix (wrong move….didn’t look so good) – not shown
Tasted really good

What was even better was how it tasted two days later
That’s when I remembered the big pot in the fridge
The one with the leftovers that should have gone into the freezer
Leftovers that ended up being dinner that evening

They tasted so good – in fact much much better than before – in fact Seriously Amazing

~ ~ ~ ~

Do visit Denyse’s blog to see the latest edition of Life this week – it’s all good over there




40 Replies to “Good Better Best”

  3. I have heard of tinking as in knitting. Looks good what you cooked but I don’t think with those spices it would agree with me.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. That dish looks delicious. And may inspire me to get off my fundament this afternoon. Thank you. No celery in the house – but I wouldn’t add it anyway.
    Tinking is a wonderful word.
    And yes, I do remember that ditty. And resent that good is never good enough.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. We didn’t have that ditty dinned into u s, but i know as a child I would have been thinking ‘and who judges what is best?’
    A lto of dishes taste better when they have had time to rest…at least, that’s my excuse.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. I remember that poem at school and no, I don’t think they recite it these days. We live in a competitive world and as a Group Fitness Instructor in a Virtual Studio there is fierce competition. During a meeting last week, my manager suggested that the new way of thinking was that good was now average, best was good and so to achieve excellence we had to be super good at what we do. #nopressure On another note, this week I made Lentil burgers which tasted delicious too. Thanks for your recipe and have a lovely week. #lifethisweek

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    1. Hello Sue thanks for your comment I can understand the desire to be top of the game these days but sometimes you are just setting yourself up for failure. No pressure indeed! Yes being best can be rewarding but also brings complications and unforeseen issues later (just thinking about professional sports players for example)
      I saw your ‘buger recipe- will have to give it a go sometime. It should be good….. As long as there’s no kale in it 😊
      Take care
      Cathy

      Liked by 1 person

  9. I’ve not heard the terms sable or tinking before, so you’ve impressed me Cathy and I’ve now learnt two new words! I agree with your thoughts on the good better best rhyme – sigh! #lifethisweek

    Liked by 1 person

  10. I too often have that critic say “now if you just did this, it would be a lot better” and I think to myself “why?” or those who suddenly say “have you looked up the artist xyz?” me why as said person says “well, you could learn a lot about the technique, xyz uses” – me thinking “but this is my original idea…what’s bl**dy wrong with it?”

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    1. Sometimes I might ‘recommend’ someone look at another’s work because I think it might interest them…..will have to watch that in case they think I’m suggesting exactly what you’ve just described. Thanks for pointing it out

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    1. Hello there, thank you for dropping by and for your comment
      Yes those three words are fine – the whole saying caused a lot of grief and many tears over the years especially in households where high expectations were the norm

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  12. G’day, Cathy…I may be “showing my age”, but I’m fine in doing so. I think our parents and teachers…those who were around in my generation…teaching and instructing me, anyway…taught well. A lot of parents and teachers around these days could learn a lot…a lot…from them.

    Too many good standards, good sayings, lessons etc., worthy of following., have gone by the wayside…to the detriment of current, future and present generations.

    Friends of long-standing…(the wife I’ve known since the 50s, and the husband since the early 60s) and I have just had a lengthy phone conversation.. Part of our conversation was centred upon “the good old days” of our youth…and how things have changed…much of which is not for the better…in my, and their opinion.

    A good post, Cathy….one that has gotten my mind a tinking! 🙂

    Take care.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you Lee for your interesting comment – yes times and attitudes to many things have changed, some for the better but many not.
      We have to thank Denyse at Denyse Whelan Blogs for using the word GOOD as a prompt for her Life the Week link up. I have a direct link to her web site at the bottom of this post.

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  13. I have watched my mum tink, sometimes row upon row. It amazes me that she can knit forward AND backward.
    I remember the rhyme and I grew up with the attitude. I don’t think much about it , i know theres only one or two things I do super well and thats ok

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    1. Lol Kylie – i now know I could tink before I even knew about it. It can be a real nuisance but is easier than frogging just for maybe one dropped stitch or a minor mistake in a pattern row

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  14. I like celery in vegetable soup and think it would be good with lentils, too. I certainly do agree, it tastes better the next day. So many things are like that.

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    1. Batch cooking at its best – a bit now – a bit tomorrow- and some in the freezer for even later. A different taste each time 😊

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  15. I have been tinking all morning
    And it’s giving me a headache
    So obviously my better needs bettering lol
    Is that a word?
    Soup sounds perfect for today
    And yours looks very yummy

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It wasn’t a day for salad was it Angela😊.
      I did a bit of tinking myself today as well as a lot of frogging because it ended up easier to take everything off the needles than try to fix mistakes a stitch at a time

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  16. Sounds good, but left overs are even better. Seriously, the best recipe ever! Haha. As for my muumuus, they don’t need to be ironed at all. And as for jewelry, I just wear pearl earrings. Keep it simple.

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  17. Yep, that sound much like my bean soup which has lentils in it. They cook up so much that you cannot tell they are there. I don’t usually like lentils but in the bean soup they are quite good with all those other ingredients. And yes, next day, next week, next month for what gets put in the freezer is amazing. All that said while a container of minestrone is thawing on the counter for dinner tonight.

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  18. So much to comment on – lets assume the rhyme encourages us to be our best selves. We love SABLE – F is working on bringing hers to within an e pectancy of another 20 years or so. And as for tinking, what do you cal seeing a mistake some rows down, knitting along to above the errant bit, dropping the number of stitches and rows required to sort it out and kniitting (or using a crochet hook) them up again? F does this when she spots a cable turned the wrong way.

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    1. I keep telling my family I really do have to use it all up before I go and then….yes go and add more. Just my way of encouraging them to carry on with the craft after I’m gone!
      I think that could be called tinking – I try very hard not to mess up cables, for me their not as easy a fix as a dropped stitch. I take my hat off to F if she can achieve it with tinking!

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  20. Oh how I loved reading how you played with the word and then led us on quite a journey.

    Caught up with old memories of ‘good’ and then adding your thoughts and teaching us new words too.

    Isn’t interesting some foods are better (if safely storied) a day or two later!

    Thank you for linking up your blog post to Life This Week #232. Lots of interesting comments from bloggers this time about “good”. Next week, the optional prompt is Heroic….that too might generate more conversation…and THAT is what I love about hosting a link up on my blog. See you there. Denyse.

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