Thankful for the OS ways

sammy_kaye18

Hi All, I just wanted to say that i am so greatful for the 'more experienced' generation such as my grandparents etc who taught and handed down their OS ways to me. My great grandfather always grew his own veg and fruit and made jams, chutneys, sauces etc and always maintained and kept a storecupboard that was mainly tins, dried packets and stables that could keep him for a while because there was no local shop. My grandmother god lvoe her is now exactly the same, hse grows all her own produce, and has her own storecupboard to as my grandfather is ill and getting to the shops is not always a priority. Now my dad is following in their footsteps with the veg growing and if he fits anything else in his kitchen cupboards they are bound to explode, and now thankfuly i am the same (she says with nearly 9kg of dried pasta stored on top of the cupboards just in case) with plans for a small allotment next year, recycling and learning how to make my own preserves. I love the OS/ rationing days and am so thankful for them as they've kept my family all these years. I jsut wondered what others were thankful for?? whether its an OS thing or more of a rationing thing??

ceridwen

Hi

Well - to me personally - it helps knowing I could survive if I "had to" on noticeably lower income than my already low salary. It means I can be pretty blase about my insecure job - when I can see (and understand) that most other people there are worried sick. I can sympathise with them - but for myself, personally, I know I can survive if the worst came to the worst - and even be able to enjoy the "freedom" of not having to do a full-time job anymore (if I had to have a job at all).

There is a phrase "in getting and spending we lay waste our days" and I can so relate to that - life has to be about more than just surviving from paypacket to paypacket. So - with O.S. ways - and actually, in my own case, stuff I've learnt from a more "hippy-ish" era (ie the 1960s/1970s) I know I can cope with anything that is thrown at me - where a lot of other people would "sink".

Ellidee

Hi Sammy a lot of us on the 'other' thread are wondering how you are ? Please post an update. Hope all ok. xx

rosieben

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

... I jsut wondered what others were thankful for?? whether its an OS thing or more of a rationing thing??

I've found that since OS I am less bothered with buying 'stuff' generally - the budgeting and economising and asking 'is it really worth the money?' has filtered through to all areas of my shopping.

I decided a while ago not to buy any more new clothes (except underwear) and then decided not to buy anything new at all, if I can possibly source it elsewhere.

So I'm grateful for the OS lifestyle; theres a lot of hippy in me too and it all sits very well together. I'm so much more aware of what I have instead of fretting about stuff I dont have and so I feel much more content.