WHY are you old style?......

irishwexford

I can remember when i was a child (am now in my 60's) all my family sitting in front of a coal fire in the evening eating toast and listening to the radio. Neighbours popping in, front doors open all day, milkman and postman coming in for a cuppa all our veggies and fruit coming from back garden. Good stuff. I can also remember my mother spending all day Mondays washing by hand and putting clothers through mangle, her getting up at the crack of dawn to light fire, spending her day cooking, cleaning and mending, freezing bedrooms, no bathroom or fridge.
I have enjoyed all my mod cons but now have an allotment and spend lots of time digging and cooking all the lovely veggies. Although we have a good income I still buy clothes from charity shops and am very careful with spending. Things I would not give up are central heating and washing machine, I could manage without my dishwasher although I would rather not.

[Deleted User]

someone just mentioned in a post about children not wanting to learn os ways and that is true enough. All mine can cook from scratch but they cannot knit or sew and it isn`t for want of me trying to teach them when they were young. Now they are in their 30s they don`t do either but sometimes have a dabble. I`ll spend a bit of time showing them but now have my own life to live. I made some jumpers for their children when babies but what is the point when so many small clothes can be bought so cheaply. I don`t knit or sew for them any more and will not go out of my way to teach them to knit as they aren`t really interested. I bought them the kits but they never used them so I don`t bother now, It is such a waste of my skills as I was a fantastic knitter and sower but it takes two and the learner has to be truly keen

triticale

Angel_Jenny wrote: »

It is a shame that the older style skills aren't taught any more. Sewing, baking and basic home economics weren't taught at my school but I would have loved to have learnt them. I think it would have been easier to learn when I was young!

This is a crucial thing I think, I am only in my early 30s but the 'Food Economics' lessons at school taught me NOTHING useful - instead I learnt about the science around inventing microwave meals!!

Luckily my mum taught me basic cooking and baking from scratch and very basic sewing, my Dad taught me how to change a plug, build a fire etc, the rest I've had to learn as I've grown up.

Sadly I doubt most parents can even pass on the basic skills above these days which doesn't bode well for the generation.

Thankfully my DD's (9 & 6 )are gradually learning how to bake bread/cakes, sew buttons on etc, even the cooking basics like how to cook pasta etc will mean they will be able to feed and look after themselves when they're older! :T

Angel_Jenny

triticale wrote: »

This is a crucial thing I think, I am only in my early 30s but the 'Food Economics' lessons at school taught me NOTHING useful - instead I learnt about the science around inventing microwave meals!!

Luckily my mum taught me basic cooking and baking from scratch and very basic sewing, my Dad taught me how to change a plug, build a fire etc, the rest I've had to learn as I've grown up.

Sadly I doubt most parents can even pass on the basic skills above these days which doesn't bode well for the generation.

Thankfully my DD's (9 & 6 )are gradually learning how to bake bread/cakes, sew buttons on etc, even the cooking basics like how to cook pasta etc will mean they will be able to feed and look after themselves when they're older! :T

I do think it is harder to pick these skills up as an adult plus I always feel really behind, like I should already know how to sew and bake properly!

I think it is good to have all the old fashioned skills just in case of financial issues in the future. It would be easier to have the skills to rely on than trying to learn them when you desperately need to save money.

I lost this thread - I didn't realise it had a new name. I must be easily confused!

Angel Jenny :A

[Deleted User]

Three years ago I was in the U.S on holiday, and my friend and I went to see a town where the Amish lived It was facinating to see how these people have coped with modern life in America.But also they have also made it work for them in a very good way as the town we visited had lots of tourist shops selling their quilts at around $600 upwards.Very good quality, as they are beautifully sewn.The men also take you around on one of their horse and cart buggies for a tour,but they are not keen on being photographed, so we could only take pictures of the buggies.Great place to visit though, and as I have a DD who worries constanly about what Mum gets up to, I texted her when we were there to say " Can't stop and chat as I am in the middle of Intercourse" which is the name of the town we were in.Apparently she nearly had a heart attack at work when she got the message :):) I do love winding her up,although she is a smashing lady, she worries far too much.
We also got lost at one point in our travels in Maryland and were given a guided tour back to the highway by a group of Hells Angels who were facinated that two little old English ladies were touring in a car around their State .We met with nothing but kindness and wonderful people when we were there and at no time every felt threatened or worried.
Greatest trip of my life and one I will never forget.

jintyb

kittie wrote: »

someone just mentioned in a post about children not wanting to learn os ways and that is true enough. All mine can cook from scratch but they cannot knit or sew and it isn`t for want of me trying to teach them when they were young. Now they are in their 30s they don`t do either but sometimes have a dabble. I`ll spend a bit of time showing them but now have my own life to live. I made some jumpers for their children when babies but what is the point when so many small clothes can be bought so cheaply. I don`t knit or sew for them any more and will not go out of my way to teach them to knit as they aren`t really interested. I bought them the kits but they never used them so I don`t bother now, It is such a waste of my skills as I was a fantastic knitter and sower but it takes two and the learner has to be truly keen

