FLOWERS IN AN OLD VASE AND MEMORIES OF NANNY

I wasn't sure what I would blog about today.  Things have been quiet since our Christmas celebrations, and I haven't felt like going anywhere to take photos.  Going through some old ones I saw these pretty flowers.  I have an old dish that belonged to my paternal grandmother.  It has a chip in one end but it is my treasure.  It also brought back memories of a very dear, sweet lady who passed away when I was around ten years old. 

Before that time I remember visits to my grandparents' home, an old row house in the Midlands (UK), and many stories of nanny that my mother told me years after she had gone. As you stepped inside their house, it had a small space where you had to push aside an old heavy velvet curtain, which was used as a barrier to keep the cold out in the wintertime.  I remember old photos on the wall, one of my great-grandfather, her father, Nandad Jones, wearing heavy looking chains around his neck.

There was an old wall clock in the back room that chimed regularly.  It had two rearing horses on each side, carved in wood. She also had a pedal operated Singer sewing machine.   I remember the pantry with steps that went down into a deep dark hole, a bit of a scary place as I thought back then. I remember the old tin buckets of mussels filled with water to the tippy-top, and her pouring oats into the water to feed them. The next door neighbor had an aviary with small birds and I loved listening to them chirping.  My grandfather had a shed at the bottom of the garden, where I used to watch him making or mending things.  

I always enjoyed my visits to my grandparents.  Grandfather seemed a bit stern (I've said many times I wish I had known him as an adult), but my grandmother was a soft spoken lady, with nothing but kind words and tone to her grandchildren, and an occasional protector if I did something my grandfather disapproved of. I was a very active and curious child my mother told me.  Nanny also passed on her love of animals, to my father first and then to me.   This is Nanny taken in 1947.

I have many more memories but for now I will share the rest of the flowers I arranged in nanny's old dish.

I had a dental appointment this morning and I woke up anxious, not sure why as the staff are always lovely, very calming.  I enjoyed talking to the two dental hygienists who took care of me, and the young lady in the reception area was a dear too.  I'm sure they are used to nervous nelly's like me.  

Gregg and I had lunch out afterwards, and I probably didn't need any extra caffeine but we stopped at the coffee shop on the way home.  I stayed there the rest of the day.  By this time it was late afternoon.  I finished putting the last of the decorations away. I have been doing this in bits and dabs the last few days.  Back in their boxes and fitted into closets like a jigsaw puzzle.

It is supposed to snow Saturday and Sunday.  I can believe it as it was so cold outside, and Gregg said he saw a few flurries this morning.

No more news so I will stop my rambling.  

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your week.