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Friday, July 20, 2007

Those were the days

I have returned comments for you in this post.
Bidding you all a wonderful weekend

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Them were the days

Mother placed a kettle on to the stove and pans of water
So you could bathe in a huge tin bath in front of the fire

When you could go to the corner shop and buy 1 penny sweets
Arrowbars, Black Jacks, Sherbit dips and more

Them were the days

Fighting who would take the bottles back
to receive the penny's paid for them
Riding up and down on a 3 wheeler bike, a buggy cart made from
orange box and old pram wheels
Played hopscotch, tiggy it, hide and seek, cowbows and indians
Two ball against the wall

Them were the days

Making a fire was a fete of its own
Firewood or fire lighters if you could afford it
Twisted newspapers, black jet coal
a shuvel up againts the grate, newspaper to draw the flames
Didn’t it nearly always catch fire?

Them were the days

Mother stood up against the fireside
skirt slightly lifted
warming the backs of her legs
Corn beef legs

Them were the days

No TV, no phone, no mobile
No computers.
You made your own entertainment
Knitting
Reading
Puzzles
Embroidery
Played the piano in the parlour

Have we lost the art?

Them were the days

When kids had respect for their elders
The Bobby on the beat
teachers at school
When kids could be kids

Yes, those were the days

Those days were not all that long ago
Look at the progress that we have made in such a short time

Has progress changed us

When we wanted to phone someone we would walk to the call box
Now we use our personal mobiles
We let people know we are nearly there
Stuck on the highway
Going to be late
Send love text messages

We cant wait … we want everything to happen now

Those were the days

When you had a complaint to make
You spoke to a human
Now it is all automated
Tell me ... you are asked to press 1 or 2 or 3 only to hear another automated voice
Only for them to tell you that the product you have bought and you are complaining about
will cost you to complain because it is a premium number. Huh! Rip offs!

Them were the days

When the village or town had individual shops
And you were welcomed for your custom
Now you all the huge Supermarket sell everything all under one roof
You do not know where your food comes from
And how long has it been stored
and you are asked to pay for the bag which bares their trade name. Huh!

Those were the days

You could buy stuff and put it on the slate and pay at the end of the week.Try that at Tesco or Marks & Spencers

Them were the days


When you could go to the flicks with half crown
You could buy 10 Woodbines
Buy some chips and scrapings wrapped in newspaper
and still have change.

Them were the days.

A trip to the Zoo
A picnic in the park
Matinees at the cinema
A day at the seaside
A ride on the big red bus into town
These were treats

When Christmas really felt like Christmas
Memories of my childhood.

20 comments:

Margie said...

Hi Trinitystar
I really enjoyed this one....
Great pictures too!
Nothing like... Those good old days!

Thanks for the very nice visit today!

**thought you would come in the back door unnoticed, did you?
Haha....guess so....a low keyed comeback!

I send hugs back to you!

Margie

Inside our hands, outside our hearts said...

Lovely. Seems we are all being visited by the past and oh what the memories make us feel.

Simply beautiful Trinity

Nicholas said...

Your beautiful post and photos remind me my childhood. My parents, they passed away this year.
Thanks for your kind visit.
P.S
Krystyna is not Me. I'm a male.
I try to start blogging but my English needs support.

QUASAR9 said...

Hi Trinity,
Only caught the tail end (fading glimpses) of that since I spent my childhood with my maternal grandparents in the Basque Country, whilst my parents were globe-trotting and settling in Cyprus.

But yes, the houses with open doors, the neighbours who lived in each others pockets, when literally "everyone knew your name"

and there was no need for paid baby-sitters or care workers, since there was somewhere safe you could lwave the kids, and there not only seem to be less peopple in need of 'health' care, those who did were part of the community without any 'state benefits'to fight or quibble over ...
and they seemed to be less of a burden to the family, to the neighbours, to the community, to themselves - because they were a part of the community.

And we didn't have the same candy, but we did have lots of biscuits coated in icing sugar. Life was good, life was great.
Not a care in the world.
The joy of being alive of both the yung & old.

floots said...

evocative and oh so true
the things i could tell you ....
how long have you got..
pull up a chair and pour a drink
loved it :)

J. Andrew Lockhart said...

you're right -- well written :)

Anonymous said...

Those were the days ..How true

...Nasra

iamnasra said...

Im not sure if I already left you comment ..but those are the day ..You are so right

Anonymous said...

I think we have lost that art of finding pleasure in small things.

Your words set me thinking..

thanks.

Janice Thomson said...

How delightful Trinitystar and a well-written piece. How very true we have let slip away the finer pleasures in life as we used to know them. I enjoyed your memories ...and mine :)

trinitystar said...

To everyone ... thank you for your comments. It seemed like we all could relate to this post.
Life was hard then ... but not with pressures of today.

Seems like we work hard for our money ... but are being ripped off blindly here there and everywhere.

Those were the days ... were they better? Perhaps simpler.

Everyone have a wonderful weekend!

trinitystar said...

Quasar,

So true, people looked out for each other.

A simple life.

hugs for you.

trinitystar said...

outside our hearts,

Everyone seemed to of been thinking of past times this week. So yep!, thought I would do one too. Have a wonderful weekend.
hugs for you.

trinitystar said...

Floots,
Pulling up the arm chair curled up ... waiting for one of your stories with a mug of tea in one hand and a bar of choc in the other.
Have a wonderful weekend.

trinitystar said...

Nasra,
Would love to hear of your days gone by.
Thank you for your visit.
Namaste.

trinitystar said...

Andrew,
Do you see a different in the childrens attitude of today ... to when you were a child. Would be interested to know?

have a wonderful weekend.

Anonymous said...

I used to love blackjacks...seem to remember they were four for an old penny!

I enjoyed the poem very much.

Hope all is well,

Rob MMMMM

Carol said...

Oh wow, Trinity such an excellent post...I remember those days full well.. I also have fond memories Of running barefoot( without any fear of used needles) through the bush, chasing snakes and blue tongues, having sling shots and making bows and arrows and actually shooting them at one another,I often wonder how none of us were not ever hurt...another thing which sits in my mind is we could be streets away from home and around 6pm we would hear our mums calling us for tea... you just don't hear this at all now...so gone are the good old days..I often wonder what my children will refer to as the good old days..

Nicholas said...

Greetings to you!

krystyna said...

Hi Trinity!
Those were the days! Reading your post and comments, and watching amazing photos, I forgot for a moment about these days. And it was wonderful.
Have a beautiful Sunday!