[Daphne – Yes, but here’s the thing. For some reason our household was never big on bread. It wasn’t a ‘bread with meals’ operation or anything like that, so buying the bread wasn’t an issue. Buying the milk was.]

As young devils we used to love to tease Kalanc by asking the embarrassing question ‘Kalanc biex tajtha …bil-ganc?’

He used to get infuriated and step forward swinging one of his two baskets in the hope of hitting one of us.

We loved Kalanc, and we only did it all for a laugh. After his temperature came down we would go and buy ‘sold karawett u sitta cicri’.

That would have to include queuing up for NAAFI bread at Muse’ in Amery Street during the 1970’s bakers’ strike, or going to buy the ‘ration’ from the same grocer.

And then there was Kalanc tal-karawet who used to sell peanuts out of a large basket on the Front, and the man who sold ice-cream out of a cooler box at Ferro Bay, and whose chant was “Choke ice-cream! Cornet ice-cream!”

Yes, Freddie and Annie. They were from Msida. I remember Freddie always having a pen behind one ear. You hardly see that sort of thing anymore.

By the way, once you mentioned Silvio Zammit, the wannabe San Girgor sacristan, remember when he bought about Lm18,000 worth of paraffin for the Tal-Qroqq swimming pool where he had some position? Neighbours, eh!

I hardly think that the Schembri themselves have inflated egos – quite the opposite, in fact.

I remember Giljan tal-pitrolju and my father having to pay for the paraffin that I let out when I opened the tap of his tank and it flowed down Graham Street.

I agree with Giljaniz that you should write a book about your memoirs of growing up in Sliema.

[Daphne – Freddy and Annie.]

They are definitely not involved in this pantomime.

[Daphne – I never said it belongs to the Schembris, because I know it does not. Please reread what I wrote.]