I asked myself what would great grandmother Gladys think of this world...I honestly think she'd find it shocking. The over consumption, the credit cards, the debt, the waste.
And it made me think of her life, the stories she told me and the things mommy has said.
Circa 1937 she moved here and the family lived in a wooden hut the first couple of years, no running water, no electricity.
By 1939 they were starting to build their home, themselves.
I remember noticing how grandmother Gladys would waste nothing, buttons and pieces of thread in matchbxes and tins. Paperclips and elastic bands, old stockings, in fact I think she kept everything ''at might come in handy''.
Clothes were mended till they fell apart, then they were remade into something else, maybe a pinny.
Then the fabric was made into quilts for the bed and finally became rag rugs. They must have been good fabric then, as some have survived till now, albeit with a bit of moth!
Mommy says food was alot of meat and potatoes in stews, mainly potatoes. And beans as grandad liked growing them! And the cooking done on a range and a parrafin heater! And chips! They had deliveries from the butcher, milkman, baker and I can remember the Corona man:) Fizzy pop was a real treat!!
When i was little, and I'm sure I've told you this before, we would go for walks looking for sticks, then have a fire in her bedroom, then she would wrap me up in her homemade quilt and tell me I was as snug as a bug in a rug :)
And she was only partially sighted! When I was older and she was completely blind she would ask me to thread a needle so she could mend her pinny herself (always a pinny, keep your clothes clean, wear them another day)
Grandmother, the sisters, and aunty i think :)
So maybe when I go to throw things away, or buy something new, maybe I should ask myself..
What would Great Grandmother Gladys do!
BBS x
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