Discovering Treasured Old Beauties....

Hello my lovelies!

Hoping you all enjoyed a beautiful weekend with your loved ones?

I've enjoyed browsing through my collection of old beauties this weekend...

I managed to have a full day to myself yesterday sharing time with our treasured friends simply chilling....something quite rare when you work for yourself!

So these beauties were my evening reading whilst listening to a little Sunday evening Jazz.

I've been collecting old books for many years...old cookery or needlework ones are my favourites.

I also love leafing through the old pages of house managements!

Don't they hold a whole host of secrets and advice that is amazing?

And yet with a huge tone of simplicity underlining each project.

Reading through them reminded me of how talented our Grandmothers were...

I know that being thrifty and creating designs as we would now say, was through sheer necessity in some cases and but I do think we don't often give them credit for being so clever!

Could you return from a day's work and whip up a dress for the Saturday Pictures simply because you fancied a new outfit?

Or could you knit yourself a new top for your hubby's next dinner date with the boss???

It sounds bizarre to say that these days doesn't it when you can shop online and order a whole wardrobe at the click of a button but our Mums & GrandMums had to be very resourceful with very little and yet I do think they maybe appreciated things a little more than we do these days....

We live in such a throw-away society nowadays that we don't think twice to treat ourselves to a new top or dress for any occasion (unless your name is Tilly Rose of course!)

My Fen roots have made me what I am today and my Mum and Nan taught me to be particularly thrifty with everything.

Don't get me wrong I'm not tight with my pennies but it takes alot for me to be wasteful for the sheer hell of it.

Everything had to earn it's place in our home growing up...something I have obviously carried on into my own home.

I often smile when I hear the words "considered purchase" when on air because my mum would consider everything a considered purchase whether that be a safety pin to a new sofa!

I love this quote above and think it says SO much...

Looking through my treasured books yesterday I realised just how much bounty sits there undiscovered by our present generations simply because projects are hidden away in a fusty old book which would need to be opened and be discovered....

I love nothing more than sitting on a pile of books (not literally you understand although it has been known!) and chilling out in my PJ's to discover a good story, new craft project or even unveil a new recipe for tomorrow's evening meal!

I wonder if our future generations will ever feel the same?

Will we only craft through our apps on our phones?

how sad would that be?

No more treasured time with friends sharing skills together....

So in my own little crusade of one, I will endeavor to continue my quest of persuading people 

'to give it a go' simply by taking inspiration from the past and preserving the old ways

albeit from a fusty old paperback or other....

Will you join me and pass on the message for me please my lovelies?

Tilly

x x x 

Remembering a Generation of Brave Souls...

All over the country this weekend, we will see celebrations and parties taking place to mark the end of the Second World War in Europe in 1945....

VE DAY

I'm sure all of us in some way or another have relations that can remember the war or have heard tales of family stories etc.

I have always admired the generation of brave men and women who fought so very hard to keep this little island of ours to remain in British hands.

Often their small acts of bravery went unnoticed, unmentioned and unrecognized but each and every

citizen played their part to make our homes safer for our future generations.

I can only imagine what it must've been like for all those women left back home whilst their menfolk fought their own battles.

My Nan often told me tales of how it was for her bringing up three children in the Fens next to the second largest marshalling yards in Europe and being under threat each and every day of their lives...

My Nan & Grandad, George & Phyllis, were married only two weeks before war was declared in order that she could receive a married woman's allowance, as they knew he would be called up for active duty.

There was a queue at the local church to have a service and so their marriage was a rushed affair with a very simple afternoon cup of tea that followed...no grand celebration like today.

She didn't even get a photograph of her wedding.

Like many others their lives had been thrown into turmoil when war had been announced and the carefree days of courting were simply gone forever...

Reality had hit home in more ways than one.

George, was a meek and gentle man who had served an apprenticeship as a nurseryman at the local plant nurseries, Greens of March, Cambs.

The nursery specialised in supplying the posh houses of Chelsea with Chrysanthemums which were shipped to London daily on the steam trains which regularly left March Railway Station.

He loved spending time in the glasshouses with the seedlings and plants.

"He hadn't got a bad bone in his body" Nan often said and he found it really hard to think he would have to go and fight for king & country so to speak...

He hated the thought of having to leave his family and venture into the unknown.... I guess like so many others at the time.

The furthest he had ever travelled was to Hunstanton for the day...

a day out by the coast on the train, some forty miles away.

He was simply a Fen man through and through who loved his homeland and had never felt the need to move to pastures new.

George was injured during the bombings of Coventry Cathedral which blew up his army truck and killed his best friend whom he had known from the age of five.

He spent a lot of his service in medical wards recovering from the bomb blast that evening with a broken spine...unfit for purpose.

Eventually nearing the end of the war he was medically discharged.

He never saw active service as his regiment had been shipped out to Singapore whilst he was recovering in hospital.

I've often wondered if Nan saw that as a blessing in disguise in some bizarre way

knowing how he was terrified of having to fight?

This weekend will no doubt bring loads of similar tales by so many families of hardship, courage, bravery and yet immense pride of their loved ones.

let us always remember those brave souls who gave their finest years...

We owe them all so much...

Tilly

x x x