I had your average childhood but I didn't have your average granny! She was famous for three things:
the cardigans she knit, her big heart and the fact she was the biggest messer going! I lived around the corner from her so I spent a lot of time in her house. That said, even the cousins that lived far away spent all their time there too. We had two types of sleepovers in her house, sleeping in the front room in a normal fashion where you woke up with somebody's foot in your face - you were luck it was a foot! or sleeping in the back garden in a tent where nanny would come out and chuck a glass of water into the tent her version of a wake up call!
There were so many water fights in her house, usually started by her. She was throwing party balloons filled with water before water balloons were a thing. She'd whip out the garden hose at a moments notice or feck a glass of water out the kitchen door as we sunbathed in the back garden. We all wanted to go to her house to play with the water she drowned us with it but we loved her for it. There was one particular piece of nostalgia that I had forgotten about where she would tell one of us to go upstairs and grab the shower gel as she got out the garden hose. The showers in the back garden were magic. I only recently learnt that she started this tradition with her own kids very economical was our nanny you have to be with 6 kids!
She was very well know for her knitting if anyone had a baby, they got a cardigan. When I was a kid, she kore nit me a bikini. My dad told me recently that before I was born, she knit him swimming trunks - that didn't end well. She was also open to suggestions I kept hinting that she should knit a hat for my cat which she did. I lost a pound of flesh trying to get a picture of my cat in it. I don't think anyone tried the willy warmer I suggested she knit! I will never forget the huge hydreanga bushes along the path on the way into her house you'd get mugged walking past and you'd get soaked if it had been raining. Everyone was wise to my nanny's trick letting you walk ahead of her because that meant you got soaked and she wanted to reach the hall door dry! I visited her older sister in New Zealand 10 years ago. She had the exact same bushes in her garden and the same twinkle in her eye.
I recently shared this story and now I'd like to share it with you
We used to live around the corner from my nanny so I was in her place a lot. There was this yellow plastic duck on wheels it had belonged to one of her kids. When i was small i used to play with it a lot my nanny put a length of wool at the front so i could pull it along. She could hear me coming around the corner by the sound if the duck rumbling off the ground and echoing of the houses. I always have a close relationship with her. A few years ago she gave me this duck. I have no idea what i called it as a kid but now meet Maud the duck
One other thing my nanny was well known for was food like any woman with a large family, she can make a little go a long way. She had a really tiny kitchen I recently learned that she did actually cook for 20 people in there how!? We didn't always appreciate her infinity with cabbage my kryptonite She gets a pass for that because she introduced me to the concept of the noodle sandwich. One thing I can't abide by was the drinking of cabbage water!
God I will miss that woman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the cardigans she knit, her big heart and the fact she was the biggest messer going! I lived around the corner from her so I spent a lot of time in her house. That said, even the cousins that lived far away spent all their time there too. We had two types of sleepovers in her house, sleeping in the front room in a normal fashion where you woke up with somebody's foot in your face - you were luck it was a foot! or sleeping in the back garden in a tent where nanny would come out and chuck a glass of water into the tent her version of a wake up call!
There were so many water fights in her house, usually started by her. She was throwing party balloons filled with water before water balloons were a thing. She'd whip out the garden hose at a moments notice or feck a glass of water out the kitchen door as we sunbathed in the back garden. We all wanted to go to her house to play with the water she drowned us with it but we loved her for it. There was one particular piece of nostalgia that I had forgotten about where she would tell one of us to go upstairs and grab the shower gel as she got out the garden hose. The showers in the back garden were magic. I only recently learnt that she started this tradition with her own kids very economical was our nanny you have to be with 6 kids!
She was very well know for her knitting if anyone had a baby, they got a cardigan. When I was a kid, she kore nit me a bikini. My dad told me recently that before I was born, she knit him swimming trunks - that didn't end well. She was also open to suggestions I kept hinting that she should knit a hat for my cat which she did. I lost a pound of flesh trying to get a picture of my cat in it. I don't think anyone tried the willy warmer I suggested she knit! I will never forget the huge hydreanga bushes along the path on the way into her house you'd get mugged walking past and you'd get soaked if it had been raining. Everyone was wise to my nanny's trick letting you walk ahead of her because that meant you got soaked and she wanted to reach the hall door dry! I visited her older sister in New Zealand 10 years ago. She had the exact same bushes in her garden and the same twinkle in her eye.
I recently shared this story and now I'd like to share it with you
We used to live around the corner from my nanny so I was in her place a lot. There was this yellow plastic duck on wheels it had belonged to one of her kids. When i was small i used to play with it a lot my nanny put a length of wool at the front so i could pull it along. She could hear me coming around the corner by the sound if the duck rumbling off the ground and echoing of the houses. I always have a close relationship with her. A few years ago she gave me this duck. I have no idea what i called it as a kid but now meet Maud the duck
One other thing my nanny was well known for was food like any woman with a large family, she can make a little go a long way. She had a really tiny kitchen I recently learned that she did actually cook for 20 people in there how!? We didn't always appreciate her infinity with cabbage my kryptonite She gets a pass for that because she introduced me to the concept of the noodle sandwich. One thing I can't abide by was the drinking of cabbage water!
God I will miss that woman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Beautiful story Petra. X
ReplyDelete