What’s your trademark phrase? Not sure? How about a quote or saying that you repeat often? Bonus points if it’s new for 2011, but we won’t be upset if it’s been around longer than that. Try to put it in context for us if it’s a little abstract.

Catchphrases are big in my family. I blame my parents. For years when I couldn’t or didn’t want to do something I was reminded that “little legs can’t cope” – something I said on long walk up a steep hill as an explanation for why it was taking me so long. There was my brother’s comment that like my father and unlike him (apparently) I had “a full head of hair and a filthy temper”

We take something we like the sound of and use it a lot. For years and years I’ve been saying “….and the horse you rode in on” which shouldn’t need too much explanation. Often people are called “love of my life treasure of my existence, joy of my today and hope of my tomorrows” normally people I know well, often when I want something. The first two started with Sarah and Stef took it and ran with it and we get the joy and hope bits.

This year though has been the year of the “teeny, tiny monks”. Let me explain. On holiday this year, we went to Holy Island. Holy Island is a beautiful place and used to have monks living on it, hence the name. There is a castle and a ruined priory, so as we were nearby we had to go and see it. Now in the church part of the ruins were the night stairs, these were the stairs that the monks used to take them from the chapel at the end of the last service and to the night dormitory. They were very little stairs and I walked up them and if they had got all the way up to a first floor, I would have got stuck. My feet were longer than each stair.

So I said this to Ma who was in another part of the ruins and she pointed out that I had quite big feet, which is true but I pointed out that even she would have had trouble and she’s tiny so the monks must have been smaller, in fact teeny, tiny.

I know it doesn’t sound funny when I write it down but it made perfect sense to us and our frankly strange sense of humour.  Now if I or Ma says something is small, the first question will be is it “teeny, tiny“?  or suitable for the “teeny, tiny monks”.

Not big, not clever but that’s it…….teeny, tiny monks