Kittie its such a shame to let your talents go to waste - the UK hand knitting association looks for talented knitters to teach knitting, have a look on www.ukhandknitting.com,( not sure if that link will work, not very good at posting links) Knitting is very "in vogue" thanks to programmes like" Kirsty's Home made home"
My Mum is a great knitter and knitted all our jumpers etc as we were growing up. I think we tookthem for granted and didnt really appreciate the work and skill that goes into it. I'm now 51, and recently took knitting up again after being taught the basics many moons ago. I really enjoy it but amd very thankful that my Mum is able to sort out my (many) mistakes for me! I knit for charity -easy kids hats and scarves which are collected by our church and sent to ophanages in Eastern Europe in the winter.
I hope you will find an outlet for your knitting!:)

meritaten

I feel so fortunate that two of my six grandkids absolutely LOVE crafting and cooking - they are only six but can already make cards and PREFER to make their own cards to give! they can make pastry and mix cakes (with supervision of course), and really are keen to learn more. they want to learn how to knit and crochet and we have explored this, but they get a little frustrated that THIER knitting etc isnt perfect! they can make bead bracelets and necklaces and cheerio necklaces for the birds! one of them has ADHD but once that little girl has set her sights on completing her baking or making she is really focused! (thats a small miracle and her consultant was amazed when her parents said she crafted and cooked with granny!) I am just so grateful that at least two of the grandkids are willing to learn from me - and there are signs that my three year old grandson will be interested too - he 'helped' me make a cake the other day and the first thing he asked when he came in the other day was 'can we make cake today?'.

katholicos

meritaten wrote: »

I feel so fortunate that two of my six grandkids absolutely LOVE crafting and cooking - they are only six but can already make cards and PREFER to make their own cards to give! they can make pastry and mix cakes (with supervision of course), and really are keen to learn more. they want to learn how to knit and crochet and we have explored this, but they get a little frustrated that THIER knitting etc isnt perfect! they can make bead bracelets and necklaces and cheerio necklaces for the birds! one of them has ADHD but once that little girl has set her sights on completing her baking or making she is really focused! (thats a small miracle and her consultant was amazed when her parents said she crafted and cooked with granny!) I am just so grateful that at least two of the grandkids are willing to learn from me - and there are signs that my three year old grandson will be interested too - he 'helped' me make a cake the other day and the first thing he asked when he came in the other day was 'can we make cake today?'.

Thanks for sharing this, it gives me hope that should i be fortunate enough to have grandchildren, then maybe I can enjoy being creative with them. I'm so glad that your DGD has been able to enjoy and participate in crafting and baking activities, despite having ADHD

Dazi

We had my OHs granddaughter here for the day the other weekend, well it was a half day really, she is 7 at christmas, she wanted to cook so we made cup cakes for her to take home to her mum (OH's son and her mum are not together anymore) she told us she was learning knitting at school.

She saw my stash of wool and crochet stuff and wanted to look at my 'knitting' I explained it wasn't knitting, it was crochet, immediately she said, I want to do that, bless her, we had great fun, she had a real good go at it and said, very straight faced, next time I come we will do this again!

She does do baking with her mum and we have got her a wool kit for her christmas present.

My DD who is 26 and has 2 children is probably more OS than me, all her meals are from scratch, she makes loads of stuff and has made beautiful christening gowns for both her DDs. Her children are 2 and 1 and she is always doing crafty things with them, am often on the phone and I hear shades of Joyce Grenfell with her saying, no ***** we don't put paint on mummy's hair, no ****** its not a good idea to lick the paint brush :rotfl:

I have always enjoyed cooking and baking, I have been able to crochet since I was a teenager, never got into knitting though. Only got into sewing after my DD started dancing.....have you SEEN the prices of dance costumes? the thing that really did it was when my DD did a national dance and I was quoted £200 for the costume...I dusted down my sewing machine and got a book from the library!

suzybloo

I chose to be more oldstyle than others as we have always had to watch our pennies, and also I hate how everything is so commercialised and focussed on keeping up with the Joneses. The quality of my cooking (or so I think) is better than ready meals so nutricianally better, I dont have to go shopping as often as I have a good storecupboard (we could live 6-8 weeks on whats in the house), I love knitting and sewing and the most important part of it is we were a big family and were brought up with very little material things and knew the difficulties my folks had making ends meet so I suppose it is a bit of family heritage that I am very proud of. Sadly my mum isnt here now but I would like to think that what we were taught by her we keep continue doing as a tribute to her hard life. My two girls can both cook and bake but cant sew or knit, but the oldest one who has her own wee boy has shown an interest in learning, so that will be something we can do over christmas.