rowan
Born a Brummie
As we are in the grips of another icey blast, it takes me back to the winters of our childhood when the washing on the line got as stiff as boards...............the sheets were what fascinated me with both sides stuck together and sounded as if they were being torn when my Nan parted them.
I remember my Nan saying you must leave the whites out on a frosty night to help whiten them..........I wonder if there is any truth in that? They certainly looked white!!
The ashes from the fire was thrown over the garden paths and the footpaths (early recycling?) and the cream on top of the milk stood up out of the bottles.
No long trousers for us kids but chapped legs and chiblains. Marks on your legs from sitting too near the fire, I still have a mark on my leg from where a spark spat out of the fire, my Nan told me to spit back at it!!!.
But life went on as if there were no snow..........we still ran errands for Nan and played in Ward End park sliding down the slopes and having snowball fights and returning home to feel the glow on our faces as we entered the sitting room where the fire was.
No central heating for us but a crock hot water bottle and a cosy eiderdown with Grandads work coat on top, but not if he was working nights, for the goods train still had to run, regardless of the weather.
The buses still ran and work was still done, life just carried on as usual.................were we braver in those days, stronger and had more guts?....................or was it because our parents and grand parents were stronger than people today and were we just children who knew how to play and not be "little grown ups"?
But I am glad now of our central heating and long trousers, I am glad that I don't have to trudge out in thick snow to go to the shops, I am glad of our nice warm car....................but I still like a cold bedroom and the window open.
And most of all............... I am glad of my wonderful memories of my lovely Grandparents with whom my brother and I would spend our holidays from Sir Josiah Masons Orphanage..................... to them I send my deepest love, even though they have been gone for many, many years.......................my time with them was the happiest of my life.
They taught us to be children and to play whatever the weather.
I remember my Nan saying you must leave the whites out on a frosty night to help whiten them..........I wonder if there is any truth in that? They certainly looked white!!
The ashes from the fire was thrown over the garden paths and the footpaths (early recycling?) and the cream on top of the milk stood up out of the bottles.
No long trousers for us kids but chapped legs and chiblains. Marks on your legs from sitting too near the fire, I still have a mark on my leg from where a spark spat out of the fire, my Nan told me to spit back at it!!!.
But life went on as if there were no snow..........we still ran errands for Nan and played in Ward End park sliding down the slopes and having snowball fights and returning home to feel the glow on our faces as we entered the sitting room where the fire was.
No central heating for us but a crock hot water bottle and a cosy eiderdown with Grandads work coat on top, but not if he was working nights, for the goods train still had to run, regardless of the weather.
The buses still ran and work was still done, life just carried on as usual.................were we braver in those days, stronger and had more guts?....................or was it because our parents and grand parents were stronger than people today and were we just children who knew how to play and not be "little grown ups"?
But I am glad now of our central heating and long trousers, I am glad that I don't have to trudge out in thick snow to go to the shops, I am glad of our nice warm car....................but I still like a cold bedroom and the window open.
And most of all............... I am glad of my wonderful memories of my lovely Grandparents with whom my brother and I would spend our holidays from Sir Josiah Masons Orphanage..................... to them I send my deepest love, even though they have been gone for many, many years.......................my time with them was the happiest of my life.
They taught us to be children and to play whatever the weather.