I'm Back

t14cy_t

so glad to have you back. you have been sorely missed!! xx

PaulieHerts

Welcome back Jackie O 😘

annieb64

Welcome back. I've  missed your posts.

remmie

Another lurker who has missed you. Welcome home!

carolbee

Welcome back 

silvasava

Woop woop, Jackie is back in da house! 

mumtoomany

Hello Jackie, so good to "see" you back, mumtoomany.xx

LaineyT

So lovely to see you posting again JACKIE, you have been missed xx

pollyanna_26

London_1 said:

Golly I can't believe how many of you remember me Thank you all for the warm welcome Hopefully I shall pick up the new way of posting on and not get too muddled . I am just off up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire  as my old Mum would have said   

  One of my eldest DD's presents at Christmas was the huge doorstopper of a book by my favourite author Ken Follett and I have been reading some every night .Down to the last 100 or so pages ( 816 in all) its called Never and I'm really enjoying it.

One of my friends is due to have a heart operation shortly and I promised her I would loan it to her so I want to get it finished before she goes in.The way things are at the moment she's hoping for February but who knows It will be in St Thomas's in London so with luck she may get a room with a view of the river and the Houses of Parliament smiley:
Right,
 night ,night God Bless all here

JackieO xx

P.S. still in Kent at the moment, just awaiting to see how Mikey's 'A' levels pan out in June to see where he will go in September to Uni.
Must get the boys all settled then fingers crossed we shall be on the move to our beloved Isle of Wight. We have a holiday booked there in July for a couple of weeks anyway, so possibly be combining it with a bit of house hunting as well..

Jackie I am sending my best wishes to your good friend for her operation at the London. That was the hospital that twicw saved the life of The Beast of  Bolsover Dennis Skinner. At the time many of us were outside the hospitals campaigning to save our beloved NHS and I have never forgottenn seeing a picture of Dennis outside the Londoni in pouring rain joining the fight.

Nearly 20 years as an MP and never forgot his roots. No matter what your political beliefs that jewel in the crown is above different views. It's been in my life since shortly after I was born just a few days before it went live. Mum and Dad had to pay the Dr and Midwife who attended the home birth something  Mum often mentioned when calling me impatient " She wouldn't even waitfor the NHS" as though I had some control over when I came into the world.

Last year I planted the Nye Bevan rose in the garden. A beautiful rose bred to remember the NHS and all sales money went to support the NHS and remember Nye Bevan. It raised much needed funds at a tough time.

Like many I've been struggling to sleep well in the last couple of years arthrtis, fibro etc flaring and concerns about those near and dear but your post gave me the best nights sleep in a long time. It was difficult to picture your little Mikey grown now. I remember the little treats you used to bake for him.

You must be so proud of how all the family have followed in your footsteps and done their best. I hope when the time is righ

t you will get your wish to live on the IOW. We'll have to get Monna to start making the bunting to welcome you there.

I never realised hoe much I'd missed "God bless all here"

All four of my grand parenets crossed the Irish sea in very tough times after being starved from their bits of land.

Mums mum was the daughter of the weathly Engish landlord and Grandad was the educated under a hedge groom in the stables.

Thet went on from Liverpool steerage in the bowels of a ship to New York but once they'd cleared Ellis island Grandma had decided she wantedto go back to Englad so grandad had to take any work available to pay their passage back.

Her life had been doing fine embroidery , painting pretty pictures and pressing flowers.

Back in England in a tumbledown two up two down with eventually eight children and living near the docks.she would visit Paddys market and other places she could buy mens coats suits etc she would clothe her tribe well  hand sewing late in to the night. She learned to cook meals from scraps from the food market and raised her family to make do and mend passing on her skills to them.

We grandchildren were never really comfortable with her to be honest. She always kept her hat on when she visited and her gloves in her lap. She did raise her family well though and the things I learned from my mum and aunties got me through some tough times in later years.

As time went on we had the further education and uni years and I sometimes marvel at how things evolved from what seemed humble beginnings.

When I discovered the OS board I knew I'd found my online home thanks to that little book I'd picked up in a bookshop.

"God Bless all here " was something I heard daily when growing up as all relatives and friends would say those words when coming in to the house or leaving.

One of my uncles was born on the stroke of midnight on New Years Day and each year there would be a proper Irish Hoolie in one of the homes. My sisters and i would sit on the stsirs when we were supposed to have gone to bed until mum would discover us and chase us to bed.

We would listen out for God Bless all Here as the family went their seperate ways and know all was well with our world and fall asleep settled and happy.

