Ask yer Granny!

Kaz2904

Oh, I've just given my sister a massive blanket I knitted for her baby boy. She stayed here for 2 nights with her 3 and the first night her middle one (2 years) was poorly so slept on the sofa. She covered him in the baby blanket (it really is that big!) and said he was toasty warm all night. I'm so pleased to have made something for him that she actually likes and will hopefully use. It should do a few years of being dragged around Now I need to make some for my two to keep on their beds when it's a bit chilly and that they can wrap up in when it's cold in the evenings. I must finish knitting my cardigan first though and sewing my quilt which I was supposed to finish in June (better get to finding my acrylic square for cutting out the hundreds of squares I need to finish it !

angelaloveschocolate

Thank you Ali for sharing your family stories, very touching and not too different from a lot of us, I would imagine. And, yes, your Grandad was very special, how lucky you are to have had such a strong role model.

My own granny was a typical woman of her time. Always wearing her apron and her long grey hair was twisted on top of her head in a bun. A lovely gentle woman who lived with us until she died in 1974. It must have been difficult for her living with us as we had such a large family and she had Altzemhimers. my mother who was so busy raising a large family should have found caring for Granny a burden, but no. Mum always said that Granny was a pleasure to work with, she never complained even when dying of cancer and in pain she never cried out or became difficult. And every meal given to her she relished it like a banquet.

I think mum was just pleased to return the years of help and support that granny had given us over the years. Of course she did all the same things as other people of her generation, kept chickens, veggie patch, so on. But what really sticks in my mind is that Granny used flour bags, to cut up and make clothes for all of us and Mum was so grateful. Anyone elses Grannies did that, apparently flour bags were ever so soft and made wonderful comfortable vests. I dont know where the flour bags came from but I'm guessing there must have been a mill nearby and they were waste products, very os and she did'nt even know it.:)

Her husband my Grandad was a butcher during the war. He could'nt get to grips with the whole idea of rationing meat and so refused to to do it, He said how could he refuse a woman raising a large family a few rashers and so everyone got what they asked for, if he had it to give them. I dont know if he ever got into trouble for that, but I do know that he died penniless, however he was owed so much money from his customers many of whom never paid. My Mum was a bit bitter about that because she said all the poor people on his books always paid, it was the so-called well-to-do people who ran up depts and did'nt pay. Mum also said that grandad could turn his hand to anything and said that he made his own tractor by mashing together parts from lorries, she was so proud of him. She always thought that she was blessed to have such wonderful parents. I wish I could have known him but he died of cancer before I was born.

Granny died when I was 7, her bedroom is now my dining room, I am now the proud caretaker of the family home you see. Mum would have often shown Granny a picture of Grandad and asked her is she knew him, to which Granny would say 'no I dont know him, but isn't he a fine man':rotfl:. Do you think she still had a fancy for him? Lol.

When her time was near she was full of morphine and was semi-conscience, but the night she died she sat straight up in the bed and said 'look, there's Paddy coming to meet me'. Mum was very spiritual and took great comfort from this and I was glad for her because I've lost my own mother now and realise what its like.

My own parents met and married during the war. So endless stories to be told there, but I'll restrict myself to telling you about black market smuggling. I think its safe to tell now as I'm sure there'l be no repercussions after all these years.:rotfl:

We live in N.Ireland a few miles from the border with the republic where there was no rationing and so smuggling was an everyday event. The preferred method was for the women to cut the lining of their coats, then sugar, butter, clothes or anything else would have been stashed in the lining until they got through customs at the border. A man who was well know in the village that my husband is from was a very successful smuggler, much to the annoyance of the customs men, who were rumoured to make a cut of everything they confiscated. Each day he would walk accross the border in the morning pushing his bicycle. In the evening he returned to cross the border back into N.Ire. Each day the custom's men stopped him and searched him, carefully checking any baggage and his clothes but could never find anything. Eventually the war ended and the customs man asked 'Tell us now, we know you were smuggleing but how did you do it, when we could never find anything?' To which he replied 'well you see everyday I took an old bike over and brpought a new bike back', the old codger was only smuggleing bicycles:rotfl:

Ooop's sorry i think I've gone a bit off topic there, but I suppose it just goes to show where there;s a will theres a way.

thanks for listening!

MarilynMonroe_2

I dont have any grannies left but my granda was in the jarrow march!

The grannies I had, 1 died young anfd the other was a boozing gambler, so really wouldnt have been much help"!

lollipopsarah

Wow what a marvellous thread, thank you all so much.
I only met, my grandparents once or twice, but still remembered opa when we talked about him after mum died.
Strange isn't how so many memories come flooding back when you just need a nudge, my dad made a little house for Lucy the tortoise we got from next door (after he climbed the wall and rescued her from the neighbours bad dog), it was a lovely wooden house with a ramp and a proper roof and painted windows (with curtains), with my lovely brother still has, even though sadly he lost lucy a little while ago, but the good news is that the goldfish from the garden pond are thriving (poor Ron had to build a new pond in his garden so he could keep them) and even started breeding again.
Sorry if I,m rambling.
I remember hearing about how my dad moved house on his bike too and used to cycle 20 miles a day to work when we were little and how mum was so gratefull for sliced bread to make up his packed lunch.
xx

suzybloo

Thanks KAZ for fining the link re the May Dew. There might be some truth in it as Granny had the loveliest skin! My granny was also able to see things that were going to happen, preminitions if you like, but said very little about it, and on a few occasions she had told someone prior to the event happening. She could read tea leaves too, as could my mum. There seemed to be more people then 'tuned' in with various spiritual goings on. Whilst my grandad was a Mans man Granny fairly ruled the roost - no messing! Maybe thats why all us females in the family are quite strong willed!
Could reminice for hours - reading these posts sometimes brings a tear to your eye, and I am sure I am not alone in saying 'if only we could have a wee while with them again' as you realise how much you miss them, but also are thankful for their love and wisdom.

