interesting conversations with mumsy

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We went to the seaside today. It rained the whole time. Wet rain. Really wet rain. It's just gone midnight and it's still raining. Grey clouds, deep puddles, crashing waves, wet feet, soggy brollies, laughter, steaming up the windows whilst eating our picnic lunch in the car ... it was a good day. And, as an added bonus, we walked miles and I'm quite sure that does my body some good. As the afternoon wore on, and the non-existent crowds of holidaymakers thinned out, we took our damp selves into a pub on the pier for cake and hot drinks. I don't remember what encouraged the topic, but we were suddenly discussing 'afters'. Oh, it may have been the whole Is it breakfast, lunch and dinner, or breakfast, dinner and tea?* malarkey. I was brought up saying 'afters'. Mumsy was brought up with the word, and apparently my paternal Nana {with the long garden} also used it. What's for afters? we'd ask. You might say something different. Perhaps you ask, What's for pudding? or, What's for dessert? So, I Googled it, like one does. It is quite rare, apparently. And, rather oddly, it's allegedly associated with northerners. Well, thats just daft. My entire direct pedigree for three hundred years is London and southern counties, like Suffolk. Interestingly there's a small London based chain of eateries named, Afters and guess what foodstuffs they sell? Yep, only desserts, puddings, afters. Which suggests to me that it's southern England, maybe London based, in origination. My self-inflicted mission, should I choose to accept it, is to find out the origins of the word afters. Do you eat pudding, sweet, dessert or afters? {*it's breakfast, lunch and dinner on a weekday and some Saturdays, but breakfast, dinner and tea on Sundays and the remaining Saturdays ... just so you know!}