Fashion in 1952 — Evening Dress

Forget the handsome guy (he\’s mine) One of my own original designs — two piece shot taffeta and brocade

I have now had well over 5,000 hits on posts that have designs going back to the early fifties. Not huge by some standards but good for Wrinkly Writers.
I came across this photo of me in 1952 (with my husband to be). I am wearing a dress I designed the year before (1951) But then it was long and simple — shot silk taffeta blue/black skirt and boned strapless top of gorgeous top silver and blue brocade. I later cut it short and used that material to make the sleeveless top (that you see here) to wear over the dress. It was a useful little outfit. A perfect fit too. All fastenings invisible.
Nothing wasted in those days. It wasn’t just that money was in short supply but we were brought up to make the most of what we had.
What I like about fashions of that era is the cut of clothes. They enhanced the figure. Good packaging with allure, rather than overt exposure of goods.

visit my other blogs
Writing For Joy
Diary Of An English Lady
Gladys Hobson — Author
Magpies Nest Publishing for my UK books.

New Growth From Old

New life linking to the past where a new life began

Rambling Rose linking love and life — the past into the present

We may be living some distance from where we were born but we have managed to achieve a living link to my husband’s birth town in our very own garden here in Cumbria.
We visited the village where my husband was born (10 pounds plus!) over eighty years ago and I saw the cottage where he arrived in the world. It has a view of the river below. The garden is below lane level and not only were vegetables grown there but pigs were kept too. Hubby says he had his photo taken on the back of one. The river supplied water for running the local mills.
Just along the lane hubby’s uncle lived. But the houses were knocked down years ago. I noticed the wall had been filled in where gates had once been. About the place where the uncle had lived a pink rambling rose grew over the wall. I took a cutting. From the piece I managed to grow several plants. Now a couple of years later they are doing very nicely in our South Cumbria home.
I planted one of the roses under a tree hoping it would grow upwards into the branches. It has. I look at it and think about how it links us to my hubby’s birthplace. So too those cuttings I planted by a trellis.
Little pink lanterns of joy! New growth from old. Life moves onward but always we are rooted in our past.

Visit Writing For Joy
Diary of an English Lady
My author-book blog
Magpies Nest Publishing.

Love, Honour and Obey… And the bride said, “I do.”

Love, Honour and Obey… And the bride said, “I do.”

Love in their eyes

Couple with Bride's parents

Happy couple with groom's parents

Happy bride with her joyful mother!

Yes, that's me — grandmother of the groom.

Laughter (and tears) at the Wedding breakfast

Family shot of the wedding Matt, Lisa, Joni (Best man), Dad and Mum.

Lisa’s choice, her own thought-out decision.
Antiquated? Not relevant in today’s society?
Taking the form of a chattel?
Romantic idealism far removed from reality?
Others will think what they will, but the vows have to be seen in context of the wedding ceremony of EACH receiving a ring and the groom making his promises to love and to cherish. A sharing in all that they are and all that they have. A joining of body, soul and possessions. The groom accepting his responsibility, not as a lord and master but as a loving responsible companion along a road of self discovery for them both. A lifetime commitment. Not a form of musical chairs — changing partners when the romantic music stops.
Two people who saved themselves until the right person came along. Two people in love and desiring the good of each other. A true Christian marriage, with Christian values.
It is over 57 years since I made the same promises. We have lived through some difficult times, things have not always gone smoothly, but we have worked through our problems and those years have been growth. That is what marriage is all about. To love and to cherish… to give and to receive…
We each bring different gifts into a marriage, the blending of masculine and feminine, the gifts with which we are endowed, the skills we have learned, all these form a whole, bound and strengthened by love. To love and honour the man you marry, to be obedient to the demands that love makes on all of us, is not a hard task but one that leads to joy and happiness, a foundation for bringing up a family with which we hope to be blessed.

(Photographs are quick snaps with digital camera. They are not the official ones. My hubby not on any because he had the camera)

View chapters from my novels at Magpies Nest Publishing
View all books (USA and UK) at my AUTHOR site
See my other sites — Writing For Joy, Diary of an English Lady, Ask Gran Hobson (ask questions about yesteryear or managing on little)

Overweight children — diet and exercise

Okay, so I may be seen as a writer, not a social worker or psychologist. But, having worked in industry, education and the community, plus having a family of my own, I think I know a thing or two. As should all teachers who have studied all the social sciences and put them into action in the classroom.