My beloved dad was a very quiet man who'd survived life as a Royal Navy officer escorting the food convoys to America , Canada and sometimes as far as Siberia to aid the Russians being starved in to submission. new years eve he would sing . The only time he did.. Holding my mums hand he would sing Danny Boy and the Rose of Tralee to her. I can hear him now.

So many memories he ran away to sea when he was 11 after his mum died and his dad couldn't cope with the children.He walked to the Pier head in Liverpool and stowed aboard a ship. Unthinkable nowadays but by WW2 he was in the navy. Along with my uncles he was doing his bit and returned safely although some family suffered physical and mental fallout.

He retrained as a chef afterwards and sadly died suddenly when I the eldest was 15.

Sad times and happy times but like Nye Bevan I never forgot my roots and made sure my children knew theirs.

Sorry I seem to have writen a small book but thanks for coming back Jackie. You were much missed. Time to start the bunting Monna that will distract you from Judge Judy if you're still watching!

pollyx

ETA My eldest grandaughter is a Holly. No idea why I thought of thst name although i do love Holly and have a collection of them in the gardens. I was given the honour of naming her. She was born in October just as my Mum was leaving the world so a time of both happy and sad saying goodbye to one beloved soul and hello to another.

London_1

Polly that was lovely to hear your story as well. my goodness life has been fraught for so many but we have survived and keep on going .
My late Mum always said 'God Bless all here' she was a tiny very fiesty 'weegie ' and was born on Christmas Eve 1900 and Glasgow back then was a tough city to be born in. Her father worked as a ship wright at John Browns on the Clyde, going to Evening Institute to better his chances of promotion, and ended up in the drawing office designing engineering equipment for the big boats. Like most Scots, they are a hard working race and education is their way to better their prospects.
  I used to say it to my children when they were small.So many things you pick up in life as you are growing up and they stick in your mind no matter what.

My Mum was a brilliant manager and could make a shilling do the work of five if she could, surviving two world wars and being bombed out twice she had to. Her children were her life, and as a little girl growing up everything I learned I learnt from her How to knit cook, read all before I went to school She had a steak of stubborness that's come down to me along with a strong work ethic. I think as I am a very determined person when I set my mind to something.  

Perhaps its a generational thing ,but long before people started to think about wastefullness the war-time women had it ingrained into them not to waste a thing . I still roll a bit of string up  and can't just bin things unless they really are beyond saving. I was born before the NHS arrived and like my siblings was born at home My late husband had rarely had a doctor growing up as they cost money that his widowed Mother just dind't have.When he was called up to the RAF in 1951 the Doctor asked him at his medical if he had any medical records and he said no I've not seen a Doctor hardly at all, only if he had the usual  cuts and things that happened to small boys when they needed stitching up. The RAF Doctor was more than a bit surprised, but few folk could afford such luxuries His Granny had a book of 'cure' so it was kill ofr cure when he was growing up ,but it must have worked as he was passed A1 fir for duty  

What ever meal I am making I try to think if I can streetch it to two or three or at least have something left over for the next day. I just think I can make twice as much for half the price and freeze the surplus if I have a pound of mince a few lentils carrots and a hndful of oats will streetch it to several different meal . Mince and tatties the Scots basic meal goes a long way even further if you have a bowl of soup first ,or a pudding afterwards.

I cam home from my DDs after Christmas with lots of left over bits and bobs and still have some !!! Quelle Horror !! shop-bought mince pies that she gave me as they hadn't even been opened I have been alternating them in the evening for a couple of weeks with a dollop of custard on top for a pudding Still got four in the cake box they will be used as I think the date on the box was 31st January (they were quite posh mince pies ) My eldest would have probably binned them by now as she only bought them in case anyone wanted one but nothing goes to waste if I can help it .

My Christmas left overs have helped to streetch the food out , hence no shopping yet this year. My son -in-law gave me some stuff from the hamper he got from a customer at work, a posh jar of Boxing Day chutney and some pickles, and a jar of stuffed olives (I adore stuffed olives )  But I'm saving them for later.

I shall get myself at some point a bit of 'gammon' what used to be called boiling bacon and cook it in my slow cooker and out will come the christmassy pickles etc and I shall feast on them  I aslo had a upmarket box of English breakfast tea and a jar of coffee as he said they only drink a certain  brand and their coffee comes in a pod  I am happy as my coffee get done in my wilko's £15 perculator and tea bags are tea bags and English breakfast ones will be a nice treat . 

Far better to be used up than binned, talikng of coffee I'm off to make one now so hopefull I will be back and keeping my eyes open for things to use up and scouring the 'net for more recipes . 

Onwards and upwards 
JackieO xx