Everything old is new again. My Nan Sadie (Who was a Modern Nan) gloried in many things. A buoyant bouffant, a galleon like bosom and black patent leather heels at all times. Seriously. You could rock up to the farm unannounced at any hour and if she was inside she’d be in heels.
What she did NOT glory in was old stuff. In fact when they built a new house on the farm in the 1940s she famously chucked china down the well. (Side note 1 Swipe right to see said house-it’s a bit sad now) .I loved old stuff, always. She was, quite frankly, horrified, and it seemed yet another sign that I wasn’t quite turning out as expected.
When I was at uni I went to see her, with my mother, Jenny, and bought a blue plate at the local op shop. It was a classic depression era blue, dead plain, that I remembered from childhood. I thought she’d be thrilled by my nostalgia and was pretty pleased with myself for finding it.
Sadie was having precisely none of it. “What would she want THAT for?!” she announced in a stentorian bellow to the world at large. It’s one of the times I remember Jenny actually standing up for me. “Because she LIKES it Sadie, now leave her alone! “ (side note 2: I can remember precisely zero times when Jenny called Sadie Mum).
They are both gone now, and when the Pen A Wen and the Wee Bro and I (and all the helpers) had finished dealing with most of their crap and all of their good stuff I realised that all the plain blue and pink depression era china had probably gone down the well. .
Then, in one of the hilarious miracles that happened a lot round this time, we found a WHOLE set at one of the Auction Houses of Quality Tat. So the Pen A Wen and I gleefully bought it . We split it up and I hauled mine to the other side of the country (side note 3: it’s well known to be sacrilege to split up a set, which is of course why we did it ) .
And I bloody love it and I use it every day. Because better living through old sh*t is who I am, brings me joy and reminds me what to rise above.
Sadie was having precisely none of it. “What would she want THAT for?!” she announced in a stentorian bellow to the world at large. It’s one of the times I remember Jenny actually standing up for me. “Because she LIKES it Sadie, now leave her alone! “ (side note 2: I can remember precisely zero times when Jenny called Sadie Mum).
They are both gone now, and when the Pen A Wen and the Wee Bro and I (and all the helpers) had finished dealing with most of their crap and all of their good stuff I realised that all the plain blue and pink depression era china had probably gone down the well. .
Then, in one of the hilarious miracles that happened a lot round this time, we found a WHOLE set at one of the Auction Houses of Quality Tat. So the Pen A Wen and I gleefully bought it . We split it up and I hauled mine to the other side of the country (side note 3: it’s well known to be sacrilege to split up a set, which is of course why we did it ) .
And I bloody love it and I use it every day. Because better living through old sh*t is who I am, brings me joy and reminds me what to rise above.
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