Monday 13 September 2010

Work hard and play crochet.

Actually, it's only the first proper day back at school with all the children and it's been an emotional ride, I can tell you. I'm badly missing my yr 3's from last year, and they seem so grown up now in their yr 4 classes. I can hardly remember any of the new children other than the very naughty and the very, very good. I'm amazed at the boundless kindness and patience of some of these little Angels and can't sing their praises enough :D The particular child I'm responsible for is an engaging soul, but terribly hard work and tonight I'm totally wiped out!

All I can say is thank heavens for crochet, it's the new rock and roll :D I'm too tired to engage my creative cells, so I can lose myself in some wool craft, and you know what? It's already starting to resemble the item I'm attempting to make.

Every stitch reminds me of my Granny, how I used to sit and be mesmerized by her flying fingers and the growing blanket or squares. I feel connected to her at and remember the love, but more than anything I'm realising the huge amount of respect I had and have for her. She could be quite scarey at times, having only had sons and four of them, she didn't know how to be soft with Grand daughters. She hated my Sister's name and so insisted on calling her Valerie as she thought it a far more suitable name :D She was guilty of the most incredible malapropisms and had me and my sister actually wetting ourselves with laughter as she insisted on dressing my sprained ankle with a crap bandage! She was so very un-politically correct and called a spade a spade and people by every other awful nickname imaginable! We squirmed and we complained and we never realised what a wonderful person she was, with her 'tight to her head' permed curls and her constant shriek of 'EH?'!

She was self sufficient before it was fashionable and we endured such horrors as marrow jam and some home made meat jelly that had us running from her old fashioned kitchen, with it's Butler sink and boiler across the linoleum floor, down the long, long garden to hide in Grandad's greenhouse. He kicked us out as it was his only refuge! She scared and fascinated us by the bucket load and I'll never forget the day I lathered up my face with a scratchy brush and soap and used Grandad's razor the way I'd seen him do it ! I think that was the only time she showed her soft side. My face was bloody all over!!! She had a parade of little dogs and a screeching Minah bird that would yell 'EH?' at us as we tried to sneak off out of the house. She would make a kind of fat pudding for the birds in her garden and when no one was looking the little dogs would scoff it all up and then be sick behind the greenhouse. We never told on them and in return they would snap at us and show their sharp little teeth.

Isn't it amazing that all these memories surround me as I sit and reconnect myself to my lovely Granny through the beauty of woolen stitches and I smile to remember the lovely blankets she made and the money she raised by selling them for charity. She was a wonderful person and it's lovely to remember her this way :D

2 comments:

Bovey Belle said...

What a lovely piece of writing about your granny. I have NO creativity in me these days, so it's nice o hear someone else's . . .

Elizabeth Rhiannon said...

I loved hearing of your memories. Grandma's are funny people, aren't they? I had a Spanish grandma and a German grandma, both very different but both could be a little scarey as well :) I can't wait to hear what OUR grandkids will think about us! Love to see what you've made...crochet away! Stay well...