Small Memories (2)

But I have always used my God-given gifts. I loved sewing and creating many things, ranging from doll's furniture (made with stiff paper), cards for special occasions (which I still make), rug-making, and designing clothes for my children and myself. At one time I made uniforms for a pop band. I loved making wedding dresses and bridesmaids dresses. I had finished one order and had hung the finished bride's dress on the living room wall (we had curtain rails so I could use them to hang any finished clothes on). The dress looked really lovely, and the bride was coming to collect it. Anyway, we were all sitting at the table eating our dinner when Peter, my husband, decide he wanted some tomato sauce. He promptly shook the bottle, unfortunately someone had removed the lid. Yes, you have guessed what happened, tomato sauce flew through the air and landed on the front of the wedding dress. Calamity and pandemonium! Luckily I had some material over, so I was able to unpick the stained parts and put new panels in. But I had to work all night as she was getting married on the Saturday and this happened on Thursday. She was collecting the dress on Friday, so I really had to work hard to have it ready for her to collect. We have enjoyed many a "do you remember when" since.

When we had a lot of children at home Peter loved to play the Tyrant and, especially at mealtimes, he always insisted on good manners. We never had peace and quiet because he loved a good argument; and at family meals he had various reactions, sometimes good, sometimes hostile, to his arguments. But he really enjoyed them all and, afterwards, he often said to me "the children made good sense today". But he loved getting his own way.

Mealtimes with me in charge were quite a different affair. I used to let the children get on with their own business as long as they ate their food. It was quite a while before I realised that Micheal hid anything he did not like (especially crusts) in his teddybear's trousers. The memory has caused very many chuckles since.

Another incident occurred one day when Nicola was being helpful. She was helping me to lay the table. I used to have 2lb jars of jam, they were quite heavy. Nicola managed to get hold of it despite her small hands, but unfortunately she dropped it. Jane happened to be in the way and it fell on her head. She still has the scar today, but it luckily didn't do any serious damage.

 Poor Jane really went through the mill. Another time we had a caravan in the Forest of Dean. One day, Peter dropped Jane out of the door. Luckily she was in her carry-cot so she didn't sustain any damage this time. When we lived in Swanley Road, Welling, we had a very small house and the kitchen was extremely tiny. Nicola was, as usual, arguing the toss with me. Jane was standing behind her. I went to smack Nicola but she ducked. I had a saucepan in my other hand and the underside of it (the flat bottom) hit Jane in the face. She had the mother and father of all nosebleeds. We were all frightened by the blood but, fortunately no real damage was done.

Of course, we had our share of the traumas teenage years bring with them. It was quite a usual occurrence for Nicola to pack her bags and go out of the front door, making a great exit and Peter chasing after her. They usually came home together the best of friends, but agreeing to differ. And differ they did! Nicola was a flamboyant character: she always knew her own mind. She loved to dress in unusual clothes. I remember when bell-bottom trousers were fashionable, I made her a pair and sewed what seemed like hundreds of tiny bells right down the side seams. She certainly made an impression when she wore those trousers.

We often had family gatherings, especially at Christmas and Easter times. I remember cooking and preparing the house for a miniature invasion. We often played silly games like Consequences and I-spy. We had many hilarious times, especially when my middle daughter played. She is dyslexic and often set us all guessing what she had in mind. When we finally gave up we often had a good laugh at her interpretation of an object. But, strangely enough, she was a wonderful map-reader and often helped her Dad when we were travelling in the car.

Talking about cars, our first one was a little Austin Seven. One day when we were all on board and going down a hill we saw a car wheel careering in front of us. A slight wobble told my husband that the wheel was ours! God only knows how he kept control of the car, but he managed to pull up and we all got out safely. Luckily we were not too far from home so we used our feet and walked home.

Going to Mass on Sundays was always an occasion for us. One Sunday, when we were still young parents with two children and Nicola just toddling, we were all in the pew. Suddenly we became aware that Nicola was missing, then we saw her. She was at the foot of the altar and saying in a very loud voice "Hello God!" Everything stopped, and I went up to the altar where the priest handed me Nicola with a smile. I went back to my seat and the Mass proceeded. You might be asking yourself "how did she get there?" The answer is that she crawled under all the pews in front of us. Luckily we were only three rows from the front.

Martin became an altar server and used to get up at 6:30am every morning to go to the convent school "Maryville" (where I later taught Art and Religion) to serve for the 7:30am mass.

I have done a lot of different jobs in my life, starting with Machinist in an underwear factory. Then I worked at a big store called "Peter Robinson" in the West End, in their sewing room. It was all hand-sewing, which I loved doing (still do). Then I went into another factory, making soldier's uniforms and overalls for more money. Next I went to a small factory and made clothes which bore the Duetto label. Our factory was opposite the Middlesex Hospital and we often saw people in a state of undress being examined. We thought it was a laugh (we were all very stupid and young). I made a friend there called Winnie. She later married and became Winona Wintle. I still write to her occasionally.

Then I went to work in a very small factory in the West End. The Manager's name was Joe. It was well-paid and we made quite exclusive clothes, which I often modelled when a buyer came. They opened a larger factory in White Hall Lane, Edmonton. I went there and became a Forewoman.

Then I got married and didn't go out to work for a long while. When the children grew up a little (went to school) I got an evening job as a barmaid at a pub in Woolwich, near the Ferry. We had a very diverse selection of customers. I must say I enjoyed the atmosphere and I loved being chatted up by the fellas. Then, as the children grew older, I fancied working in the daytime. I was offered a job at the local convent school for girls, Maryville. I really enjoyed doing this job, and for the first time in my life I felt I had a job with dignity. I really enjoyed teaching art and I really tried to make it an interesting lesson. I had the satisfaction that, at parents' evenings, the parents would often tell me I had made a great impression on their daughter. I was also asked to teach Religion, which I took to be a very great compliment, considering it was a Convent run by Nuns.

I went on a school journey one year, we went to Switzerland to ski. I wasn't very good, and the experience put me off for life. The girls didn't go for the foreign cooking much, and they promised the girls fish-and-chips on Friday night. They were looking forward to it, all day they talked of nothing else. Imagine their disappointment when it was served that evening, any resemblance between our fish-and-chips and what they served could not be seen!

Jane also suffered with boils, which I always treated with kaolin poultices. It was a paste that had to be heated, and treated very carefully as it had to get very hot. It was usually applied between the folds of a pad. If used directly on the skin it would burn and dry hard, and prove difficult and painful to remove. My daughter also reminded me that I used vinegar water to rinse the hair. Consequently my kids never had nits. She said she was so proud when Nitty Nora (the children's name for the Nurse) came one day, and she was the only child in her class not to have nits.