Friday Fictioneers – ttps://rochellewisoff.com/2019/06/12/14-june-2019/#like-8927
PHOTO PROMPT © Valerie J. Barrett
Grandma’s Home
My Grandma’s cottage is a museum now; clean and full of curiosities that visitors point at. Her blackened kettle and the old iron shine as if new.
She was a small woman, but resilient, strong and religiously devout. Like my grandfather and father, I would shake in terror when she called us for dinner.
She rapped our knuckles with the spoon if any hands, faces or finger nails showed traces of lead dust. We prayed, thankful for our cleanliness and our daily bread.
Grandma believed that personal pride was above poverty, and every home in our community washed their steps.
***
This week’s photograph remined me of my visits to Wanlockhead – now a tourist/museum site.
https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/wanlockhead/wanlockhead/index.html
James McEwan 
Washing the steps is a great detail
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Ha yes – scrubbed and donkey stoned steps were very important weren’t they even if there was only dripping and bread for dinner (tea). It worries me that I see things in museums that I remember from my childhood!!!
Just a thought – I think Granny ‘rapped’ knuckles by the way.
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Thanks Diane. Updated.
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I can just picture the tough old lady. Sounds like my great-grandmother. Trim too much of the beans – just remove the small piece at the end! Peel the potatoes too thick – don’t waste!
They had no choice but to run a tight ship with the bazillion kids they had in those days…
And yes, cleanliness is close to godliness for sure.
Loved this, James.
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Thanks Dale, sounds like our Grandmothers’ generation appreciated the truth about waste.
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That they did. She passed it on to my mother who passed it on to me… somehow my sisters didn’t get quite the same message 😉
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My grandmother was similar but without the knuckle-rapping. 🙂 No wasting of food or anything else. And no buying a new anything until the first one wore out. I think I’m more like her than I thought!
Wanlockhead is beautiful village. I like “The Manor”.
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It sounds like she was a tough, strict and strong lady.
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A shame such pride in oneself, even in dire circumstances is a thing of the past. Nice one James.
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Different part of the world, similar attitude. That sounds like my uncles and aunts (and grandmother), too. All that pride… sometimes it was all they had.
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Grandma sounded like a force to be reckoned with.
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A very strong lady. A little strict, perhaps, but those were the times she grew up in. Good call on the lead dust, though, even if she wouldn’t have known how dangerous it it!
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Many thanks for reading this. The lead mines are now a tourist attraction, for some.
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Dear James,
You paint such a clear picture of grandma, I’m checking my fingernails to make sure they’re clean and I promise to sweep my steps. 😉 Lovely story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you
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Grandma ran a “tight ship” didn’t she? Many no doubt did in those days. There were often more children with more work and order had to be kept. She did her duty as she saw it, but I’m sure there was love also. A good story well written, James. —- Suzanne
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Love the sense of immediacy you create around grandma, her values, her pride, her power to make you tremble. Well done.
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under the circumstances, i think she did what was right for the family. bless her soul.
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Lovely story…big a bit frightful. She sounds like a force to be reckoned with
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Cleanliness is a true virtue
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Those women knew how to work. They took pride, not in BEING poor, but in not LOOKING poor.
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A lady like Grandmother is a rare breed. She was a strict disciplinarian, but also cared to feed everyone in the family. No wonder he cottage is turned into a museum.
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Thanks for reading.
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A great little snippet of grandma, a strong character.
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Grandma’s always leave impact on us. She seems strong lady😊
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