Seb set his brush down and scanned the faultless sky. “Enough blue to make a dress,* as you used to say mother,” he chuckled. His literal child logic at the time, always thought it would be an extremely large dress or there would be a ton of left over material.
He picked up his brush again and on the shore, he painted a beautiful lady sitting on a towel watching a little boy, net and bucket in hand, clambering in and out of the rock pools.
Seb sighed, “There you go Mum, we’ll call this one, ‘Enough blue to make a dress.’”
*I believe the correct version of this expression is, ‘enough blue to patch a Dutchman’s breeches.’ I grew up with Mum’s versions of all the colloquial sayings.
Written for Friday Fictioneers – a 100 words story based on a photo prompt. Hosted by Rochelle. Read the other entries here.
Michael Wynn 
Nice saying
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Thanks Neil
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Dear Micheal,
I like his take on the saying. Sounds like a nice painting. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle
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Lovely…brought back a wonderful memory for me…my dad’s saying was, “If there’s Enough Blue to Make a Sailor a Pair of Pants, we’ll have good sailing.”…I say that to this day, and I now live in the high desert, far, far from the sea. Thank you.
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Lovely calm scene.
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Thanks, Iain
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Enjoyable read, Michael. We used to say ‘enough blue to make a pair of sailor’s trousers’. 🙂
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Yes, it seems there’s loads of versions of this saying. Thankfully, it comes in handy when trying to cram everyting into a hundred words, that Mum’s appears to have been the shortest
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I’ve not heard either version or Susan’s so am excited by them all. I love this piece for the memory and the peaceful scene. Thank you.
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Thanks, Alicia, I’m pleased you liked it
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Delightful Michael and I’ve learned a new expression!
Here’s mine!
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Thanks, Keith
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Loved this. Our childhood dialogue used to go: “Look, there’s some blue sky up there” followed by my parents saying “not enough to make Jumbo a pair of pants.” Amazing the different takes on this theme.
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Yes, there’s an amazing amount of takes probably indicative of how important the sky and the weather it holds was so important to people, especially those at sea. Thanks, Sandra.
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A lovely serene scene. I got the impression his Mum has passed on and he’s feeling rather wistful as he paints a scene from his own childhood.
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You got it spot on, Draliman, thanks very much
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sayings don’t go stale. just need some window dressing. 🙂
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You’re dead right, there’s loads of poetry and richness in the old sayings.
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Nice memories.
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Thanks, Danny
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This one is sweet.
I love the mum connection.
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Thnaks, Natasha
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A tender and lovely story. He is lucky to have those memories.
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Thank you and he is
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Cool, I never heard of either saying. I love how the child uses it in his creative way.
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This was lovely, Michael. I love how expressions change from one area or family to another. This was a feel-good one.
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A good parent is one whose child takes up a creative passion and connects it with them. A very touching story, Michael.
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As an adult I often find myself repeating my mother’s sayings then wondering what the hell they mean. I do the logical breakdown much like the child in your story.
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Oh this is lovely! You’ve captured a beautiful emotion here
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I enjoyed the love he has for his mother. Would be fun to see what Seb painted.
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