Grandparents - What makes you smile??

[MarieC]

She asked grandma who was attending to her every need, ' which do you think is the best dear?' Grandma replied ' I think you look a proper twerp in all of them!'
Needless to say she got the sack!
She then trained to be a nurse and ended up as matron in one of the large Sheffield hospitals before she retired. My Grandfather was probably one of the first house husbands as he stayed at home during the general strike of 1926 to look after the children whilst grandma went private nursing to earn the money.
Pennine

That's really cool, Pennine!!    Your grandmother was quite a woman!  I love her!!!

MarieC

[redspookhunter]

my grandparents adopted me when i was two and i have tons of memorys!!
pappy as he was called used to roll his socks down when he had shorts on! (no idea why!) we had a huge sloping garden and he was always falling over in it and rolling down the incline!he was round and jolly and smoked a pipe one time i remember he baught some shoes that he realy liked but they were too big,then running across the road they fell off!! it was so funny he had to dart between the traffic to get them back!
nan was great she told me stories all about when she was a child living in wales,she would make welsh cakes and toffee apples but pappy did all the cooking as he used to be a chef in the navy,he was also involved in the design of concords 'nose' and i can remember him taking me to see her when she was being built,happy times i miss them alot.

[dawnwas]

I loved this thread right from the start and find myself looking back at it regularly.
I too remember the pinny...and in fact the thought of it made me feel quite warm and cosy...I am going to get myself one!!
I also remember Nan having a lovely big button tin with all sorts of odd buttons that I would sit and handle for hours...guess what I am starting one of those too!
Dawn

[kerryb]

Dawn

My gran had an old biscuit tin with a picture of the Queen on the front full of buttons.  My sister and I used to be allowed to get it out and play with it occasionally and the buttons inside.

Oh happy memories

Kerry

[liverpool lass]

I finally got round to reading this thread and I have really enjoyed it! I only knew my paternal grandparents. Grandad died when I was about 6 but I remember him walking along the road in his old flat cap and playing magic tricks to keep us amused. Of course we have now worked out how he did it but as children we thought he was marvellous!

My Grandma was a real character, the life and soul of any gathering. I remember on her 80th birthday that she had to be brought home early because she had consumed too much 'wiksey'. We tried to record her speaking on a cassette for my brother in Africa but she didn't understand how it worked and kept shouting "can yer 'ear me lad? then to us "he's not answering"! We have a wealth of funny stories about her and even her funeral wasn't sad because people spent the whole day saying "do you remember when....."

[Summers76]

Wow....what a truly great thread......you have got me crying again as the memories flood back...........

I lived with my maternal gran Ellen nearly all my childhood, and the memories..yes she also had one of those wrap around pinnies, she made me a mini one and we used to bake bread (fresh bread mmm!! I can smell it now....) the old fashioned double range with a large kettle always on the boil..the front door never closed as neighbours would pop in for a cupa....

On rainy days we would listen to the wireless in front of the range, the glowing embers warmed us as we drank our cocoa. As a treat she would let me sort out the button box (this was an old  biscuit tin..) she had another larger tin with all the old photos in, including letters and some silk type cards (I still have some..)  My grandad Michael died the year before I was born, Ellen was widowed twice in her life both her husbands were called Michael and from Ireland.
I remember her sisters Sarah and Dinah coming up North from Portsmouth, Dinah took me to Newcastle shopping for a special dress ( pale blue, tiny lace type flowers on the bodice, with a full skirt...) I can see it now..magic.

After they went home the fragrance of Ponds cream and 4 7 Eleven Cologne that Dinah used I could smell for ages........

And who can remember washing day?....the old fashioned poss tub and mangle..white cotton sheets blowing on the line...the smell of carbolic soap....being sent out in the garden to pick enough peapods for tea...........home-made scones for afters with lashings of strawberry jam (home made..)    ahhh!! crying again..better go and make a cup of tea........Nana Ellen I loved you so much...thank you for the memories................xxSummer

[Mobo]

 

What wonderful childhood memories this thread is bringing back  ahhhhhh...........

[aspin]

you are all like me with fond memories of our grandparents

My Dads mum died before I was born and I know very little about her but I do remember my granda he was tall and smart and worked on the railway he would sit me on his knee and sing( My bonny lies over the Ocean my bonny lies over the sea )
He died when I was seven

My Nannie as we called her (mums mum) was a lovely little woman with fat legs and her ankles hung over her shoes she was always singing and as she played the violin in the local orchestra and also sang in the church choir she was very musical
I remember the smell of cooking and her making bread she would put her hand in the coal oven to feel the heat then pop the bread etc into the oven
I think I take this from her as I love to cook also she was a knitter and so was I .
I can still go through her house with the wash house outside and the big green mangle we had to turn when she was washing and the toilet was at the bottom of the yard and I think 3 shared it
With the news paper hanging by the string on a nail
As we were not aloud to read the News of the World you managed to find a part of a story
Yes that loo had a gap of about 6in and I used to sit with my feet up in the winter
Nannie had a mole with hairs on beside her lips and I hated that kiss when I left

Granda well he is another story

[aspin]

This is my Dads mum and Dad how do I get the other off the picture or can
someone do it for me

The two lads are my uncles and their cousin om the other side

Elizabeth

Moderator comment: photo resized for easier viewing