Ask yer Granny!

seajaxx

CRANKY40 wrote: »

I know the answer....it's being served a dinner with that much cabbage on the plate that you spend the entire time looking at the cabbage thinking "I'll never be able to eat that" and forget to look at how much meat you have.

:rotfl: oddly enough, that's what I'm serving up for tea tonight... savoy cabbage, Asda bacon bits and mashed tatties! Lots and lots of cabbage though!

I'm loving this thread. Thank you for starting it. I'm sorry if I'm going to be a bit off topic, but unfortunately I didn't know either of my grannies, both died before I was born, and my grandfather's new wife was really not particularly interested in my father and his children.
However, I had "older parents" my mum was nearly forty when she had me (as was my dad). I was born in 1967 and still remember the shortages then and the general dismal-ness.
My parents stopped buying coffee, and started using camp coffee. (cheaper, but I hated the taste) TVP mince (which made your teeth squeak) was the order of the day. We had a great clothing network via my cousins, and it was always a treat to find some Auntie had left a bundle of my cousin's outgrown clothes to try on. I believe several Aran jumpers went through the entire family, before they were eventually consigned to the rag pile!
We didn't have double glazing (frost on the window, and winter spent listening to my sister's coughing or spent with tonsillitis-mum's cure all, a raw egg beaten up with vinegar!) My sister and I shared a double bed, in a room that would become so cold she would wet herself rather than get up and use the "potty". Paraffin heaters that smelt funny and gave me a sore head, and tights you'd grown out of but had to wear anyway, so they chapped your thighs.
Mum used to do all her own cooking from scratch. She used to bulk buy fish from Arbroath and freeze it. Then we'd have Dabs in sauce (which was tasteless) or, as a treat, some smoked haddock in a Kedgeree. Mum would do odd things sometimes like add an egg to mince to "give us extra protein".
Dad was very practical. He seemed to know how to do everything. He was an engineer, but, at that time, the bottom had dropped out of UK engineering, and he was training to be a technology teacher. All the household repairs were carried out by him. I don't ever remember a tradesperson coming to the house.
Dark mornings when we walked to school (or perhaps from school) with a torch- I think they may have messed around with the Scottish clocks. No sugar. A can of McKewan's Export cost 13p from William Lows. (one can, dad's treat, once a week) Powercuts, candles, and tepid "sink" baths to conserve energy. "Rushes" on certain things, such as flour or eggs or milk.
Mum would make hairbands for us from old tights, and papier mache toys... a farmhouse if I remember correctly. Cousins used to make us knitted toys, and we used to pore over the ladybird book of crafts, and look forward to the time when we could aspire to "making a man's tie"!
Holidays were spent in a caravan in Scotland (where we live). Hiking, biking and exploring the seashore. (Getting bitten to death by midgies too!)
Dad's still here to ask, but unfortunately we lost mum far too early.
Hope no one minds my wee diversion, but I've found a lot of people's Grans and Grandads are of the same generation as my parents, and we certainly benefited from it!

deb68_2

mardatha wrote: »

Last year I started a "really old style" thread after reading some American pioneer type books - because I wanted to see if it was possible to avoid shops altogether for as long as poss. Not total self-sufficiency as in growing grains and rearing animals for meat - but having always enough in the house to live on even if it snowed for 9 months of the year



AHH
bring them in the house to keep warm
i would love to be able not to go to the shops for a month or so
but we do do a decent shop once a month then freezers full an hubby just goes an gets the milk if we need ir
Mardartha you should do a whole posting on all old style things you have an do do
it would be great to read i no it would help me out
take care
keep warm
debx

VJsmum

I think in my nan's day, it wasn't so much old style as necessity.

My mum always said that they didn't really realise they were poor because everyone was the same. It was a bit like that for me in the late 60's and early 70's, we were all pretty much the same, no-one had loads to go round.

Anyone who had a holiday was posh - and a holiday abroad - :rotfl:

My auntie ran a pub and was quite well off - she was the only one we knew who had been abroad. She had no children and spoilt us, because there were 6 of us and we were quite poor - "Auntie Barb's present" was usually the best one we got. Poor mum must have felt awful about that, but she never let on, and i've only just thought about it. My nan lived with Barb and my uncle Tom and while they ran the pub she ran the house. I remember her in her crossover pinny (were they compulsory? ) standing at the sink with the washing machine which had an electric mangle.

My mum always said that she wasn't really cut out for the domestic life she was given, but what that woman could produce with not much is astounding. As said, there were 6 of us (tho never all 6 kids all at the same time as the eldest had moved out by time the youngest arrived), we went without some things but we always had good shoes and we always had good food. Mum wasn't very adventurous, partly cos she wasn't bothered about food and partly cos she didn't like spicy things, but it was good wholesome food. Bacon puddings, chicken stew, porridge for breakfast. We ate tons of stodgy food but were never fat.

I have a fear of going back to poverty - I know what it's like, so while i don't have to be as OS as i am I do it cos i like it and because spare money in the bank is security for me.

fuddle

My Grandma was never seen without her overall buttoned up the front, perfectly ironed complete with a tissue in the front pocket. Underneath was really thick self knitted arran cardigan. Her pleated skirts that had no pleats left in them.

I miss my grandma.

She liked to knit. My school uniform was a great two piece with knicker elastic round the waist of the skirt. She would knit squares just for fun or to practice a certain stitch. When we went to visit she would give them to me and at the age of around 10 year old I would rather scraggily stitch them altogether to make a blanket for when I stayed at her house.

mishmogs

I was born in '61 and remember the 3 day week, bread strike, sugar shortages etc. My secondary school had no heat and we went out on strike for some warmth!

