Gremlins!

Hello all you Lovelies out there, how are you all doing? I had planned to write a couple of posts this week but do not know where the time went - well, I will rephrase that - I do know where the time went and it wasn't on something I wanted to do like crafting and talking to all my lovely friends out there in Blogland.  On top of all this I am having a big problem transferring my photographs onto my blog which is so frustrating as I am not a computer expert.  I use Picasa 3 which has worked just fine up to now but is now refusing to upload my photographs which is causing me a huge headache.  I seem to have spent so much valuable time trying to sort it out..........any advice warmly welcomed Folks.  I love gadgets until they go wrong and it is a big reminder to me that we rely too much on computers but then I wouldn't have got to know all you lovely people would I.  I hope the weather and life have been kind to you all - it has been chilly here, although quite sunny but yesterday we had a dusting of snow which didn't settle for long and today has been very sunny and very cold.

I wanted to catch up with the last blog about our visit to Victorian town of Blists Hill in the lovely county of Shropshire, a place which is dear to my heart.  I am sure that there are many other places like this all over the world and I do love visiting these types of museums. At Blists Hill there are a number of houses which have been set up as they were in the Victorian era - some have been taken brick by brick from somewhere else and rebuilt here which is just amazing.  I know that in the USA they do this type of thing which is fabulous.  Below is our  youngest Peep running towards the Squatter's House, called this because a family would inhabit the place and have squatter's rights.  You can see the tin bath outside the door which was used once a week when everyone would use the same water!  I can remember my Grandma having one outside but I think she used it for washing the clothes as they had a bathroom with a bath and hand basin but the toilet was outside.
 

You can see this lovely bonnet which would be an essential part of a lady's wardrobe, it was such a classy period.  Also have a look at the crochet blanket, these were everywhere so it was obviously popular then.

 

My goodness these boots and shoes look so hard, I am sure many had blisters and sores which must have been so painful.  If you want to read a really good account of life at this time I can recommend Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson - I read this for my GCE many years ago and loved it.  I was lucky enough to visit the village when my boys were small and it was magical to walk up the road to the school which Flora described in her book.  Flora died in 1948 and talked about how busy the roads had become - goodness knows what she would say now.
 

This was the lady in the Toll Cottage when people would have to pay to continue on the road - a bit like our toll roads now.  She was knitting cotton dish cloths and had just taken the bread out of the oven, it smelled delicious! She told us that Victorians rarely smiled on photographs because it took so long to take a photograph so it would have been an effort to maintain a fixed grin.
 

 

 All set up for tea - how nice.

 

 

The baby's cradle next to Mother and Father's bed - you can see a hexagon quilt behind it.  The cradle doesn't look that comfy and I am sure they didn't have much padding under the child.
 

 

We were told that the fires were kept going all day because this was their oven, their hot water, their drying facility and their central heating.  The room with the fire was very warm but we found the other rooms very cold and miserable.
 

This is one of the outside toilets, not very nice at all.  Victorian toilets were usually down the bottom of the garden, well hidden from view and children were taught that they should never let anyone see them approach the 'privy', it was considered very bad manners to do so.  Some of the toilets had room for three or four people at once so families could go together.  I was reading only last week that ensuite bathrooms are considered a must for most families in the UK now so goodness knows what the Victorians would think.  Actually they would probably think we were very uncouth as Victorians viewed toilets as something very unpleasant and they would not want toilets in the house - how times have changed.  I can remember my grandparents have toilets in their back gardens and we never really thought anything about it - of course everyone had a little pot under their bed for night use - goodness me!

 

 

These two lovely ladies below were a delight.  They were busy sewing and knitting in front of this cosy fire.  It was quite a well to do house - part of the GP's house with the surgery next door. 
 

 

 

 

 My little granddaughter was delighted to see a tiny work basket which she would have loved to have had.

 

This lovely shop was the Post Office, a delightful place with so much to look at.  The post was very expensive then but highly reliable. 

 

Below is the Postmaster having a little chat with our Peeps.  They loved this shop.

 

 

 Time for tea.

 

 

 

 

It was such a cold day when we visited so it was lovely to go into the houses with their fires roaring.  There is something so magical about a real fire - for the first time in my life we don't have one at home and I really miss sitting around in the cold evenings with the luxury of a lovely fire to keep us cosy.

 

Another very nice lady, quite serious when having her photograph taken.  All the actors in Blists Hill were so knowledgeable and helpful.  You can see a very old sewing machine at the back of the photograph.

 

Some nice patchwork here - knitted and fabric.  It was freezing in this bedroom and we were told about 6 children had slept here from around 10 years of age down to 1 year.  There were a couple of toys and one candle, all very meagre when compared with today. 

 

Here is my most favourite shop in the whole town - the draper's shop.  How I loved it and so did our little ones (the female ones!).  It was such a feast for the eyes, so much to look at and take in.  I could have lived in this shop Folks, I am sure you would love it too.
 

 

 The ribbons were just glorious and she told us that all women and girls had bonnets which would have been adorned with ribbons of every hue - how fabulous.

 

The lady in the shop actually makes all the aprons and sun bonnets and there were many visitors buying these ready for the summer for their little ones. Victorians really worked at keeping their skins pale because if you had a tan then that meant that you were a lower class person working outside in the fields.

 

These dresses and hats below were just stunning.

 

 

 How nice, no cars!

 

 

 The pharmacy was just fabulous.  In those days all the medicines were made in the shop by the pharmacist - my lovely daughter-in-law was in a pharmacy before having the children and she said that up to around 20 years ago medicines were still mainly made onsite.  However, once the EU came into force then all this was stopped which meant that costs for medicines just went through the roof - progress

 

 

The pharmacy smelt just gorgeous as there were many soaps and potions for sale - there was also a dental surgery which looked very scary and painful.   We did get a little smile from the lovely pharmacist though and the little Peeps spent ages picking some goodies for Mother's Day which we have hidden and which I will show you in another post.
 

 

I must say that I adore these sets of drawer and would love them in a huge sewing room - do you like them?  I know that I could probably fill every single drawer.

 

Well my Lovelies I need to catch up with all your blogs now.  I have more things to show you as I haven't been completely idle this week although I have struggled to do much craft unfortunately.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend wherever you are in our wonderful world and keep happy and safe.  Sending you lots of hugs and loves as always.  Dorothy :-)xxxxxxxxxxxx