A Wandering Mind

Because of very damp weather here over the past few days, when I should be out working in the garden, I find myself confined to the house.  What to do ... shall I tackle that pile of ironing, get the duster out, or.... write a blog post. Well, as you can see, I opted for the latter option, so here I am to entertain you once again 😳.

Isn't it funny how our mind works sometimes?   Well, this girl's mind anyway and, yes, even at my age, I still think of myself as a girl, albeit a slightly 'worn out' girl. 

Last evening I found myself thinking of school milk, back in the 50s. Ugh! In the Summer, the crates of milk used to sit there in the heat of the classroom until the Milk Monitor (a much fought after position) distributed them among the pupils. Then, in the Winter, the bottle tops would be frozen. 

 

 

Incidentally, who remembers Jack Frost making patterns on the INSIDE of their bedroom windows?  Not forgetting the liberty bodices we wore as little girls. Although I don't remember mine being quite as posh looking as the one in this picture. (All images today courtesy of Google). 

 

I'm including this next picture, again from Google, because this little girl looks exactly like me at that age. In fact, I think it is ME!! 😂

 

My mind then turned to roller skates. Almost every child in my neighbourhood had a pair of these.  I remember them being great fun. As you can see, they were the height of sophistication - NOT!

 

I then moved forward a few years to the navy blue regulation school knickers we used to have to wear when doing PT, or netball and 🏑 hockey. I remember them having a sort of fleece like lining. All the girls hated them and would try to hide in the changing rooms, rather than having to parade around outside in them. Horror of horrors!!  Until the Gym Mistress used to stride in looking for us. Oh my goodness, the Gym Mistresses of the 1950's. My, they were a frightening lot. Just think of the most officious Sergeant in the Army, and you still wouldn't be close!  Bear in mind, this was a totally different era. We were total innocents back then. I'm sure these days, the girls would be taking selfies of themselves and posting the photos on Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat!  

 

Talking of my early school days, I found this photo of my first school class, which would have been taken in 1952.  

 

I came across this photo recently - I used to love the donkey rides across the beach as a child. Happy days! 

I hope you have enjoyed my reminiscing today, and perhaps it might have brought back some memories of your own school days. Anytime you want to enlarge a photo from my blog, just double tap on it, and that should do the trick.

Bye for now. Hope you're all keeping well. 

End of August is here!

Well, here we are on the last day of August.  Hopefully we will have some more warm, sunny days to look forward to in September.  I seem to have gained some more Followers to my Blog just recently, so I would like to welcome you and thank you for deciding to ‘follow me’.  It was nine years ago that I started blogging, encouraged by my number 1 daughter, who was running a successful Fashion Blog at that time. Since starting, I have made wonderful friends from all over the world - friends that encourage and lift you up.  I’m afraid I just can’t understand all the negativity in the world, which seems to have been encouraged, in many ways, by social media.  

It seems that many of you share my love of notebooks, as mentioned in my last Post.  In fact, I was given some great ideas as to how to make good use of my own Notebooks!  I’m sure most of you also love books, and reading. I’ve loved reading since I was a young child, and my two daughters and three grandchildren also adore books.  Now that the evenings are starting to pull in again (over here in the U.K. anyway!  I know that many of you are now starting to look forward to LIGHTER evenings in your own part of the world!) I’m sure that I will be reading even more. 

I can still remember, as a young child, feeling the excitement the night before my birthday, as I knew I would be receiving a new book.  How simple life was back then.  I still have a few of those books, dating back to the 1950’s! To me, reading a new book is a joy, and I love getting to know all the characters, and completely losing myself in the story. There has never been a time when I’ve not had a book on the go.  They have certainly helped me through sad times in the past.  

I hope you have all had a lovely Summer, and I’m sure many of you are looking forward to the Summer yet to come.  At the moment, I have a little harvest in my own garden. The apples have all been pressed, and made into pure apple juice. 

 So then, life is good.  Enjoy your weekend everyone ❤️

Too Much Choice? Yes or No?!

I don’t usually put up a Post so soon after my last one, but here I am.  Lucky you! 🤨😂.  I’m delighted to say that the snow has all melted and normal service has been resumed over here in heavenly Devon.

What gave me the title for my meanderings today, you might be wondering.  But then again, you might not!  I shall tell you anyway, so pin back your ears.  Actually, it was all brought about by Hot Cross Buns.  Hot Cross Buns, I hear you cry - how come?

Next week it will be Easter (and, yes, we have been threatened with another bout of snow over the holiday period, but I am choosing to ignore that just at this moment. Sticking my head in the sand you might say).  Anyway, I was at my local Supermarket this morning, and I just couldn’t believe the range of Hot Cross Buns that were on sale.  I started taking  photos - I’m sure the other customers were thinking, who is this crazy woman taking photos of Hot Cross Buns.  But when I’m on a mission, I won’t be deterred.   Last week, I even bought a packet of Salted Caramel and Chocolate Chip ones.  Unfortunately, I can’t show you that packet, as I’ve eaten them all. 😱

So hence my question, do we have TOO much choice these days?  You go for a packet of crisps and there are TWO aisles full of assorted crisps.  I can remember (alright, I know I’m ancient) when we just had a packet of Smith’s Crisps, with a little blue sachet of salt inside.  Who else remembers those ? No, you’re far too young!

Looking at that packet of crisps, it reminded me of other things that we used to use.  An ice cream wafer, when, if you squeezed them too hard, the soft ice cream would ooze out. 