I also can remember walking to school through the thick pea souper fog and everywhere being so grimy and dirty - shudders - glad they brought in the smokeless fuels act.

remember your mittens being on elastic which threaded through the sleeves so your didnt loose them? which of course, mum had knitted.
And Derri boots? which mum had saved and saved up for.

fuddle

mishmogs wrote: »

remember your mittens being on elastic which threaded through the sleeves so your didnt loose them? which of course, mum had knitted.

I do that now, I finger knit (taught by my grandma) a long line and sew it onto the gloves, thread it through the arms of the coat and viola, my two little ones have warm (dirty as they trail on the floor when playing) gloved hands whenever they need them

suzybloo

Oh Derri boots................. what memories! My husbands mother still has hers and still wears them, she is 84 now! She must have had them bout 40 years! I remember my granny always had slippers on and shoes were taken off as soon as you stepped inside the door. The slippers were tartan ones and had furry cuffs on them with glass eye like buttons! The tartan matched her legs LOL! from sitting in front of the coal fire. She always washed her face in the dew in the 1st of May too - Has anyone else heard of this ? There was also a jar of soap ends in the bathroom that she fashioned into a new bar of soap. I still have my great grannies damask tablecloth which must be about 12 feet long, and it must be about 80 years old. Its only used on special occasions and when it is used I tend to try and imagine what it had been used for when she or my granny had it, and how their tables looked.

ALIBOBSY

Thanks for the comments about my Grandad, he was a lovely man although he was a mans man, always like his drinks and spent alot of evenings at the working mens club whilst gran was at home. Even when they retired he cashed all the pension for both of them and gave her half of the total as housekeeping like he did with his wages. So not necessarily the easiest guy to live with, but he was fiercely protective of his family and loved us all to bits.
When we were kids you only had to mention something to him and he "knew a man who can get that cheap" and the toy or whatever would be with him next time they came to visit-I loved my little red pedal car he brought me.

I always remember the story of how they met-she got off a train and he was on the platform waiting for someone else and as soon as he saw her he went up and told her she was the woman he was going to marry. She thought he was daft lol- but they kept in touch and started "walking out".

He was one of a big family-9 I think. His Dad used to beat up their mum on a regular basis and my GD and siblings hated it. One day when GD was about 14 his 2 older bros called the next 3 eldest out into the yard- there mum had been thrown accross the room against the iron stove and her eye was bruised and shut and she to say the least shaken up. The boys agreed enough was enough and when the Dad came home-drunk and bad tempered as usual they stepped im and told him to keep off their mum. He got angry and went to lung at her again so the boys beat the so and so out of him. They told him if he ever touched the mum or any of the kids again he would get it again and they would chuck him out on the street.

Supposedly the shock of the confrontation had a huge effect on him and he stopped drinking and never laid a hand on her again.

Ali x

Kaz2904

suzybloo http://alt-cures.com/82/dew-face-wash/ read this .
I wish had had a granny but mine died before she became one My Aunty says that it's a blessing really because it would have killed her to see my Mother with kids. We were lucky though, we got our Aunty to raise us instead . I wish I had known my Granny because she was very OS and apparently a wonderful person. Having said that, I wouldn't have seen her very much because we lived down south and they lived up in Scotland.
I loved my Grandad so much. He did such inappropriate things with us as kids like setting up a swing on a pully system which was suspended from the bannisters. He would then hoist us about 20 feet in the air to let us swing (the parents would have kittens!). He also had this old cooker with a thing on the side to light it with. You would pull the thing out and it had a big flame on it and this was used to light the grill or the rings. Or to pop the bubbles made from fairy liquid which were sprayed around the kitchen :eek: He used to put us under the floor boards to go exploring and let us loose in his tool shed with drift wood to make stuff. I burnt my hand on a drill bit when I was about 8 and learned about friction and kinetic energy from that . We were taught to build fires and would have to carry loads of wood back and forth from the beach to put in his shed to dry out for firewood. We learned about green wood not burning. I am the only one of the grandchildren with an open fire but we don't live near the sea. Sadly we can't take wood any more either Shame because it is useful as kindling.
I read somewhere about making a dryer for your newspaper bricks which involved setting up a fan and a cage using a solar panel. Apparently this would work as a dehumidifier for your bricks and an air conditioning unit for the inside of your home. When I read that I wished Grandad was till alive because I'm sure that he would have been able to help me make one
He only lived long enough to have one great- grandchild but when he sat there holding my DD at Christmas (he saw her first 2 Christmases), he would sit there beaming. He always wanted to be a great grandad. I'm sad he never met my DS because he would have got on so well with him, they are both quiet types and would have merrily tinkered away with stuff for hours and hours on end
I try to adopt the wisdom of the Grannies on these boards as I don't have one

EstherH

Glad those boys stuck up for their poor mum.

As my mum is now a grandma of two in their mid twenties, does she count?
She knitted a shawl, christening cape and lots of matinee coats, bootees, mittens, hats etc., for the new babies. As I said before she learnt to sew when I was little and made me dresses and trouser suits but now she says that it is cheaper to buy clothes than make them although for years when I was growing up she would look at a skirt on a rack and say 'how much, you could make it for ...'

We always saved newspapers to make firefighters, or wrap food in before going in the bin. Never had bin liners only newspaper. Also never used cling film or food bags, always re-washed plastic bags that something else had come in.

Both my Grans lived in terrace houses with no gardens so no way to grow their own food.

I know when my gran was growing up without a father from the age of six, her and her mum just had a room in someone else's house and my great gran only had the clothes she stood up in. She would wash her undies in the sink and dry them over night. We can't imagine life like that now no matter how OS we try to be.