Overweight children — diet and exercise. We seem to get plenty of reports but little action.

Amazing how official research draws conclusions that are obvious to anyone of average intelligence.
So the conclusion concerning overweight children is that what they eat causes them to be obese rather than lack of exercise. And that lack of exercise exacerbates the condition. But reluctance to exercise is often the result of being grossly overweight. I think we can assume that obesity leads to lethargy, but more than that, refusal to join in games may indeed be because they are likely to be gawped at or name called.
I don’t blame overweight kids for wanting to withdraw to computer games where they can recover some self-esteem, or watch television where they can engage in comfort eating without teasing. Children can be very cruel, especially if they have problems of their own.
Supermarkets do not help. They sell fattening food at low prices with many offers of two for one. Parents may think they are saving money and keeping their kids happy. Children often spend money given them for lunches on sweet or fatty food, with sugared drinks to wash it down. But it is the home where control over eating is lacking. Young children do not need a pile of chocolate eggs at Easter, boxes of sweets at Christmas, cakes, sweets and chocolate for birthdays — and every day in between. Plus ice cream inside and outside the home. Take-away food is also to blame. So is eating in Supermarket cafes where chips are piled up, with fat-laden sausages, bacon, hash browns and fried eggs.
It is true that some children take after heavyweight relatives. I can see it within my family tree. A child with such tendencies may well get worse because of today’s electronic games and televisions. Years ago they would be out playing football in the park, riding bikes or generally socializing. But what is happening today involves too many children for the condition to be genetic.
When our children were young, they were not given Easter eggs by us (other adults gave them but we restricted their consumption), neither did they ever buy ice cream from the van that came round. (We had no fridge for ice cream either). We never had pestering for either. When they were young, they had a small amount of money each week to buy what they wanted. Usually it was chocolate, sweets or pop, but they certainly knew how to make the most of their coins. I usually cooked meals and baked cakes and pies. Fish and chips from the shop were a welcome treat. Occasionally, when out as a family, we had ice cream.
There were no electronic games or mobile phones. TV was limited.
Society must come to terms with unhealthy changes in diet and activities. Children have come to expect too much. Restraint is lacking. Parents need to show a good example. Love is more important in the home than over-indulgence.
For children, surely education is the key.
One suggestion is that lunchtime is reduced and children not allowed to leave the premises. Sandwiches and a drink of milk or low calorie fruit juice would be better than much of what is consumed. Then part of the afternoon be spent in games, apparatus, swimming or PE. Home at the usual time unless volunteers can be mustered for matches or practice.
Another suggestion, that supermarkets be approached to reduce the cost of fruit and not sell fattening cakes and buns at ridiculously low prices.

Author site — all my books,
Publishing site of my Magpies Nest books, plus reviews, chapters to read, ordering
Writing For Joy – with lots of photos
Diary Of A Country Lady, brief with photos.
Ask Gran Hobson questions concerning yesteryear

Ulverston Carnival — Fantastic!

Crowds of people enjoying themselves!

Many more to come

It was a gorgeous day last Saturday, not just because of fine weather but because it was a day when the residents of Ulverston and surrounding districts pulled out all the stops to put on a wonderful carnival. We were amazed at the ingenuity and skills of all those who made the costumes and equipment necessary for this fantastic event. Pipers and variety of bands took part, just about all the dancing schools in the area, and no doubt many of the local schoolchildren, clubs and pubs! It was a day of celebration to dispel financial gloom. A day of pulling together to rejoice and entertain. Tiny tots to adults (of all ages) did their best and no doubt so did many parents who made costumes. More on the Carnival and quite a few photographs can be seen on two of my blogs:
Writing For Joy
Diary Of A Country Lady
Don’t forget to click on the photographs to enlarge them.
You will notice that some of the dancers look a little weary. That is because before they reached us they had been dancing to entertain the crowds. Part of the time we were at a corner where the parade had to halt while crowds behind and at the front were entertained! We like to catch people unawares not just in stiff poses.

Just one of the bands