Coincidence!

@JudyBloom No he didn’t buy one. Not his thing and he was only there for a few days with just a small rucksack as hand luggage.

@tanjamaltija It was Alka Ceramics!!!!!

My parents got married in Queen Elizabeth 11 coronation year. The Plymouth (UK) city mayor was giving a gift of a ceramic coronation mug and personalised certificate to every couple who married that year.

On receiving their certificate my parents realised it was addressed to another couple (as it turned out the couple married a few hours before).

On arriving at their honeymoon B&B in London they regaled the story to the landlady. The couple whose certificate had got muddled with theirs were also staying at the same B&B........!

Many years ago an American man was walking through the village where I grew up and he stopped to chat to my Dad who was in our front garden. He explained he had been into the churchyard as he was researching his family tree. It turned out that they were cousins. He subsequently visited my family every couple of years when he came to the UK. Both passed away over 20 years ago but I’m still in touch with one of his daughters and she still visits us with her husband every other year.

I had newly moved in with my husband to an RAF base , I was taken to the wives club one evening. I was introduced to Jo, we would have something in common because her husband was Scottish, not RAF but an associate member. ( because everyone in Scotland knows each other)
I said I was from Glasgow
so was he.
Me:- well East Kilbride
Jo So is he, it’s in small areas isn’t it he’ from …….
Me too!
Jo his dad was a policeman.
Me, weren’t the dogs really loud , always yapping
Jo yes, but how did you know.
Me because I lived opposite his parents until I got married last year.
No wonder people think we all know each other.

Many years ago my cousin was visiting his son in New Zealand.
J was out walking one day when he decided to sit on a bench to take in the view. Along came an elderly gentleman who sat down and the two men started a conversation.
The older man asked where in England my cousin was from.
My cousin said he was from a tiny village in Yorkshire (population around 100) adding that his companion would not have heard of it. Anyway, being prompted by the gentleman he said Hooton Levitt.
The older man replied 'I was born there'!

What a lovely story IamMaz. I wonder if your son bought one as well.

Many years ago I was travelling through Lyme Regis in Dorset with my then partner. We decided to stop and have a quick drink in a local pub. The pub was really crowded. My partner went to order drinks, and I sat at a table that had just one elderly man sitting there. We started chatting; it turned out he knew my grandmother and where she had lived in Lyme. She had died at least twenty years earlier.

Now that is weird LadyGaGa

My son was wild camping in Scotland. There was another man camping within his eyesight, which was quite unusual, so they shared a cup of tea. After chatting it turned out that he lives on the same street in Derby where we lived for years when the children were small. He was about the same age as my son so they may have met! On the way home he stopped in a lay-by in the middle of nowhere. Another chap stopped with his young son to admire the scenery and asked my son to take a picture of them. It turned out that they lived on the same street that my son lives on now!

D was working as Designer on As You Like It in Stratford a few years ago when the lighting designer arrived late and a bit stressed complaining about the traffic coming out of London.
Just being conversational D asked
“Which part of London?”
“North East London”
“Oh so do I, whereabouts?”
“Walthamstow”
“Oh really? Where in Walthamstow?”
She named the nearby tube station
“Which road”
She named D’s street
“What number?”
And
It turned out they live four doors away from each other!

When my daughter moved to America in 1989, her brother visited her and her then boyfriend took him into Greenwich Village, NY, where they went to an Irish pub. An English girl served them so naturally my son asked her where she came from and she named the same county where we lived. Further asking her where abouts she said "Oh you wont have heard of it". However not only had he heard of it but it turned out that they had been brought up about 1/4 of a mile away from each other and had never met, although I did know her parents by sight. I have met up with them all since then at various residents' association functions and we still marvel at why that pub out of all the pubs in NY.

Indigo8 - meant for you!

crazyH yes, very sad to have us move (though never made us feel bad about it or even suggested we shouldn't go) - but alongside the sadness still felt pleased to see her skipping along "out of the blue"
❤️

I once bought a little jet brooch from a dark and dingy charity shop. It was only when I got home and looked at it properly in the light that I saw that it had my name carved on it.

NotSphaghetti - your parents must have felt very sad

When we lived in America (Midwest not anywhere "notable" there was a news item in the UK which both my parents saw. It was a "weather" item and showed my daughter (then aged 3) skipping along inside the shopping mall with her little friend, having dumped her coat with me. It was -20 outside.

We had seen a camera crew filming but assumed it was local news or a store promotion.

It was hard to believe that they had seen their only granddaughter (who had moved to the other side of the world six months before) on their TV at home.

These bpots made to look like paper bags have been fashionable for years here in Denmark. As I have never wanted one, or known anyone who would appreciate one as a gift I have no idea where they are made, so I was suprised to hear that they are not common everywhere.

I'm from Malta. Yes, sometimes, those bags are not just used as vases - the small ones are filed with things like lentils and old coins, and used as decorations / good-luck charms. You can get bags that look like boxes, too, or sackcloth that has been stiffened. They are from Bristow Potteries or Alka Ceramics.

After Teacher Training College I did supply work. I replaced a teacher with the same name as me. Pity I didn’t get her salary. H O. Got very confused at times. Her baby was due on my DD’s birthday. Later, I did supply work in another school where her husband worked. More confusion and much amusement.

Fun!

My sister was watching a TV show, and in one of the scenes she saw an embroidered picture in the background which looked familiar. She reversed the show and took a screen-shot of the framed picture and sent it to me.

It was the exact pattern of embroidery that my Mum had done as a young woman, and we had framed in our dining room.

What a lovely coincidence!
🌺

@Cossy I did too!

Aah. I think that’s rather lovely