really old style living?

annie123

Found a lovely site, how we lived from 1900's to the 50's done through a family. Lots of interesting info and pics.
Much more interesting than repairing our windows which is what I should get back too

http://www.1900s.org.uk/sitemap.htm

mardatha

Oh wow annie, thats fantastic , thank you!

lizzyb1812

Oh no! I just popped in to see what was going on whilst I ate my lunch - supposed to be having a good clear out in the garden after and now I've seen the link ..............

I'm going to be reading lots tonight :rotfl:

Thanks Annie

kippers

I've just read 17 pages of this thread and it's really brill...still got a few hours of reading left to do.

I thought i'd just post and let you know what i am up to.

When my dd1 was born, my friends knew me as the 'Packet Mix queen', a title i had earnt well. 13 years on things couldn't be different. I had to change in order to stay at home with my two DD's. It's been hard but thanks to this site i have learnt so much.

First came the money saving/cut backs to clear our debts and then it was time to look forward to our future.

In 2005 i took on my first allotment. Up until then i had only ever grown a few radish in my garden. Though i had loved gardening for quite some time i had never grown veg and so it was a steep learning curve. Then, using the produce grown was another thing to learn....since then i have learnt to make jam, preserve my veg/herbs and make up or find all sorts of recipes to use up my veg (and also ways to disguise veg so my dd's and dh don't realise they are eating it lol).

I have learnt to bake bread and cobs (with or without my B/M) and i make my own pizza's, potato wedges etc etc. I clean with bi-carb, olive oil, lemon juice etc

In Jan 2010 i managed to take on 2 new allotments (either side of my original allotment). We are lucky as there are plenty of spare allotments where i am and they are glad someone wants them. So after clearing them (they were above my head with brambles) we are this year hoping we will be virtually self sufficent in some fruit and veg.
The latest problem is finding somewhere to store my potatoes / onions as we don't have a garage and where we store them at the moment is just not big enough for my extra crops.

Last year in the sales we bought a greenhouse for my back garden where i have raised all my seeds and now have tomatoes and cucumbers in together with two cape goosebury plants that are like triffids!

In January 2012, my elderly neighbour is giving up his two allotments and i will be taking on one of them which has apple, plum, golden gages, pear and worcester berries on which is brill...but best of all it has a poly tunnel:T:T:TI can't wait.

I have just learnt to make my own wash powder that i am very pleased with and i made raspberry cordial and blackberry lollies the other day but i do have other things i want to do when things slow down a bit at the allotment:

• save up to buy a couple of chickens
• I try to shop monthly but it never seems to work, so i must try harder (except for milk & eggs)
• Try to make soap
• Try to make yoghurt
• Never buy biscuits (choc chip cookies freeze fine but i forget to make them)
• Make a herb garden at home
• Learn Bee keeping

There are other things but i'll have to add them later when i can think of them.

Anyway, people think i'm mad, but i think it's a lovely way to live. I don't think my DD's miss out on anything and they still have 'mum' to come home to after school and be with them on school hols or when they are poorly. My DH loves the home cooked meals he has with freshly harvested veg so it can't be bad.

I have been keeping a spreadsheet on excel of all my allotment expenses and i have also been weighing my produce when i bring it home and working out what tesco would charge (though i grow organically i work it out using the 'value' price).....it is amazing how much we have saved already and i've still got loads to harvest...we saved over £700 having the allotments upto now this year (this figure has already had expenses take off which include a new lawn mower, seeds,tarpauline, compost, allotment fees etc etc)...we are really pleased with this.

Anyway hope you will enjoy reading this very long post (sorry) as much as i'm enjoying reading this thread.

mardatha

That sounds like an ideal way to go kippers, well done pet ! I wish I had got into all this at a much younger age. My dad had an allotment and garden and I grew up eating all his home-grown veg. But when I got married I really wasn't into that stuff at all, was always "too busy". It took ME at age 55 to slow me down enough to even look at the garden But I found this forum and it felt like coming home. Thanks for posting that xxx

ginnyknit

Kippers well done - you are living the way we would all love too. But its hard work isnt it? It must be very rewarding. I too came to it all late though I did a lot more last time I was a SAHM (when the kids were little. Now I try my best but have less time now than when I worked all the hours god sends!

scottishminnie

I think most of us were brought up with old style but moved away from it when we left home and got married, I know I did. I think part of it was down to wanting to try out so many things when I was first married and there was so little time and it wasn't the done thing to be OS. That sounds really pathetic now but true.

Although I've never been wasteful or a spendthrift I just think it's ironic than when I had my first home as a newlywed I coveted matching things and lots of bit's and pieces where now I'm so much less materialistic and I've actually gone all contemporary and a bit minimalist (just a bit though:o). I'm not sure if it's just part of life and growing older that your priorities change along with your taste and style.
I do sometimes wish I'd gone back to my roots a bit sooner though as I actually enjoy being OS. I like a challenge but then I'm an odd creature:)

mardatha

Oh I'm very minimalist, I could live happily with empty rooms, ( as long as they had nice thick carpets and a fire) LOL

westcoastscot

I love this thread! I never throw anything away - when times get particularly tough, like now, I can make a few items to sell out of what I have, and I'm never short of things to make gifts/cards with. Plus I re-read my many 1,000's of books - am just re-reading some old-style books - the Nella Last ones, Round About a Pound a Week (really fascinating that one) and some about traditional '50s life such as The Children who Lived in a Barn. I find they keep me motivated.

We're on what we call "poverty rations" just now, which my (grown-up) kids love - its more work but saves loads of money - stuff like lentil pie, pasties, and soup for starters and either rice pud or crumble for puddings to fill them up.

Well, better get the slowpot on before I leave for work - today is my long day

WCS

ceridwen

scottishminnie wrote: »

I think most of us were brought up with old style but moved away from it when we left home and got married, I know I did. I think part of it was down to wanting to try out so many things when I was first married and there was so little time and it wasn't the done thing to be OS. That sounds really pathetic now but true.

Although I've never been wasteful or a spendthrift I just think it's ironic than when I had my first home as a newlywed I coveted matching things and lots of bit's and pieces where now I'm so much less materialistic and I've actually gone all contemporary and a bit minimalist (just a bit though:o). I'm not sure if it's just part of life and growing older that your priorities change along with your taste and style.
I do sometimes wish I'd gone back to my roots a bit sooner though as I actually enjoy being OS. I like a challenge but then I'm an odd creature:)

I had to grin at that comment about "most of us brought up Old Style".......as I certainly wasnt personally:rotfl:

Fortunately - I've always had hippy-ish inclinations in some respects - so learnt a lot from books of that sort back years ago. Obviously in latter years - the O.S. Board here has been a goldmine of info. to me - and I've learnt a heck of a lot since getting access to t'internet and promptly finding MSE.