There. Isn’t that beautiful? Well, I think so!

But what is it? That’s the question.

Well, I can tell you that the colour is a tad misleading, because it’s not really that silvery. In fact, it doesn’t look silver at all unless you shine a bright light on it, which, of course, is what happened here.

I can also tell you that it’s not something you’re ever likely to take away from the house until it’s ‘dead’. Too damn heavy, for one thing, and well, I can’t think of anything you’d use it for if you did. Of course, those of you who’ve watched ‘Chocolat’ might have some idea … but there are better, more lightweight, items which would work just as well for that, and anyway, you can’t exactly tuck this thing under your arm while you nip out. With my luck, I’d drop it and then it would most likely break.

You might like to know that it’s not squashed, and I’m guessing it’s about three x life-size.

Oh, and that dimple? That’s rather important. I probably wouldn’t have bought it if it hadn’t been for that dimple.

Answers in the comments, please, and the answer will be added at the bottom of this post tomorrow in the form of a link. I’ll do it nice and early so you can all get the answer quickly.

No cheating, now!

What – are you still here? You want more clues? Well alright … just one more.

If you fancy some less demanding macros, pop on over to Lisa for the rest of the Macro Monday contributions.

OK, everyone? Ready for the answer? Here it is! And if you want any further explanation, go here.

So, kudos to Granny Grimble, who guessed every part of this puzzle, right down to the brand name – well done, Granny! I think you can safely be named as this week’s winner!

Congratulations also to Silverback, Baino, Brinkbeestinenglish, Kala and Jama, all of whom guessed the item correctly. Mara get points for her convoluted thought processes, connecting Johnny Depp with Chocolat and griddlepans, and Silverback loses his place on the winners list for not knowing that cast iron will break if you drop it! There, that was fun, wasn’t it?

Thanks for playing everyone – you all make these puzzles work so well!

Update: Following an impassioned plea, I hereby reinstate Silverback on the winner’s rostrum, despite the fact that he said ‘It can’t be that’ in his comment. He’s right though, he did say ‘cast iron grill pan’, so even though I call them skillets, he’s back in the list of Right Guessers!

Granny Grimble is still the outright overall winner though. She got everything right, and didn’t do any pussyfootin’ backtracking.

And a sad letter it is, too, for this week’s ABC Wednesday.  Look at that. Empty shops as far as the eye can see.

The reason those shops are empty is the present economic climate.  The rent goes up, the earnings go down, and the next thing you know, the tenant winds up his business and leaves before he’s actually evicted, and the result is an ever-decreasing selection of retail establishments for us all to visit.

It gets worse.   Do you see what this shop is eventually going to become? 

Yet another ‘bookie’, or betting shop. The clue is that single word referring to equines, in this case, race horses. As you can see, this used to be a family-run decorating shop – home enhancement store, if you like – and the only connection they had with horses was perhaps as a wallpaper or rug motif. Anyway, it seems that some people, even though they’re empty-handed, can yet find enough cash to gamble with. 

But it’s not all doom and gloom.  This little hairdresser is living up to its name, at least for now.

Eternity is perhaps a little much to hope for, but I do hope they stay in business for a while yet.

And look at this -

Express Watch Repairs has been in our city for as long as I can remember, and it’s a specialist shop and – as far as I know – the owners are expert at what they do. Doesn’t look as if it’s going to be giving up any time soon, either!

I think we all need to encourage these smaller businesses to endure in our towns and cities. 

I mean, where do you go to, my lovelies, when you need half a metre of pale green eyelet lace?  Or a single E-string for your viola?  Where do you go for that special evening dress?   There are eateries a’plenty, and there are supermarkets, and electrical superstores, but even on the edges of our towns – even in the most esoteric areas, we are losing our specialists.

And it’s a bad thing when every town’s High Street begins to look the same because of all the Usual Suspects: building societies, betting shops, estate agents and chain stores.

In case you’re still not convinced (in spite of all the evidence) can you tell from the content of this picture where, exactly, it is?

No, I thought not.

To be fair, we do have a handful of exceptional little shops, but in a city this size, it really should be more than a ‘handful’.

And that is what is so extremely sad.