I’m thinking that perhaps these memories only apply if you lived here in the UK back in the day!  As a child, I used to love to do this......!

When I was first married, back in the mid 60’s, I used to use these tongs to lift the heavy, wet washing out of the washing machine part of the twin tub, into the spin dryer.  We didn’t need to go to the Gym in those days - housework was far more strenuous than it is today!

Who else remembers sitting on the top floor of a double decker bus, and the Bus Conductor coming around with his ticket machine?,

Thinking of Easter again, when I was a little girl, we all used to dress like this on Easter Sunday.  My, how things have changed!

These were the prams we used to have, and they would be placed outside in the enclosed back garden, complete with sunshade to keep the sun off the baby.  

These prams were very heavy to push, especially on the hills here in Devon. See...no Gym needed!

It’s funny how pictures can bring the memories flooding back.  The above retro pics are all courtesy of Pinterest.com.  

I’ll close again for now, but I’m sure I will popping in again fairly soon 😊

This And That, Some Memories And A Few Photos.

Good morning peeps.  It is I - had you forgotten me?!  I see my last post was dated the 25th June - eeeek! Where did that time go, and here we are approaching the month of August. 

I seem to remember as a child that August was always a wonderful month, full of sunshine and blue skies, sundresses and sandals, swimming and donkey rides, lying on the grass watching the fluffy clouds float by overhead, and picking out shapes. 

I do feel lucky in that I think our childhoods (for people of a certain age!) were much more relaxed, and yes, with less expected of us. We were allowed to be children and to enjoy those precious years. 

We were being blessed with a lovely Summer this year, over here in heavenly Devon, but as soon as the children broke up from school, yes, you've guessed it, the sun disappeared and the rains came. Hopefully the sun will return. 

In fact, it had been so hot, that my daughter suggested putting up a pool in the back garden. The little ones had a wonderful time! 

Since I last posted, my grandson had his 9th birthday and will soon be as tall as me! 

I was taken out for a very special lunch, as part of my on-going 70th birthday celebrations, and this week, another friend is taking me to the Theatre. I do love these 'big' birthdays !

And, of course, I've been on some lovely walks by the coast here in heavenly Devon. 

My two daughters and their families are all together in Ibiza at the moment. It makes me happy, as a mum, to know that they're making memories together with their own families. 

I can't end without also posting a photo of my beautiful eldest granddaughter, who is also spending the Summer in Ibiza, before she returns to Uni in Madrid at the end of August.

So then, I feel very blessed.  Blessed to be able to do the things I do, and blessed with a loving family and some very special friends. 

I hope that you are all doing well at the moment and I'll see you again soon. 

Memories... and how I'm going to be a little sewing fiend!!

For some strange reason, I suddenly thought, at the beginning of December, that I would learn to sew and use a sewing machine. Obviously I can sew on buttons, take up hems by hand, etc, but this was new territory for me. I had seen a machine in our local Supermarket, at an excellent price, so, being the little Aries That I am, I took the bull by the horns, and bought one.  Here is my new little friend ....

 

I should point out here, that I last used a sewing machine 56 years ago when I was at School.  That sewing teacher never liked me!! I still have nightmares about trying to thread the bobbin.  I suppose I never really had the need to sew, as my dear mum was a trained Tailoress, even going up to London for her training. I've often thought that this must have been quite daring for a young woman, travelling to the Capital from down here in Devon at that time, as we would be talking about the early 1920's. 

Mum made all my clothes until I was well into my 20's. I always loved the little outfits she made for me as a little girl, from little sun suits for the beach, shorts and t-shirts and pretty dresses. 

 

 

 

I can still remember a shocking pink little number - the suits were always fully lined - with a  straight skirt and jacket. I wore it with a navy blouse, and matching shoes, gloves and handbag. Can anyone else remember when we wore matching shoes, gloves and handbags?!  The following photo is not the deep pink suit I'm talking about, but you will get the picture !  Please excuse the hat - I was attending a friend's wedding 😳.

 

Anyway, all mum's clothes that she made were as beautifully finished on the inside as on the outside. I have so many childhood memories of going into Remnant/Fabric Shops with mum, and I can still remember the smell as we were surrounded by all these bales of colourful materials.  We would browse the materials, zips and buttons and I actually really enjoyed doing that. Then the Assistant would take the big rolls of material down from the shelves and unroll it onto a long wooden counter, with a tape measure running along it.  The material would then be cut off to the required length with a large pair of scissors.  As a little girl, I would take it all in, and be utterly entranced by the whole performance!  I still have mum's treasured tin of buttons of all shapes and sizes.  When my mum passed away, there were so many rolls of material in all the cupboards, many bought in the Sales.  I MISS YOU MUM ...

 

Then we fast forward to when my youngest daughter was a teenager.  She always wanted to get into fashion, and eventually took a Fashion & Textiles Degree at University, and so the sewing began in the family once again.  Actually, I always remember my dad's mum sewing as well.  Her husband was killed at a young age in the First World War, and so my Nan also became a Seamstress, in order to support her two young children. 

So, here we are back at the current time, on a rainy day last week, when my daughter came down to give me my first sewing lesson.  Lo and behold, that dreaded bobbin raised its ugly head again!  When I finally started sewing, I was actually pleased with the result and managed to sew all around the various shapes that my daughter had drawn for me, in a relatively neat fashion. 

 

 

As part of my Christmas present, my daughter brought me a very helpful book, so I'm hoping to perhaps start on a simple little project soon. 

 

 

 

Watch this space!!!  Hope to see you again soon.