How many of your OS habits did you learn from your family?

Tam_Lin

I've just hung the washing out (oh that lovely fresh smell), and am looking forward to sitting in our garden shelling our peas when they're grown (only another few weeks). I remember my Mum and Nan doing both of those things. My Dad was the one passionate about the garden and allotment - he went every evening after work, and from age 8 or so, it was my 'job' to grow things in seed trays in my bedroom for him to plant out.

What did you learn growing up which you apply now? Does nostalgia feature in OS for you? I find I'm looking back and consciously doing things the way they did (a) because it works and (b) because in some strange way it honours the way we were brought up.

thriftlady_2

Same as you Tam Lin, and I remember my mum shelling peas and hanging out the washing. Funny thing is, she's much less Os now than she was when I was a child. She still hangs her laundry, but she's got a bit fed up with cooking and relies a bit on convenience food. Poor old mum, she has to put up with me berating her - 'but you could make that for a fraction of the cost mum' :rotfl:

Tam_Lin

My Mum's the same; she's a lady wot lunches (£1.50 cottage pie at a little cafe with her friend, and just a sandwich in the evening), and she replies 'I had X years of cooking daily for your father when he was alive, and now I don't have to.'

celyn90

To be fair, I owe almost all of my OS habits to my parents - everything from cooking and shopping to gardening and DIY.

My parents are much less OS now too, they eat a scary amount of prepackaged stuff. I think it may be at least in part because when we were kids there was very little cash about and my mum wasn't working, so everything was done as cheaply as possible, but time was less of an issue. Now we've all left home their disposible income is much higher so my mum will avoid cooking if she can or not make something from scratch for just the two of them as she is working again now.

THIRZAH

My mother and her parents were very "Old-style".My grandad grew vegetables, fruit and flowers. One of Grandma's hobbies was flower arranging and he grew most of the flowers she used. He grew all the flowers for my wedding and my grandmother and aunt arranged them-they even got a commision to do another wedding after somebody saw the flowers on the day after the wedding!

Mum and grandma cooked everything from scratch-except bread.We never had "bought" cake in our house-I used to love going to my friend's for tea-her mother got cake from the baker.Now I prefer home made.

My mother made most of our clothes.She knitted and grandma crocheted.

Our holidays were always self catering. We'd take a week's supply of veg with us-the car was normally so full that the box of veg had to go under our feet in the back seat.

I still do a lot of the things they did except for the dressmaking which I hate and don't think it's worth doing now.

finlaybaby

First post (Please be gentle!) I absolutely adore the OS way of doing things and much of what gets posted on here was instilled into me by my parents. Cleaning with Stardrops brings back lovely memories of watching mum buffing up her taps!

[Deleted User]

I have spent a whole lifetime (i`m almost 60) being os. It started when I was in primary school because I was the oldest of 7 and that`s what we did in those days. At 11 I could happily cook a stew for 9 and I could sew on a machine and at 15 I knitted myself a dress

My children have all grown up in os ways and they are mostly os, except for making clothes

I am still os when it comes to cooking and cleaning but these days it is because I know what goes into the food I cook rather than neccessity. If prepared food ever became 100% the same as I cook then I would buy from time to time. Cooking can be a chore when you have had 53 years of it

nearlyrich

We were brought up OS because there were lots of us and not much money so it was stews and casseroles, a big pan of potato hash or something similar. I am much more afluent than my parents were but there is something comforting about a pan of broth with dumplings on a cold evening, much more appealing than a box from the microwave. I can sew to a decent standard, I can knit by hand and machine and crochet but I rarely do these crafts now and my sewing machine is just for turning up trousers etc. I think when I am not working fulltime I will get back into these hobbies.

angelavdavis

Even though Mum worked, we always had home cooked food. Mum made her own pastry and cakes and we also had packed lunches at school.

Most of my recipes originate from Mum - the favourite being stews.

Mum also made clothes for me, my brothers and herself and even for other people too, plus curtains and cushions!

I don't bother making many clothes these days (did in my youth) but I do still make curtains, etc.

One of the things I do now is garden - but being a townie, Mum isn't keen on, although she goes along with my growing veg, recycling and composting, etc.

rlm_3

I feel jealous of you all! I didn't really learn that much OS stuff from my parents.

I'm sure that my mum knows how to do plenty of OS things. She used to make clothes for my brother and I when we were younger. She also knows how to do lots of other OS things like baking and gardening. We only had a tumble drier for the early part of my childhood (it packed up and never got replaced) so washing was dried on the line. I also know that she can knit. We used to go on self-catering holidays but this was probably because my parents aren't that keen on hotels rather than for OS reasons.

So my parents - especially my mum - have the skills but they weren't really passed on to me. This may be because I didn't seem interested and partly because my mum didn't have the patience to teach me (though my dad did teach me how to make a mean gravy ). However, I think the main reason that my parents were OS when they were younger was out of necessity (they're in their early 50s now). I think their attitude nowadays is that life's too short and the skills weren't passed on to me because they didn't think that I would need them.

So I've picked up my OS habits from various places, mainly here, instead. I'm glad to say that I'm starting to learn things from my mum now though and she was particularly helpful the other week when I wanted to make pastry from scratch for HM quiche.

lil_me

None really, hence why I am here :rotfl: My Dad did teach me how to knit when I was a kid, rest of it, not really. Mam even had her own knitwear company for a while, but didn't have the patience or time to teach us. Same with dressmaking, used to try to get involved but she was usually too busy. Dad enjoys cooking but noone would dare enter kitchen when he was for fear of being shouted at for being in the way!