Speaking of Flannels.

Pearl

Pearl

Administrator
Staff member
I mentioned flannels on another thread and it reminds me of a conversation I had with my daughter, she'd taken the kids to visit a friend and one of the little muck magnets had gotten dirty so she asked her friend where she kept the flannels and her friend replied that she didn't have any when my daughter asked why and she was told because they didn't live in the 1990's.

We always had flannels, my mam would make them with worn out towels and I did the same when my kids were little. The bath towels would be made into hand towels then the hand towels were made into flannels. All very 1940's I know but things had to last like vests were made into dusters and then sewn together to make floor cloths.

I had a conversation with our local cobbler last week when I was getting some keys cut, I asked how business was and he said terrible no one gets their shoes repaired now they just throw them away and buy new ones. Its sad that we don't see cobblers, green grocers or butchers any more because people just go to Tesco or Asda and buy everything in one place for convenience but we still have the same hours in the day so what's changed? I know more woman are working now and makes a huge difference to time spent shopping, housekeeping and most of all cooking. No one ever had take aways when we were kids and even though my mam worked we still have a meal cooked from scratch every night has did my kids but I see my grandkids having more take aways and eating out because mam and dad both work so it gives them a break from but is that a good thing? The only takeaway we ever had was fish and chips on a Friday.

Sorry for long ramble I think I'm feeling my age and not liking it much :35::35::35:
 
My grand daughter (only 6) asked me what the tiny towel was for when I put it on the bathroom sink. I told her it was a flannel and it was to use with soap and water if her hands were especially dirty." Mummy uses wipes when my hands are really dirty!" she said. Your comment though, Pearl, reminded me of my mother going crackers at me and my brothers if we got filthy and then used the tea towel instead of the hand towel. :me:
 
By the way, don't the ladies (particularly Norah) keep mentioning using old vests for dusting and polishing??:22:
 
Speaking of Flannels

Your mother spitting on a hanky and wiping your face is a long time faded art cannot imagine that happening with today's kids . I , like you Pearl , bemoan the loss of greengrocers and butchers , I recently visited a couple of villages in Northumberland and my faith was somewhat restored both had local butchers stocking locally supplied meat, you could see the quality from what they had in the window .

There is a plethora of cookery programmes on the TV covering many genres of food but a lot people simply don't possess the skills or have the inclination to cook meals from fresh ingredients . I'm amazed at the numbers of people who grab ready meals from the Supermarkets as opposed to picking up the raw ingredients and cooking from scratch .

Technology has also played its part these phone apps such as Just Eat make its so easy to get food delivered just by a few clicks on your phone . I get all sorts of leaflets through the post and I was shocked when the Domino Pizza leaflet hit the mat a medium pizza is something like £16 . As I said in another thread £3.50 for a Cheese Scone how many could you make yourself for that cost. The most concerning and distressing aspect of food at this time is the fact that some families cannot afford to eat properly with a growing number having to rely on food banks.
 
I was up North visiting relations for the weekend late last month and we went Hexham and found a real live grocers we bought a load of fresh veg and fruit back, its taste much better than the supermarket rubbish, We traveled through your part of the world to get there ;)
 
And yes my mam did spit on a hanky to clean my face when we were out and as much as I swore never to do it to my kids I did find myself doing it :D
 
Pearl said:
And yes my mam did spit on a hanky to clean my face when we were out and as much as I swore never to do it to my kids I did find myself doing it :D
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If ever you meet them, ask my kids about the "spit on the hanky " ploy!!:35:
 
Pearl said:
I was up North visiting relations for the weekend late last month and we went Hexham and found a real live grocers we bought a load of fresh veg and fruit back, its taste much better than the supermarket rubbish, We traveled through your part of the world to get there ;)
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Really nice place Hexham often go to the Races . If you look hard enough around Newcastle there are outcrops of Allotments and occasionally they sell off their excess produce , great if you happen to be in the area because nothing tastes better . Uniformity in terms of size and shape of fruit and veg in Supermarkets has become the norm in exchange for loss of flavour.

Meat is very much the same absolutely no taste even if you buy the extra special options they offer . We have a farmers market once a month in Newcastle City Centre and I always try to make it to get some decent tasty meat . I've been to Germany and Spain recently and there is simply no comparison they have fresh produce markets everywhere and the quality is exceptional .

We have a large indoor market in Newcastle City Centre but a lot of the stalls are being taken over by Fast Food outlets selling slices of Pizza , sandwiches and Crepes. There are some nice places, an independent bakers , Fishmongers and a Cheese shop but all of the butchers, grocers and some of the greengrocers I remember from my youth , who were once the focal points of the market , have sadly long gone . :25:
 
When I was little we'd walk down Pallion shops with my grandmother and there'd be a wide variety of cake shops selling stotty cake and some great butchers and veg shops but now about 80% are fast food restaurants. I don't mind the odd pizza and the odd Chinese but couldn't live on fast food.

Where I live we have one of the biggest market in England on 5 days a week but its in town and the council in their infinite wisdom make all the streets surrounding it pedestrians only so its all going down hill because people have park in carparks miles away and pay a fortune for the privilege so its no wonder people go to shopping centres with free parking.
 
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