Thursday, January 10, 2019

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.



34 comments:

  1. Precious memories. And I love your arrangement - as your Nan would have done.
    I never knew any of my grandparents, or indeed any relatives other than immediate family. Now I belong to the oldest generation and am amazed at how big the family has become.

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    1. Thanks EC, I am getting very close to belonging to the oldest generation :)

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  2. The flower arrangement is perfect for this lovely white dish. It makes a gorgeous winter white arrangement. What memories it brings back to you!! I have never heard of feeding mussels! We are to get the weekend snowstorm as well. Phil will likely have to cancel church.

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    1. Did Phil have to cancel church? It has just started snowing here, very lightly right now but I'm sure it's going to get heavier. The oats so I was told and I am saying this from memory, was to clean purge the mussels out before eating. Poor mussels :(

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  3. Your arrangement is so pretty and he memories are very precious. Have a a great weekend

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    1. Thank you Margaret and yes, very precious indeed the older I get. You have a great weekend also :)

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  4. Oh Denise, you have taken me back a number of years. I remember those houses with stairs down to the cellar and the heavy curtain inside the front door. I didn't live in this sort of house but I knew many who did since they were only a cock-stride away. I can't remember for what reason I visited the houses but I can remember the people. I might well have met your grandmother.

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    1. That's interesting Valerie, I enjoyed your memories too, and who knows, you may very well have met them :)

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    1. Obrigado, estou feliz que você gostou das minhas flores. Um abraço e um bom fim de semana para você também, da sua amiga na Virgínia, Denise :)

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  6. if I had that beautiful dish and someone gave me those flowers, I could not arrange them like this. it is really beautiful. I love it.. for some reason I can not arrange flowers. these are my favorite type of flowers, what I call cut flowers. I don't care for orchids or roses, I love these with the petals. they make me feel happy when I see them. my grandfather was the kind and gentle and my grandmother wa the not so kind and gentle. opposite of yours. I enjoyed reading about your memories.

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    1. Thanks Sandra, I loved these flowers also, though I do enjoy roses and orchids. I always feel happy around flowers, and look forward to when all the gardens are blooming again.

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  7. Beautiful arrangement you made in that precious vase.

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  8. Interesting how one item can bring back a flood of memories. At this age we are able to enhance the memories by using other information from the time.

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    1. Isn't it just, the more so as I get older I find.

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  9. Oh don't stop rambling!!!! Don't! I love lovely memories, like these. Love them! Having them, is a Joy and a Privilege. Sharing them, is delightful.

    I never knew my Grand parents, but my maternal grandmother's sister, lived to an old age. And I knew her, and have memories of her old home. :-)

    One memory is of a drawer in a table, in their middle room. With lots of old photos in it. One of my Great Aunt, as a little girl. Myself being a little girl, it was fascinating to see her, then... And now.

    Sadly, when both of them died, their sons were unable to sort through any items. They had them all carted away. As trash I suppose. Not being old enough to speak up, that loved old photo of Aunt Josie, as a young girl, was lost forever.

    Thank you for the prompt, to go Down Memory Lane!!!!

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    1. Hi WoW, thank you for sharing your precious memories, I did so enjoy them :)

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  10. Hi Denise,
    Some wonderful images of the dearly loved bowl with its flowers.
    Also a lovely read, I personally can hardly remember by fathers Mum, she died when I was young but I remember my Nanny with great affection, she was a lovely old lady and funny enough she lived in a very similar house as your Gran, including a cellar that as a youngster I loved, I suppose it was exploring.
    All the best, John

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    1. Hi John, thank you for sharing your own precious memories.

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  11. I loved hearing about your grandparents, Denise. How lovely to have your nanny's dish to bring reminders in focus. Stay safe this weekend. ♥

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    1. Thank you Martha Ellen, I love this dish and feel blessed to have it. I also have a large dinner platter of hers which I treasure. You have a safe weekend also :)

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  12. Your flower arrangement looks beautiful in your treasured bowl that belonged to your grandmother. Thank you for sharing how it brought back vivid memories of visiting your grandparents. It's amazing what details we remember from those early days in childhood. I lived with my parents in my maternal grandparents' home when young so memories of that time are easier to recall, but also have some fond memories of my paternal grandmother who was widowed as I went to stay with her. I have some ornaments and other things that have been passed down to me and they too are precious reminders of loved ones.

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    1. Thank you, I'm happy you enjoyed my memories and I enjoyed the ones of your paternal grandmother. How delightful that you have those precious ornaments.

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  13. I think it's wonderful that you have such lovely memories of your grandmother I can tell how much you love her and I'm glad that you have that beautiful vase to remember her by. I hope you have a wonderfully blessed weekend!

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    1. Thank you, she was loved by all of us. You have a wonderfully blessed weekend also :)

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  14. Precious memories and beautiful arrangement.
    have a great weekend

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    1. Thank you Tanza, enjoy the rest of your week.

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