HOUSEHOLD TIPS NOT FOUND IN WOMAN'S WEEKLY

[PanBiker]

I don't think I'll bother Cathy, or maybe I will, probably a beefed up sports bra or something. My wife Sally dresses authentically when we don our 1940's stuff. She says it makes her feel completely different and is a joy to wear. I did shop around for her 8 point suspender belt, (you need a minimum of 8 for proper hold up when jiving on the dance floor), proper silk French knickers help with keeping cool as well.

[Stanley]

Lovely subject! I have spent many happy hours in good lingerie shops.... One of the best ways to a woman's heart is to take an intelligent interest in the subject and the assistants soon realise that you aren't the usual once a year 'Victoria's Secrets' type of customer who only think about themselves. There was a lady called Betty in a good shop in Ilkley who used to love me coming in, she used to put the coffee on straight away and gave me all the help she could. Mary, the lady I was living with at the time, had a very high profile job at Yorkshire TV and one of her biggest problems was sitting in meetings as the only woman fighting to get her view taken seriously. I had this theory that if she could sit there in her severe business attire but with beautiful underwear on underneath she could plant the thought in her mind that if they could see her underwear they would have a completely different attitude. She tried it and it worked wonderfully, she said that it completely changed her attitude towards the men! Rather like the advice to people doing public speaking or interviews to imagine that the audience are naked. (It works....)
The best things I ever bought for Mary was a Swiss bra and panties set in wonderful pure white fine cotton. Incredibly expensive but she loved them.
All this interest started when I lived with Vera at Hey Farm. We were hard up and she wouldn't spend any money on herself so I started buying her underwear from Wendy on Frank street. I forget the name but it was good quality and made in Glossop. Vera played hell with me but secretly she was pleased and we soon got standards up again!

[Tizer]

Ah, Paris and Milan are nowhere compared with Glossop, eh!

[Bodger]

2 I forget the name but it was good quality and made in Glossop. "
Not sure of the trade name but the company was Ritz Manufacturing Ltd, my wife was a comptometer operator there

[Cathy]

Comptometer, there's an old job, I was a Comptometrist for a while back in the '70s for a department store
I used to work-out their net price to wholesale then to retail. It was quite an eye opener too, I must say ,when you know the profits they make.

[Stanley]

They made nice stuff Bodge..... The trade name was Lux Lux.....

[Stanley]

Have a look at THIS it'll bring back memories.....

[Cathy]

Not sure if that last machine was like the Comptometer that I operated, but I do remember the piles of invoices that were either side of it on my desk...

[Stanley]

And somebody would be constantly topping up the 'in' pile.......

[Stanley]

If you are going to give a lady flowers don't leave it until you have done something wrong.....

[LizG]

Ever the diplomat Stanley

[Stanley]

Every time I see a bloke carrying flowers I think Hey Up! What did he do wrong?

[Stanley]

We used to rely a lot on old sayings... "Feed a cold and starve a fever". Can anyone tell me if there is sense in that?

[Stanley]

One thing about my recent adventure is that I have rediscovered the benefits of small frequent meals and very plain but varied food. Very close to a war time diet.

[Stanley]

Well made cold porridge kept in the fridge is very close to ice cream, or very nourishing custard. Goes well with baked apple.....

[Stanley]

Cook all perishable foods thoroughly. A chicken is nicely done when it falls off the bone. You can 'carve' my chicken with a dessert spoon.....

[Stanley]

If you have some meat that needs cooking but is not for immediate consumption, cook it in foil and without opening it put it straight into the fridge. It is sterile and will keep well at 2C or below....

[Stanley]

There is no such thing as inclement weather, just bad clothing choices. Not long ago I was considering getting the Crombie dry-cleaned and hanging it up in the wardrobe. Full winter gear this morning, bit early for casting clouts!

[Stanley]

Thirty years ago I was given a Brabantia tin opener as a present. It is still working perfectly. You can still buy one for about £7. One of the best items of kitchen equipment ever made.

[Stanley]

Even tough it is officially Spring, gardeners should not expect the chance of night frost to vanish until well into May. The old farmers used to reckon that in this area the day the cows could be put out all night was around the second week in June, it was known as 'Grass Day'.

[Stanley]

Do not trust all statements on the morning of All Fool's Day!

[Stanley]

We forget the benefits of cheap household remedies these days and go for expensive branded products from the chemists. Gargling with salt and water to freshen the mouth up is probably one of the cheapest and most effective things you can do.....

[Stanley]

In all the life style advice thrown at us today I never see anything about the beneficial effects of having good routines and eliminating chaos from our lives. If there is one thing that strikes me about others life styles it is the lack of thought and control. How anyone can live in chaos beats me.... Or am I just a time management and control freak.....?

[Tizer]

I'm like you, but people like us tend to be laughed at these days for being sensible (sensible = boring!). I think the chaotic lives problem is a bit like the alcohol, drug and obesity problems in that we didn't have the money, time or energy to get into such problems in the past. Now, a surfeit of time and money means that weak willed people no longer have the benefit of those external controls.

[Stanley]

Very true Tiz. Take the obvious and fundamental one of the bad effects of not having a set time to get up in the morning and go to work. You and I entered the world of work straight from school and immediately had to learn both shop floor and time discipline. We do our kids a great disservice by not ensuring that they learn this young because if you don't learn it early you will never do it.
I suppose many think that my early rising is strange. It started as soon as I left school and had to rise at 5AM to milk 50 cows before breakfast. Early breakfast on rising was a Woodbine, a cup of tea and a good cough! It never did me any harm. Right through my life I was in early rising jobs, any time from midnight onwards and this combined with very long working hours taught me how to manage not only my time but my sleep as well. When I was managing Ellenroad I always did three hours in my office before leaving to get to the engine house before 9AM. I got more done in those three hours than many did all day.
As you know, even in retirement I am up early, indeed, at the moment I find I am sleeping half an hour less at night and am up by about 03:30 but still get my afternoon sleep of two hours so I'm sleeping about seven and a half hours each day and it suits me fine! Just one thing though, it isn't all good news. If you are living with a partner who is a nigh owl it can be purgatory creeping round the house whilst they are in bed.... Another advantage of living with a Patterdale!
So, early to bed and early to rise... is still a good principle and we should encourage our kids to adopt it. Early mornings are so beautiful and productive! But, you have to learn it early!