Karen Wright: New friends made at great seasonal fuddle
I went to my first fuddle of the season last week, and it set the tone for the festivities to come. What is a fuddle though?
Up here in the north of the country the word is used quite commonly, but inevitably there is always someone who asks the question: “what is a fuddle?”
I checked it out online and the first thing that came up was ‘to confuse or stupefy someone with alcohol’! Digging deeper, I found the correct meaning, certainly as far as I am concerned. In Yorkshire, it means a communal gathering or celebration.
I use the word fuddle around this time of year when there are informal parties, often in the workplace where everyone attending brings a plate of something to share. The fuddle I went to was organised by a couple from the gym that I go to every week. We all headed to the iconic Red Shed for our fuddle, which is one of my favourite watering holes, and it is located just around the corner from the gym.
One of the concerns around catering like this is that either there won't be enough food, or there might be too much of the same thing. My Mum refers it as a ‘faith supper’ meaning you must have faith that there will be enough to share. We need not have concerned ourselves with that. Our table was laden with all manner of treats from sandwiches to mince pies and everything in between. My contributions were well received: I made some focaccia bread, some sausage rolls and some mini mincemeat and frangipane pies.
We all enjoyed chatting; it was good to meet up outside of the gym environment and find out a bit more about each other. It is one of the things I most enjoy, other than the exercise of course, the making new friends and the socialising that can spring out of that.
As Christmas and New Year get ever closer, I will be trying to get to the gym as much as my schedule allows. With all the
eating and drinking that is on offer everywhere I will have one eye on my ongoing efforts to stay fit and healthy, the last thing I want to do is slow down the progress that I have made this last couple of years. Everything in moderation and a little bit of what you fancy does you good will be my motto this season!