Posted by hunny_Beez on Fri 21 Dec 07, 12:12 PM to hunny_Beez's blog.
Hive and I took my mother to do her Christmas shopping the other night.
Mum and Dad insisted on treating us to fish and chips as a thank you. As we all sat around the table stuffing our faces mum started talking about her Mum, my Nan and Christmas.
Nan was a tall, broad formidable woman. She was very good looking and held herself tall and proud. She was widowed as the second world war broke out leaving her with two very young daughters and no income. He was not killed at war and so no war widows pension to help her.
She worked hard to bring up her girls working in shops and cleaning posh single mens houses but she also played hard. My mum and aunt having lots of "uncles". One or two got close to bagging her but she never re-married or lived with another man.
She ruled the house that was always full of people. When my mum and aunt got to the courting age, their boyfriends and their friends were always welcome. There was always food on the table and a pot of tea, that is if the lads did not bring a bottle of two with them to share. Even during hard times she seemed to manage well.
Nan loved Christmas, she would put on a mountainous spread and always had a house full.
The one thing she hated was when Christmas fell mid week.
She would complain that she had to do a weekend, then Christmas then another weekend. The tradition of Sunday roast always being kept.
So if Christmas fell at the wrong time Nan would not do the weekend before. I'm not doing everything she would grumble.
Then once the Christmas shopping was in. Woe betide anyone who touched ANYTHING in her kitchen. You had to eat what was there before she had shopped. No touching anything else.
She would cook her turkey the night before and put loads of sausages in the turkey and around it. When they all came back from the pub on Christmas Eve a mountain of sandwiches would be made with those very special sausages.
My dad says they were the best sandwiches ever and that that was the highlight of Christmas. I think the drink made them taste even better and the fact that my dad came from a "respectable" family and my Nans house was well more relaxed.
I love hearing these stories and I keep telling mum to write then down or record them on tape.
I could go on and on here talking about Nan and Christmas and then I could start on my own parents attitudes and traditions but I do have a house to clean.
hunnyB
| 22 Dec 07, 2:23 AM Owned_by_De_Luxe UK(SA), 4 yrs  |
Lovely reminiscences, hunnyB!
We keep saying the same thing when my mum regales the family with the stories of her youth (after a few sherries) whenever the family meets up for a Sunday meal. It's weird: it's not that long ago but it's a totally different age. I really should set up something to record the next one. |
