Oats or wheat berries would form the base of the meal, and added to that would be any summer fruits that we had, chopped cobnuts or even walnuts if we had them
Granny Spear
Granny Spear was born in a small cottage in Devon, Southern England in 1925. Married to farm labourer Ernest, she raised her family in the heart of the countryside without any of the amenities we rely on today. Using skills passed down from her mother, who had learned those same skills from her mother, she not only survived but positively thrived living a self-sufficient, off grid lifestyle. Outliving her husband, one of her children and two of her grandchildren she stayed in the cottage until 2003 when a serious fall saw her hospitalized. She now lives with her daughter just four miles from her old home. For her 89th birthday her grandchildren and great grandchildren brought her an iPad, which she instantly rejected until they showed her Angry Birds...After much persuasion she has agreed to share some of her knowledge with us about what she calls the 'old days'
Granny Spears ‘Herbology’
Unless it was especially serious we relied on remedies passed down to us over the years
Kids Were Rarely Allergic To Things In The Old Days
I didn’t really want to watch it, but we were visiting Delores and her lot and she “simply had to see it’ Pah…Delores always has to ‘simply have’ something or other!
Food Preservation at Knowle Cottage
Not having electric power the job of preserving a portion of the harvest to help us out in the winter was a long one.
I Blames The Planes: What’s Wrong With Torquay?
There always seems to be some new sickness going around these days.
The Monthly Mending Session
My children had a roof over their heads, food in their belly and a warm bed at night and they were grateful for that, anything else was a bonus.
Raising a family off-grid requires very careful planning
There’s no doubt in my mind that having electricity is the one thing that would have improved my life. Having mains water would have been fantastic but the ‘lectricity would have been better.
Why is everything so fast these days?
Fast food, fast internet, fast cars, everything it seems is fast. Some of my grandchildren can barely cook a decent meal, preferring to stuff something in the microwave or go to McDonalds.
There’s Nothing Wrong With Sugar
What has changed, and why people are getting fat, is they are too bone stinking idle, or to time poor, to cook decent food and they rely on the shop made stuff instead.