Preparedness for when

bluebag

This thread has got me thinking about so many things, mainly about the way we lived when I was a child as my thoughts are in some ways that we will be going back to that.

As a kid I never had anything brightly colured to wear, everything was boring brown, maybe a bit of trim or lace but my memory is of unrelenting stuff that 'wouldn't show the dirt'

Lots of clothes were aired or sponged when worn and re-used. It seems unthinkable now. Many fabrics were natural though, wool,cotton and linen.

I suppose not having anywhere to dry lots of washing was the reason, many seem to be having this problem now too in the wet, cold winter.

Butterfly_Brain

This is one awesome news anchorman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3BHujm3cpY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugz4DFzdUOY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r9vLKkbH-c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEYBzb3YgQU

jk0

GQ's post last night reminded me of the same song being done about Obama:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhhkF3dqXR0

GreyQueen

Morning all.

Was MIA last night due to archery. Whee! I love it soooo much.

Re seventies childhoods, I can remember that you were always being told to change out of your school clothes and into your play clothes as soon as you came in. We had a clean shirt or blouse, undies and socks daily but other things were aired out and made to do more days.

Back then, Mum had a single tub washing machine and a separate spin-dryer. Doing the wash was a lot more onerous than using an automatic washing machine. I can still recall holding the crook-shaped rubber outlet hose of the washer or the spinner over the edge of the sink so that it would pump out, and filling and refilling the spin-dryer with cold water from the tap, putting in the rubber spiderweb thingie, snapping down the lid and then leaning on it to stop the thing juddering away from the sink.

Then opening it, being exhorted to wait until the momentum had completely stopped spinning the drum before pulling out the spiderweb thingy (what the heck was that called?) and pulling the clothes out.

What a palaver. Mum still has a spindryer which is used a few times a year when she handwashes sweaters. It sits in a dead zone under a kitchen counter which wouldn't otherwise be used for anything else.

I can recall a lot of problems getting stuff dry back in the day. I think part of the problems were caused by clothes being relatively more expensive than they are now, and that we had fewer changes. Plus my lovely mother is, and always has been, a tad disorganised.

Anyone else ever have their laundered but not quite dry undies and socks finished off in the oven before school?

alfsmum

A quick question preppers,

Dd has Christmas temp job at B**ts and apparently can get double discount on their own brand products until tomorrow, which means double the normal 24 per cent discount staff so in effect almost half price. She and other dd are thinking make up and perfume, I am thinking first aid and hot water bottles! Is there anything else you'd get to take advantage of this? She can only use the discount in her home store which isn't massive but has all the basics. After tomorrow she goes back to 24 percent discount for the rest of her contract.

Btw, also gets double discount on non own brand stuff so about 12 PC normally by 24 until tomorrow if that makes sense.

Grateful for any suggestions

thriftwizard

First Aid stuff, alfsmum - bandages, micropore tape, wound dressings, antiseptic cream, etc. etc. - it's amazing how expensive they are, and how much you really, really need them when you do!

GQ, as far as I remember it was called The Rubber Disc, and it really was rubber rather than plastic. Until Dad died, we always had Rayburns (standard issue in an old-style vicarage) which made drying fairly easy as we generally had a drying rack suspended from the ceiling above it. Sadly this didn't help my mother remember to actually do the washing in the first place; she's never been the most domesticated bunny, but she's much happier now she has an automatic washer/drier.

Which all triggered an interesting train of thought; DD2 is Moving Bedrooms, into what used to be DS1's room, which is the smallest bedroom at basically 9' x 10' but irregularly shaped, though much warmer than the one she's in now, and "not haunted" in her opinion! As we're struggling with a plan & bits of paper cut to the shape of her furniture, I can't help thinking that there was a beautiful simplicity about my bedrooms as a child/young adult. Bed, bedside table, wardrobe and/or chest of drawers. Possibly a tiny dressing table with mirror, though from 13 upwards I had a bed & a modern wardrobe/drawers/mirror combined unit - smaller room. Sometimes there was room for a little bookshelf, too. And that was it. (Being the only girl, I didn't have to share with anyone past the age of 7.) Homework was done on the kitchen table, or on my bed, with my tranny blasting away, to my mother's horror & dismay.

She's got a bed, bedside table, wardrobe, two sets of drawers, bookshelf and a massive computer/music-mixing desk. And she can't get all her clothes into the wardrobe & drawers anyway. It's not all going to fit in the small room. We're not rich, she's never been spoilt, most of her clothes are secondhand bargains & until her 18th birthday her computer was a third-hand, out-of-the-ark jobby that she still managed to compose some stunning music on. She can't possibly wear all those clothes but can't seem to part with any of them, yet can never find the "right" thing to wear. I can't help thinking that actually, having more stuff is a burden rather than a pleasure; that my simple, limited wardrobe when I was young made decision-making very easy, and tidying my room (not that it often happened) took about 10 minutes.

Also, if TS ever HTF, she'll get Left Behind, because she wouldn't be able to find anything to wear, never mind her passport! Time to persuade her to lighten her load, methinks...

GreyQueen

thriftwizard wrote: »

First Aid stuff, alfsmum - bandages, micropore tape, wound dressings, antiseptic cream, etc. etc. - it's amazing how expensive they are, and how much you really, really need them when you do!

:T Too right. Don't forget the Steri-Strips, either.

One thing that just occured to me is how many of the things we used back in our childhood were within the skill of a home repairer. For example, the aforementioned single-tub and spin-dryer. There was very little to go wrong with them and if the failed, it was often the drive belt.

Geezer on the market sold lots of spares inc these and it wasn't uncommon for me to come in from school and find one or other of these appliances resting horizontally over two kitchen chairs having it's workings mended by Mum.

Compare and contrast that to the pretty fix we find ourselves in when an automatic washer malfunctions. This applies to no end of stuff, esp cars.

Righty, off to w*rk. Laters, GQ xx

[Deleted User]

GQ I remember being told to 'Iron Dry' undies etc that weren't quite dry in the morning, not a steam iron then but just a flat plate electric iron so it worked pretty well and pretty quickly. We didn't have a washing machine and I can remember having to hand wash and hand wring cotton sheets and jeans etc. I wonder if many other people were in the same situation and if that's why clothes weren't changed and laundered quite as easily and often as they are today? Lyn xxx.

short_bird

I had a quick look at the financial pages and it appears the markets have been indulging in an overnight wobbly due to the Chinese banks tripling their bad debt writeoffs. The phrase "shadow banking system" was mentioned.

The more I read about shadow banking systems, the more I want to hide money in the mattress... :eek:

S_Wales_Saver

I trained as a Home Economics teacher (then known as Domestic science!) in the late 60's and my abiding memory of laundry class is the tutor exhorting us to "Iron dry, students, iron dry"

Most unfortunately, all the classes i trained to teach seem to have been abandoned in favour of more important things :mad: At least my girls can run a house, cook and clean, boys not so much . DD2 is better at decluttering than her mum