tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6075393268513251879.post2433259811827124268..comments2024-03-27T11:18:59.924+00:00Comments on Sun Dried Sparrows: Make do and mendChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02423624920558505937noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6075393268513251879.post-44134682872118234712013-06-15T20:22:35.957+01:002013-06-15T20:22:35.957+01:00Thanks, OPC. It sounds like your non-thrifty ways...Thanks, OPC. It sounds like your non-thrifty ways haven't done you any harm! My fortunes seem to have reversed and I'm now more skint than I was fifteen years ago (oh the perils of going freelance). So I can't help thinking thrifty most of the time :-( Still, it isn't half nice when I get a little bit in and can splash out (on a curry, or nice bottle of wine that ISN'T on special offer ;-) )Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02423624920558505937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6075393268513251879.post-66615746562020163602013-06-15T17:44:19.829+01:002013-06-15T17:44:19.829+01:00I suppose I come from the same enviroment...be thr...I suppose I come from the same enviroment...be thrifty!!! but all my life i have been the complete opposite...if I had money I spend it...fortunes have slipped thru my my slippery fingers...I do somtimes wish I was a bit more careful with money...but I don't worry...how much can I eat, how much can I drink, I don't need to impress (anymore)...I have enough!<br />Nice to have you back 'C'. Old Pa's Cornerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14367815328789444775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6075393268513251879.post-64567031777159678452013-06-11T22:13:42.338+01:002013-06-11T22:13:42.338+01:00Good to see you again!
Thank you too. I understan...Good to see you again!<br />Thank you too. I understand the button thing. It's under control, just, but I do keep some. In a pretty little draw-string bag that came with some smellies from the Body Shop years ago. Recycling par excellence. But, like you, can't remember the last time I actually sewed one on either!Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02423624920558505937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6075393268513251879.post-85859924201324366562013-06-11T15:50:49.218+01:002013-06-11T15:50:49.218+01:00I still can't throw buttons away. I have a gre...I still can't throw buttons away. I have a great teetering mound of them in a box on a shelf, though I can't remember for the life of me when I last sewed one on. <br /><br />And...green nylon string! Now there was a multifunctional product that you just don't see enough of these days...<br /><br />Great stuff, thank you.Kolley Kibberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07055145770836351738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6075393268513251879.post-5684879535908182772013-06-10T19:26:13.579+01:002013-06-10T19:26:13.579+01:00Hi Rebeccca - I know what you mean about the '...Hi Rebeccca - I know what you mean about the 'sheer extravagance'! <br />And that's a great picture you paint of those '50 kids. It's in black and white too ;-)Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02423624920558505937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6075393268513251879.post-140527491426925922013-06-10T15:31:47.024+01:002013-06-10T15:31:47.024+01:00This was something my grandparents were often sayi...This was something my grandparents were often saying it seemed (r.i.p.). They grew up during the depression. Sometimes it got a bit ridiculous I suppose, but it 'built character' (which is what was said whenever you complained back, I suspect more than a drop of Scots blood in my grandmother). Now whenever I get something brand new it still brings a mild thrill at the sheer extravagance!<br /><br />Now I can imagine kids in the '50s playing in bombed out lots in England with woolen jumpers patched with pieces of rough twine, carrying pantomime angel wings, and possibly overhearing the first strains of Elvis from some nearby open window.Rebeccahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12914898097781351084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6075393268513251879.post-35111289420473491182013-06-10T09:47:13.186+01:002013-06-10T09:47:13.186+01:00Thanks, e.f. - I didn't remember MacGyver but ...Thanks, e.f. - I didn't remember MacGyver but I looked it up and I think you're onto something there :-)<br /><br />You've got it right! Too much making do and mending is bad for your health. Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02423624920558505937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6075393268513251879.post-34830882919204258312013-06-10T09:43:56.313+01:002013-06-10T09:43:56.313+01:00Ah, seems these habits are had to shake off. But ...Ah, seems these habits are had to shake off. But where did you get your special spoon? - We could definitely do with one of those!Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02423624920558505937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6075393268513251879.post-55662347556751789412013-06-10T09:42:54.024+01:002013-06-10T09:42:54.024+01:00:-)
And 'coating' your toenails probably ...:-) <br />And 'coating' your toenails probably works too, perhaps in a nice shade of pearly pink varnish...Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02423624920558505937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6075393268513251879.post-63504828215249968572013-06-09T22:15:47.148+01:002013-06-09T22:15:47.148+01:00Have I been beaten to the MacGyver reference? :)
