[JoeSoap]

@DebF_EONNext

My mum used to work in a knitwear factory (The Hosiery) right opposite my primary school when I lived in the west coast of Scotland.

Slow cooker gets used twice a week every week since I bought it 👍

[WizzyWigg]

@DebF_EONNext
I'm always getting a telling off from my good lady about the strange (as she calls it) collection of odds and ends in the garage. With 4 grandchildren, they often come round asking whether I can repair their latest favourite toy. That's when the collection comes in very handy. So far they have brought round most things from teddy bears to games machines. I've not been beaten yet 😂. It keeps the old grey cells (all 2 off them) ticking over. 👴

[retrotecchie]

Originally Posted by JoeSoap

I bet nobody darns socks any more 😂 … or do they 🤔

I don't buy socks. Ever. It's simply not 'the done thing' I rely on my very kind parents who, every Christmas, give me socks as they have pretty much every year for over half a century.

Only, the last few years, thanks to distance, Covid, and a number of other factors (mostly me having an aversion to anything festive) the regular sock allowance has rather dried up. We exchange telephone greetings and send cards and I refresh their annual NT membership as a gift, and they either tuck a horn in the card or the old chap will transfer a payment directly to my bank. But no socks.

When I speak to my old Mum on Christmas day, she has a stock reply to my thanks. "Don't buy socks! Treat yourself to something nice!"

Well, 'something nice' usually means a contribution to the rent, or a splash of diesel in the car, so I've taken to darning my socks. It's easy and quite satisfying and I can make a pair last a good few years now. In fact, I have a pair of 2019 vintage JCB work socks which have outlasted two pairs of steel toecap boots and they're still going strong. They'll probably outlast me!

[Tommysgirl]

@DebF_EONNext; @WizzyWigg; @JoeSoap; @retrotecchie,

I have done darning in the past, but I get given socks, gloves and scarves every Christmas, so I don't need to now. My nan had a wooden darning tool, shaped like a mushroom, you could unscrew the top and keep the darning needles in the stem. I don't know if they'll make anything like that nowadays.

I can do quite a few household and toy repairs. My dad could repair almost anything except electrical, but my mum was a dab hand at wiring lights in, and fixing small electrical appliances, so I learnt a few tips from them. I really admire the craftspeople on The Repair Shop. They are amazing.

I'm starting to use my slow cooker now, because it's chilly enough in the North East for soups and stews.

[WizzyWigg]

Originally Posted by Tommysgirl

@DebF_EONNext; @WizzyWigg; @JoeSoap; @retrotecchie,

I have done darning in the past, but I get given socks, gloves and scarves every Christmas, so I don't need to now. My nan had a wooden darning tool, shaped like a mushroom, you could unscrew the top and keep the darning needles in the stem. I don't know if they'll make anything like that nowadays.

I can do quite a few household and toy repairs. My dad could repair almost anything except electrical, but my mum was a dab hand at wiring lights in, and fixing small electrical appliances, so I learnt a few tips from them. I really admire the craftspeople on The Repair Shop. They are amazing.

I'm starting to use my slow cooker now, because it's chilly enough in the North East for soups and stews.

Yep darning mushrooms still available. 🤓 Even on Amazon. The Repair Shop is brill. We went to the Weald & Downland Museum in June with the whole family (grandkids and all), and popped into the Repair Shop. Definitely places to visit. Something for everyone. 🤗

[retrotecchie]

@WizzyWigg

I love Weald and Downland, although I have a rather unhappy memory of being chased by a rather vicious goose there when I was a young lad in short trousers. They can be nasty, those things.

My Grandad was very much make do and mend. His garden shed was a veritable emporium of 'things that might come in handy one day'. Thirty years later, I still have some of his old tut. I've never had to use the stick-on heels and soles for fettling shoes, but you never know when I might need them.

[WizzyWigg]

Originally Posted by retrotecchie

@WizzyWigg

I love Weald and Downland, although I have a rather unhappy memory of being chased by a rather vicious goose there when I was a young lad in short trousers. They can be nasty, those things.

My Grandad was very much make do and mend. His garden shed was a veritable emporium of 'things that might come in handy one day'. Thirty years later, I still have some of his old tut. I've never had to use the stick-on heels and soles for fettling shoes, but you never know when I might need them.

Geese can be formidable animals. Some of the best burglar deterrents around 😳.
My wife's grandfather worked in the ROF up here as a carpenter and I still have most of his tools. Best saws, chisels and screwdrivers you can ever have. Boxes of brace bits along with the brace it's self. I'm just hoping I can pass them on to my grandkids. 👴

[retrotecchie]

Originally Posted by Tommysgirl

@DebF_EONNext; @WizzyWigg; @JoeSoap; @retrotecchie,

I'm starting to use my slow cooker now, because it's chilly enough in the North East for soups and stews.

Easy lass....you'll be wearing the coat soon!

[Tommysgirl]

@retrotecchie

Up here in the North East, we don't usually need coats until mid January or early February.🧥😃🤣

[JoeSoap]

@Tommysgirl

Ah, you’re still with us 👍. Your previous post on this thread shows you as a guest. I was a bit baffled 🤔

Edit… and this is showing as your first post 🤔