Things that remind you of your grandparents

The scent of imperial leather talcum powder, brut, old spice and tweed perfume mixed with hairspray. Itchy grey blankets in between flannelette sheets and candlewick bedspreads, a pink and yellow glass candy dish that I now have in my home, polo mints. And so many other little things. God I miss them.

Trifle, real mint sauce, eating dinner on a tray, eiderdowns, buttons that look like rugby ball on grandads cardigan, hot water bottles at bed time.

The sound and smell of a circular saw cutting wood. The smell of sawdust. My grandad did a lot of woodwork and made lovely little musical boxes etc. I don't know if any still exist in the family but I can still hear some of the tunes.

Rose perfume and talcum powder.

Rhubarb growing in the garden then being picked and stewed to have with rice pudding or semolina.

The smell of old books, whenever we stayed over we had a little fold down bed in a bedroom they used as a library.

Candlewick bedspreads and those rougher thick wool blankets with ribbon along the edges.

Nivea face cream and plain chapstick. Both of my grandmothers used these so the smell reminds me of them both.

And yes. Tomato plants.

Best smell ever. (Apart from my old dog’s feet)

The shed full of wood/shavings/wood oil/varnish. Brylcreem and yellow Vaseline lotion.
Pandrops.

Max factor powder. Stewed tea. Fairy cakes. And fags. Windolene.

Books. Coffee. Bunnets.

The Corries and Jimmy Shand. Ceilidh music. Yoooooooochs.

Good times.

When I showed my Grandad around my first house and he referred to the Master bedroom as the "playpen"! Made me laugh. I miss him so much.

The smell of the tomatoes in Grandad's greenhouse

Marmalade

Homemade fudge (which was actually tablet, they were Scottish)

Homemade egg sandwiches made with salad cream

Minted peas

Burnt toast (always done under the grill)

Lipton's supermarket

Sugar in milk

Humbug sweets in the pantry

Rice Krispies

Bright yellow coal tar soap, the one with the magnet in (Grandad's soap)

Imperial Leather soap (Nanna's)

Scented talcum powder

Curlers in our hair at night, ribbons in the day

A telephone seat in the hallway

A clear plastic mat over the hall carpet

Woolworths, especially the Pick'n'Mix (they lived near the seaside and it was the only time we had ever visited Woolies)

Watching The Ladykillers

They were lovely ☺️

I work with the elderly and frequently see and smell things that my grandparents had.
I used some Palmolive green soap in a client's house some months ago and was taken back to my grandparents' bathroom. I had to buy some after that.
Another client wanted a sandwich with Blackpool roll, lurpak and tinned salmon. Another Grandma memory.
Brylcreem and car oil for my Grandad.

I only had Grandma's. Peaches and Nectarines remind me of my mums mum who would buy one in brown paper bags from the market everytime she knew we were going over as we loved them. Snooker reminds me of my Dads mum who used to love watching snooker but only had a black and white TV which used to confuse me a lot as a child but she always knew which ball was which colour.

Crinkle chips. My gran had a crinkle cutter for making chips and we always had crinkle chips at her house.
Playing cards
Advocat or babysham on New Year's Eve.
Their leather twirly chair

[quote Authenticchicken]@Geamhradh

I have just googled... In love with the rabbit mug My Gran had saffron, and I have been collecting bits since I got married.[/quote]
They bought me the rabbit one and my mum one with dolphins. Mine has survived and is as good as new. I love it

@Geamhradh

I have just googled... In love with the rabbit mug My Gran had saffron, and I have been collecting bits since I got married.

Thought of another!

Playing dominoes and cards with my Grandad. He taught me all sorts of 'rules' that I only realised weren't real rules after being married for years and playing with my own family. My Grandad loved to cheat and fudged the rules so he could win 😂. He had a great sense of humour, I loved every minute I spent with them

And Max Factor Creme Puff. I use it myself because it reminds me of my Grandmother.

Parma violets
Toilet roll covers shaped like a doll
Toast rack
Snooker on the TV
Silk cut cigarettes

Pears soap

Ice cream blocks with vanilla/strawberry/chocolate.

Playing draughts

Sitting on the floor whenever we visited as there was no room for the kids to sit as well.

Pork chops. Mash with lumps. Frogspawn. The smell of a greenhouse. Carrots in water.

Crochet blankets
Hand knitted jumpers for all her grandchildren
Needlepoint and beaded pictures of poppies
Pink blancmange rabbits in a field of green jelly
Fish knives and forks
Ivory handled knives
A roast dinner and all the trimmings (when I did her garden for her)
Meringues
Homemade lemon curd in tarts
Apple pies
Muslin covers with beads as weights over the salt jar
Kilner jars full of bottled fruit
A mincer for leftovers to make pies
Netted domes for keeping the flies and wasps off the fruited desserts
Her 1920s dressing table with the dressing table set - hairbrush, comb, and hand mirror, the glass jar with powder puff and another for hair pins and a glass ring tree
Earthenware hot water bottles
Cutting up and de-seeding grapes for meals a little girl
My grandpa's ashtray on a stand

Hornsea pottery
Bavarian candles
Gummi bears
'Toffee' (hard sweets)
Agatha Christie novels
Snooker
Tea dances
Coronation Street
A rugby league team scarf
Ham sandwiches
Pea and Ham soup
Meat and potato pie

Over 25 years since my last GP died

I was not close to my maternal GPs but have very fond memories of my paternal GPs

• Ribena (never had it at home, only ever at GPs)
• Mr Kiplings & Fray Bentos pies (my GF ate a lot of these after my GM died)
• Tartan flasks
• Zed beds
• Lacy arm covers on sofas/ chairs
• Bagatelle
• Charades

Lumpy beds.
Raspberry (málna) cordial.
Wilkinson sword razors
Wooden stools with no backs.
A wood burning AGA.

I love that there is so much food here. They are absolutely my memories. My grandma would have all 8 grand children round on her own. I've recently had no.4 and never fully appreciated her effort. I remember dinners that consisted of pies with pastry baked separately for those that didn't like soggy pastry, potatoes with and
without mint, raw and cooked veg, at least 3 different puddings, a cake tin that was always full, supper of fish and chips.
She had a shitty childhood and did everything to make sure her grandchildren didn't. I miss her and kick myself that I didn't spend more time with her as a grown up.

Yorkshire puddings with jam as pudding
Fried eggs done in the chip pan
Sleeping at their house on a Saturday night and watching Dallas in the winter and Seaside Special in the summer, and on special Saturdays going up to the chip shop and eating fish and chips in the church garden opposite.
Grandad making us hot water bottles in winter and putting me a blue canvas tent on their back lawn in summer. I can still smell the inside of that tent.
Grandad taking us to the municipal park in summer
Going for a week to Blackpool with them for the illuminations.
Them having lunch (dinner) at 12, tea at 4 and bread and cheese at about 8.30
Gran putting her Christmas tree up by early November, (with those Cinderella carriage lights that go for a fortune on eBay) and taking me by bus to do Christmas shopping in Woolies or Boots.
The best Christmas ever when on Christmas morning I woke to find proper furniture, but small, for my dolls, a cot, a wardrobe and a chest of drawers, all made by Grandad in his shed.