Can I ... Should I?

[2jays]

As I understand it

Pic 2 is a dolly so says google...

Gran had a dolly like pic 1

Pic 3 has wash tub. Wash board, the thing you scrape with a thimble to make music when you finished the washing a dolly and a carpet beater

 

[2jays]

My mother always claims she spent her wedding night re-painting the mangle.

How Romantic

 

[Jaded'n'faded]

My mother always claims she spent her wedding night re-painting the mangle.

I think you might find that was a euphemism...

I seem to recall my mother talking of small bags of something called 'dolly blue' that were added to the washing - I believe it was to make your whites look whiter. But she may have been making it up - I have no idea. I do remember having a mangle though!

 

[Sam Luvit]

Ok, so I got those wrong ... @2jays

A mangle is the thing with a winding handle & rollers, you feed clothes in one side, wind like crazy & it comes out the other side flat & creased, but almost dry

The dolly is the thing that looks like a plunger? I’m guessing you used it to pound on the washing ???

For some reason I had the washboard as being called a dolly. Don’t ask. My mind is obviously confused

That’s a fancy carpet beater ... mum used the handle end of a broom

I still don’t know what a posser is

 

[Sam Luvit]

When I moved into my first flat, I bought a 23rd hand twin tub (it’s what I could afford), so I added a fantastic spin dryer. I kept the spin dryer after buying a new fanged washing machine as it worked much better than the spin speed on the machine. (Husband was very disapproving) @jugglingmum There are times I wish I still had one. Modern machines have built in disables to stop the spin cycle if the load is slightly out of balance

 

[Toony Oony]

Great @Sam Luvit - they say 'necessity is the mother of invention' - bit of blue sky thinking there with the carpet cleaner!
Hope you are feeling a bit better now - these **!!?? bugs/viruses seem to linger for ages.

@Jaded'n'faded - I well remember the dolly blue. Mum used to shove it in the wash to make the whites bright, and if I was really lucky she'd swish it in some water in the old tin bath in the garden to turn the water blue, and I would have instant swimming pool!

Back in the day, my Mum refused outright to get rid of her mangle despite having a snazzy twin tub . She reckoned it dried and flattened everything to perfection. I had really long hair when I was young which took an eternity to dry - she tried to mangle that once as well . When that failed she laid my hair on the ironing board and ironed dry as much as she could. I reckon it's her fault that I have got dead straight hair that won't take a curl!

 

[jugglingmum]

My MIL was still using a very old twin tub in the late 80s and I presume into the 90s (I was persona non grata from 1989 until 2002) - hence her still having her spin dryer. The machine she has has a 1400 spin.


My OH had no idea how to use an automatic washing machine and in his digs in around 1990 he was telling me that the machine was broken, as the powder hadn't dissolved properly and the clothes weren't fully wet. He then asked me to look at it and I discovered he had stuffed it as full as it would go, and the powder had coated the outside of the sphere of washing. I explained that he would need to split that into 2 or 3 loads. He wasn't impressed as he didn't have any more coins that night. He has never lived it down and the kids tease him about it.

 

[charlie10]

All this confusion made me doubt my memory (we lived in a caravan when I was pre-school, which is why mum used these and also why I'm a bit vague....a long time ago!). According to Google the posser and the dolly are the same thing.....used to pound the washing up and down in the tub, saving hands from getting scalded (not to mention cramp ) and being the forerunner of the agitator in a top loader. The washboard, as well as being the musical accompaniment for social occasions, was for attacking single items that needed a particularly hard bashing....also painful on small knuckles if you get it wrong!

Now thinking back to a different era as I have my coffee.....can quite understand why pwds want to 'go home'

 

[Sam Luvit]

Having dragged the mattress topper downstairs, attempted to ram it in the machine & failed @Toony Oony I was determined to get the blooming thing clean I also wanted to actually achieve something. This virus / bug whatever, is just not going away. I’m trying the old fashioned cure of “sweating it out”. The garden got a really good going over today. I even did the lovely J’s grass as she’s not had time.

Did you emerge from the old bath tub swimming pool with a tinge of blue @Toony Oony ?

I’d have run a mile if my mum had attempted ironing my hair. It was long & thick & took hours to dry, but I wouldn’t let her near it

 

[Sam Luvit]

I’ve known a number of men who had the same issue @jugglingmum ... my mantra as I walked into the kitchen both at home & sons as they rammed in their clothes was “leave some room for the water”

 

[Sam Luvit]

Thank you @charlie10 for clearing that up. I now have a bit more knowledge Blooming twin tub used to splash (the lid didn’t quiet fit). I wasn’t sad to see that thing go

 

[Sam Luvit]

I started researching the family tree about 8 years ago. Some wasn’t too bad, but mums side was brick wall after brick wall. It took me 18 months to find one cousin. Unfortunately she wasn’t in contact with her family, but at least it was a start

Research was shelved while looking after mum, I talked about it with her & made notes, but didn’t do much checking

Last month I got the files out & tried to remember how to do anything. I asked my cousin & was delighted to find things have improved. Some bridges have been tentatively mended. I’ve reached out & I've had good responses

So, 18 months to find one cousin, my adorable Aunty M. Not even a month into restarting & I'm in touch with three cousins. Two have invited me to meet up, one has lots of research.

It’s exciting to be finding relatives

 

[Slugsta]

Well done Sam! How lovely to be finding new family - I remember how excited I was when I was, finally, in touch with my father's half sister and her 2 children

 

[Sam Luvit]

Apparently I have a massive amount of cousins in mums side. It is exciting @Slugsta

 

[Slugsta]

I can see you planning a journey to visit everyone

 

[Sam Luvit]

I have one in London at the end of the month, the other is “up north”, but they are away for a few weeks. Yes, I expect there to be some travel in my future

 

[Slugsta]

Sounds like a plan Sam

 

[Sam Luvit]

I’ve just had my first slap. One of the cousins who has appeared out of the woodwork, who gets all the relationships wrong, calls cousins aunts & blood relatives “step” & sees no need for “proof”, so no certificates etc, so following what she is telling me is hard work

She’s told me an uncle doesn’t exist (but he is on the census), told me my grandmother is at least 10 years older than she is & lived in a different country I’m thanking her & trying not to get frustrated, but ...

So today I’ve dug out & sent her some photos, as promised, but there is a relative, that I can’t link in. I know it’s there. I just need to go back through my notes

So I got an email from the cousin ... “I already told you”

Nope. She didn’t. Unless the relative has a father with the same name as my grandfather ... as she’s trying to tell me they are brothers

I think I’ll have a large rum & leave my reply till tomorrow

 

[Slugsta]

This cousin sounds a liability!

OH and I are going away tomorrow, just for a couple of days. Will be back sometime on Sunday.

 

[charlie10]

sounds like you need to practise your 'Compassionate Communication ' Sam