Now, what shall I confuse and bewilder you with for Macro Monday this week, I wonder?  I don’t want to make it too easy, but I don’t want to make it too difficult either, and I’m notoriously bad at deciding one way or the other. Hmm …

I know!  How about this?

Too easy?

Well, alright, if you think this is too easy, how about you tell me, not only what it is, but where it is?

It is an ordinary household object, and I’m pretty sure most of you have more than one of these. Like so many ordinary household objects it does vary in design, but the part visible here doesn’t change much. Oh, you can buy fancy ones, but this is the standard type. As to where it is, well, it’s certainly not in the place it’s intended to be, but I’m betting a goodly number of you have put them here at one time or another, and maybe do so quite regularly.

So, take your best shot, and put your guesses in the comments below! I’ll be back tomorrow evening (UK time) to add the answer to the bottom of this post, in the form of a picture link so as not to spoil it for those who still want to have a go.

Have fun!

Well, clearly that wasn’t very difficult, now, was it? I think the majority of you got this one right, with Carol getting in first with her 100% correct guess – well done, Carol!

The answer is here, if you all want to just check it out. You’ll see that in fact most of you are right in essence, but not all of you are totally right – further information on that in the comments!

Teresa, what can I say. I never knew I had Captain Hook hanging in my closet. I’d better go take a look! Once again, the most creative comment, by a long way!

Thank you all for playing! See you next week?

To start us off this week, for ABC Wednesday, I have a picture for you which was taken on my very first trip to the US to meet my Depp friends. I had been invited over to the Dewey Beach Greyhound Gathering where a whole group of women – most of them Johnny Depp fans – were renting a house for the weekend, and it was to be the first of many trips to meet these lovely ladies and their beautiful dogs. If I remember correctly, the house had no means to play the Depp movies which we all felt were an essential part of the vacation, so TJ had brought a DVD player along with about twenty movies. We watched most of them in a Depp marathon lasting till about 5.30am the next day, with Depp friend after Depp friend dropping out until there was just me and TJ, and one other ‘lady’, who was snoring non-too-delicately on the floor.

Anyway. One of the many pictures I took on the first day was that one. I had never heard of Dogfish Head beer, but I thought it made the window rather decorative. Things went downhill rapidly from there, and included drunkenness, dubious lighting displays (you don’t want to know), a lot of discussion about Johnny Depp, a very poor diet (mostly junk food), but not (as far as I was aware), drugs.

You can tell how our sense of humour deteriorated by this next picture

Yes, I’m afraid that middle book does say ‘Walter the Farting Dog‘, which, when you are staying in a house along with six or seven large greyhounds, seems amazingly apt, if not downright funny. It’s a wonder those dogs weren’t immediately renamed ‘Walter’.

While I was taking pictures, I heard a squeal (I think it came from TJ) and I turned to see my friends gathered around a shop window. What could they have seen? Well, that weekend it could have been anything from dog collars to doughnuts, but in fact it was Mr Depp.

Captain Jack Sparrow himself! That’s Cincinnati Sandy, by the way, with her delightful dog, Roady – and her booty; a poster delineating .. well, guess who! Yes, Roady does look a lot like my Princess Renie, doesn’t she? Sadly, like The Princess, Roady is no longer with us. A very great loss.

The Depp Ladies have met up again nearly every year since, sometimes more of us, sometimes less, at Dewey, mostly, but also in other places, such as California, where we visited Venice Beach. And, would you know it? We found another poster shop.

And there he is, Johnny Depp takes centre stage again .. well, actually, right of centre, but he is the focus of attention. And who is that, demonstrating that ancient insult, the digitus impudicus, otherwise known as ‘the bird’ or ‘the finger’? Why, it’s my dear friend Tennessee Jenn! She hates having her photo taken, you know. Tee hee.

So how do I finish after such delights? Well, how about an image of a crowded London square, complete with shops?

Okay, okay. It does have Johnny Depp in it. He’s the dapper guy in white and dove grey, with a dashing fedora atop his distinguished self. See the trademark dangly things at his waist?

But there are shops. If you can drag your eyes away long enough to look for them.

Yes, I agree, it’s difficult, isn’t it. Why bother? To quote from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, you could say:

‘I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request’!