Wednesday 30 May 2007

Background

I've always wanted to live in the countryside. There are some beautiful places all over the UK and one of my favourite places is where my Grandparents used to Live in Mid Wales. They lived in a very small place called Dolanog. They have both died now, but about 5-6 years ago after my Grandfather came to live in a nursing home about 10 mins away from us (rather than an old house unsuitable for his needs about 80 miles away) it was entirely apparent that he was never going to live there again and we spent all our holiday entitlement and most bank hols/weekends there filling skips and sorting out not only a house full of generations worth of stuff, but a small business and post office. (My grandfather was known in the village as "Newton the post office"!) There was lots to clear out. Regardless of lovely incidents such as hunting for and finding an old rusty service revolver (we had asked him where it was... he told us "its in the Hampshire"... helpful? - not really!) wrapped in newspaper in my grandmothers sewing box and assuming because we knew what my Grampy was like, it was loaded (it wasn't) ringing the police and asking how we should dispose of it and them turning up to collect it! oh and a suspicious substance (I shan't tell you what) which necesitated my father getting a police escort to the nearest small town! (oh the fun! - and it was!) Well about 10 skips, a ripped out kitchen, bathroom, shop, store, two garages, a large garden, a piano, three piece suite and sooo much rubbish later we sold the house. We did however save this as a momento, it is a picture of the house when it was two houses and a blacksmiths many years before my grandparents bought it.


I'd loved to have seen it then, I wish we'd kept it, but times change and I'll just have to keep my fab memories of clearing it out, taking mallets to piano's (to this day I'll never know how they got it in...) scrubbing old quarry tile floors, having baths with the window open whilst watching the cows and sheep in the field opposite, sewing and playing cards with the others by dodgy electric and sometimes candlelight, calling Dad to remove the MASSIVE spiders that sometimes chased you out of rooms and eating breakfast sitting on the wall outside the front door.

8 comments:

Papoosue said...

What a fantastic photograph Sarah, and what wonderful memories. Thanks for sharing that, what a lovely story.

Anonymous said...

Lovely memories Sarah. I went to see your Grandparents once, just before we came to live in Australia. They had nicknames for everyone in the village, which we thought very very funny! On the way home we devised our nickname for them. 'Mork and Mindy' Of course nothing nasty was meant by it. They were a grand old couple.

Janice said...

I love old photos and family history! So interesting! A couple of years ago we cleaned out my parents' home which had accumulated 60 years worth of things. What a job...but what a trip down memory lane! Thank you for visiting my blog. I shall stop by yours often!
Janice

Anonymous said...

I had no idea you were so nostalgic about that place What about the freezing winters and no central heating? or had you forgotton that?one day you will own something akin I,m sure. You can have a granny annex for your old mother. Will it ever stop raining and get warm Isnt it supposed to be June soon!! I had fogotton about the nicknames Mork and Mindy for a while but that comment made me smile.

Ragged Roses said...

Hello I'm a new visitor. What an interesting post, it's great discovering the history behind a home.
Kimx

Lizzie said...

This entry made me cry...

My grandfather died last year, and the very saddest thing for me is to look about his garden and see it *empty*. Seeing apple trees stretching their limbs instead of being pruned to accomodate autumn picking, seeing raspberry vines tangled up with weeds, and seeing lettuces growing wild having reseeded themselves from the year before.

I am almost glad- for once- to be living 7 hours away from his farm- a farm where I have skipped, hopped, and sat lazily in a particularly fruitful cherry tree for an hour staining my clothes with breakfast before the birds could beat me to the berries, rather than see it so vacant.

Anonymous said...

Such a sad and thoughtful post in so many ways, Thanks for posting it.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sarah
I have just logged onto your blogspot, the first one I have ever visited you came into Crabapple crafts and brought lots of lovely ribbons I am so very impressed with your blogspot and was really chuffed to see we were mentioned thank you.Only bone to pick I have done no housework visiting other sites and all the wonderfull cfaft sites !! Hope to see you again Tracy