...Have I been beaten to the MacGyver reference? :)<br /><br />These stories of your family are so intriguing...fun usually. I guess that makes sense.<br /><br />There must have been more of this going on in my house than I remember...maybe I blocked it out, because I will toss a thing the second it goes wobbly.<br /><br />e.f. bartlamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05940814285264472785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6075393268513251879.post-11354139015310062922013-06-09T21:12:22.126+01:002013-06-09T21:12:22.126+01:00So much that sounded familiar in this. Actually ou...So much that sounded familiar in this. Actually our candle holders in the garage for power cuts are wine bottles!! My wife still moans that I insist that we press the old soap on the new one and I have a special spoon to get the last bit of sauce out the bottle!! ;-)Furtheronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11903753972242964410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6075393268513251879.post-82859689281608807442013-06-09T20:59:01.600+01:002013-06-09T20:59:01.600+01:00*typo* that should, of course, be 'cut'.*typo* that should, of course, be 'cut'.John Meddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10547777949324509522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6075393268513251879.post-187046267027924682013-06-09T20:57:28.980+01:002013-06-09T20:57:28.980+01:00My parents still live like there's a war on; p...My parents still live like there's a war on; powdered egg has only just been taken off their meal time roster.<br /><br />Instead of darning socks, we just coat our toenails more often.<br />John Meddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10547777949324509522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6075393268513251879.post-66305966032396118822013-06-09T19:01:50.283+01:002013-06-09T19:01:50.283+01:00Thank you! Brilliant tales from your family too w...Thank you! Brilliant tales from your family too which I can identify with. I suppose it was a hangover from wartime, and the desire not to waste anything, but I was thinking about it a bit more earlier and concluded that there was also an underlying suspicion that shiny, new things must be a rip-off! All in all it added up to this thrifty, but often more-trouble-than-it's-worth "make do with whatever is handy" approach, didn't it?<br /><br />I'm so relieved my family was not the only one to have matchsticks wedged in their TV buttons! And hopefully you'll be equally relieved to know that yours was not the only one to make 'new' soap bars from leftover old ones. I'd quite forgotten that, so thanks! Mmm, that lovely combination of Cussons, Camay and Imperial Leather... it frequently fell apart and never lathered up properly either.Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02423624920558505937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6075393268513251879.post-58868955873185501632013-06-09T18:54:57.025+01:002013-06-09T18:54:57.025+01:00Oh, thanks for your lovely words, tindersticks - s...Oh, thanks for your lovely words, tindersticks - so glad you enjoyed. The fun for me is in sharing this stuff - or maybe it's therapy? ;-)Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02423624920558505937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6075393268513251879.post-14893056821659893542013-06-09T13:36:59.821+01:002013-06-09T13:36:59.821+01:00Curiously, I don't recall hearing the actual p...Curiously, I don't recall hearing the actual phrase 'make do & mend' until relatively recently, but ‘it might come in handy one day’ is one that definitely sets bell ringing. Mum had cupboards and drawers full of bits & bobs with no apparent function, just waiting for the right occasion, which usually never came. She was, however, still darning items of my clothing, as she always had, until a week before she died - in that case a pair of jeans.<br /><br />Dad would have denied being of that mindset of course, and indeed often chided Mum for hanging on to stuff unnecessarily, yet he never sold a car in his life. Upgrading was something he simply would not have considered. He drove them until they failed an MOT to such an extent that it didn't make financial sense to repair them and then sent them off to the scrapyard before buying another second-hand one. It must be a case of like Father like Son, because I've never sold a car either! <br /><br />The whole television palaver is very familiar too. I can remember matchsticks being involved in my house, as well as a portable aerial that had to be moved around the living room to a different spot for each channel.<br /><br />This is a lovely piece C, that has really got my memory ticking. One thing you didn't mention though was soap. Did your family not save all the small leftover pieces and mold them into a big mutant bar? Hmmm, just us then.The Swedehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13237251779370596904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6075393268513251879.post-52408609233070782962013-06-09T13:27:52.567+01:002013-06-09T13:27:52.567+01:00Another brilliant example of your talent for combi...Another brilliant example of your talent for combining nostalgia with tales of your sweetly eccentric family. Loved it !tindersticksnoreply@blogger.com