Old ladies are actually experts at life, and we are fools (continued)

[AiryFairyMum]

Thank you so much for all your brilliant suggestions. I'm aware the last thread is running out, so I've added a new one, just in case we have any more suggestions from a bygone era, or we want to review any new purchases (I have loads on order at the moment!). Thanks to @kojolo for the thread title. Here's the link to the old one: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_classics/3944582-To-realise-I-like-old-lady-things

@yellowbluebell, that sounds heavenly! I am just waiting for dcs to go to bed so I can enjoy some Poirot and a sherry again. Midsomer Murders was on earlier, but it isn't a patch on Poirot imo.

@Bluesparkled you're welcome!

Foyle's War and a nice jigsaw have got me through many a lock down evening!
Anyone else - a nice game of Mah Jong?

Chess here! DH is currently playing online poker though .

Poirot is just about to do the big reveal, so Joe's on DH, cos he is missing the best bit!

Joke's on*

Saturday Live is good. Loose Ends as well, although a big part of its charm is all the guests being together in the studio, so it’s obviously not the same at the moment.
DID with Lauren Laverne presenting is good too.

Just used some carnate polish and a buffer on my nails; instantly reminded of my aunty who always kept a pot beside the sofa for doing her nails with in the evening.

What's carnate polish??

Intrigued

This is the one I've got, but it looks like it's hard to get hold of nowadays (just googled). It's a cream you put on your nails, to help moisturise them and keep them in good nick. It smells of powdery roses and takes me right back every time I use it. I'll have to cherish my little pot now I know it's become hard to come by!

I always cream my hands before going to sleep, just like my Mum and her Mum before me. I drink Lady Grey tea at breakfast and am partial to a sweet sherry in the early evening. I keep a folded tartan rug on the back seat of my car and keep an old fashioned paper road atlas in the glove box. I have a Kindle for when I'm travelling but much prefer a hardback book, and always use a proper book mark to keep my place. I tuck little bars of soap in between the towels and bedding in the airing cupboard so they always smell fresh. I use scented drawer liners in my lingerie drawers. I have a traditional washing line and wooden pegs that I keep in a peg bag from Laura Ashley. Actually, all the curtains in our house are from Laura Ashley too. I love a jigsaw and always have one on the go, and I love needlepoint and have a proper frame and a sewing tin from Cath Kidston with a matching toadstool pin cushion. We have a mirror in the hall and I always check my hair and make up before leaving the house, just like my Mum always did and her Mum. I like to write greetings cards using a beautiful Messenger fountain pen that was a 21st birthday present.

I recently inherited a beautiful, double row pearl necklace from my Great Aunt and would love to wear it, but not sure how or what with? Any suggestions welcome x

peace, I wear my pearls with pretty much anything. I think they look lovely at the neck of a silk shirt or blouse, and of course they suit most dresses. But I also think they're fine to wear with quite dressed down outfits. I'm happy to wear mine with a breton top and jeans/trousers. But then mine are a single strand; I think double strands are a bit more formal, perhaps?

For instance, though this is not me or my particular aesthetic (I'd never have my shirt unbuttoned like that! ), I think it shows that pearls don't have to be saved for evening or formal wear.

Sorry, picture would help.

I have a single row of pearls that I wear under a cotton shirt for work sometimes, I think it looks OK.

Unfortunately DH and I have watched all the Poirots. And all the Rosemary and Thymes. DS has got in to Miss Marple now. He's 11. I'm known for my love of anything scented rose, lavender, or geranium. I have Rose Earl Grey tea.

Once you discover cashmere jumpers from Edinburgh Woollen Mill you NEVER go back. There's just no point getting anything else and that's the end of it.

Just checked and they're actually a triple row of graduated pearls! I like how they've been styled in that photo though x

I have been told I will inherit my mother's old reliable Irish 'Full and Plenty' recipe book by Maura Laverty.

My own American vintage collection includes 'The Settlement Cookbook' and Julia Child's 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking'.

dare I mention that I have a shopping trolley?

I have my mother’s 1960s Kenwood Chef.

I may have a sherry or port in a minute dearies

I had a glass of Madeira the week before last.

It made me feel like a character from Barchester Towers.

Thank you Millenium that stuff looks lovely!

This thread is such a comfort during wobbly days. Thanks all xxx

I love Rosamunde Pilcher books too. We have a game at work on a Friday (baby photos, two truths and a lie type thing) with cocktails on Teams, and last week's was guessing the team member from a selection of a favourite book, album and drink. Nobody guessed mine and were genuinely surprised that I had chosen The Shell Seekers as my book - first read it as a teen in Germany in the 90s, it was the only English language book in my exchange family's house!

Can't wait for the charity shops to re-open so I can swap round my jigsaws! I can tell from the revolving stock that I am not the only one locally that treats the charity shops round here as jigsaw libraries, I see the same ones in different shops over the years.

A glass of sherry over a "new" jigsaw would hit the spot on a quiet evening.

Might start a series record on Murder, She Wrote as we have watched all the other murder mysteries on offer.