mardatha

Absolutely enjoying this - amazingly interesting. I remember those glass eye slippers lol I used to spend hours trying to pull them off! Agree 100% re the spiritual bit suzy, a lot of women read the tealeaves and palms then. And lovely how Angela's granny saw her Paddy coming for her - she remembered him then eh Am sure my granny used sacks for doormats, and I mind that gas jet flamethrower thingy that hooked onto the side of the cooker. My Fife granny had an air raid shelter in the back garden that I always wanted to get into but never did.
I wonder what all our grannies think of how we're doing now they'll be watching with interest, eh!

kegc

Ooh lovely - a post where i feel at home again! Was feeling a bit lost for a while there :j

Nothing too much to add about grannies if im honest - One was quite a harsh wee woman but with a good heart underneath it all. The other lived quite far away so we never really seen much of her - I did, however, learn everything i needed to know about making cheese sauce from her, just by watching over her - so i am eternally grateful for that, seeing as the base of the cheese sauce is perfect for most sauces - thank you granny!

Loving everyone elses stories tho - so heartwarming - Thank you Mardatha for a wonderful new thread :T

salome

My two grans were total opposites. My maternal gran was from a high middle class family, with a couple of servants. Cooking was a mystery to her lol. The only things she was good at making was lemonade that she called Eiffle Towers ???? rice pudding, and I think I have a vague memory of enjoying some honeycombe she once made lol. Other than that, she was useless. Mum always took over the kitchen when we visited her :-) She was a funny old stick. A headmistress of a village school, where she lived for many years, but lived in a house with no hot water, still had the two pin electric plugs long after everyone had gone three pin lol. She came to live with us in the late 60's until she died in 1974. She was also an alcoholic.
My other gran was from a working class family, her dad was coxswain on the Weymouth Life Boats. A perilous job now, but even more so then, as boats and equipments were very basic. He was a lovely man, and smelt of Woodbines lol.
My paternal grandad was a man with a bg chip on his shoulder, and let everybody know it, and I didn't get on with him. Since doing my family tree, I understand him a lot more now, and wish I'd known more when he was alive, but he was quite a nasty person really :-( and gran had to like who he liked, and I wasn't one of them until I was 16, which was too late then. Which was a shame, because I had more things in common to her, than I did with my maternal gran. My paternal gran was a very good cook, and could cook from almost nothing, which she had to during the depression. Grandad had no work, and no money coming in to the home. Gran, who was an excellent fisher woman, would fish from Poole quay for their food. If she didn't get a fish, then she would go and look for cockles. She was an excellent needle woman, and made all her clothes, her crochet was something else. She was banned from competitions in her later years, because she kept winning them, she did the most amazing cotton crochet, making doilies, and tablecloths. I also like to crochet with cotton, and wool :-) Not so good with clothemaking, can do it, but only basic stuff. She didn't knit much, which I do, and I enjoy cooking. Now I feel it's ashame, because I never really had much connection with her, and when she did try, in my teen years, I wasn't interested. I could have picked up a lot of tips from her, but back then, OS way of living wasn't something I was interested in. Such a shame she never kept a diary, and wrote down her daily life. Would have made interesting reading I think :-)
Now I'm a granny, but my little lovelies, are in the States, so I only get to see them once a year mostly :-( Hopefully I can be of some example to them. Maybe I should journal , then there would be something for them at a time when they might need it :-)

x

rosieben

salome wrote: »

... Now I'm a granny, but my little lovelies, are in the States, so I only get to see them once a year ... Maybe I should journal , then there would be something for them at a time when they might need it :-) x

I'm the family historian and I tell you I would give my eye teeth for a journal like from a grandparent or any ancestor in fact!! please do it!

I'd been thinking about doing the same for my grandchildren, but my son bought me a book called 'Dear Mum, from you to me' which has loads of questions to answer, I'm part way through it, its taking ages! There's also a 'Dear Gran' one I think.

I was too young to know my lovely paternal gran very well and my maternal nanny wasn't a nice person - having said that she was tight as a duck's backside so she'd maybe have some useful advise too!

eta - I just looked on Amazon and there are loads of these books - sister, daughter, dad etc etc - great idea for christmas presents!

mrswive

What a wonderful thread- it's made me laugh and cry!
I didn't really know my grandmothers; one died when I was 4 and the other lived miles away and I only remember seeing her about 5 times in my life. Now I have my own grandchildren I can't imagine not being a big part of their lives.
DGS1 is 5 and I'm teaching him to knit as he's fascinated by the process and goes straight to my knitting bag every time he comes round. He and DGS2 who is 3, both love to cook - as soon as anyone starts cooking they get their 'help-me chairs' and peel, weigh ingredients, stir and mix. Hopefully by the time I'm in my dotage they'll be able to do everything for me!!