I’m bringing Nanna back….yeeeeaaah

There’s been many a sign along my journey to Nannahood since I turned 40. Actually, strike that. I have been a Nanna waaaay before then. But recently I have really felt closer to Nanna and further away from cool young thing more than ever before.

I mean there’s these on my table this morning that bought me more joy than I’d care to admit.

And of course there are 4 cards telling me that I won first place in floral arranging at the local show. I swear I would have never believed that had you told me 10 years ago.

Harmony in Two colours has me thinking I need to plant some Sedum toot sweet.

Autumn Glory has me pointing it out to the children over and over again. “Look how pretty those dahlias are girls!” I’m so used to being ignored, I just carry on regardless.

And I have FOILAGE in the hallway. AUTUMN FOILAGE.

There’s been in-depth blog posts about cracked heels and management of said condition that gave me more pleasure than it should have. I recently went online to try and find the best deal on some bulbs that I want to plant for the Spring and in the past few weeks this happened:

I have discovered the true joy that comes from a linen tea towel. And not just any linen. IRISH LINEN. Yep. We are here. Welcome. Let me grab you a jam drop and cuppa.

You see Mum gave me a stash of Aunty June’s old tea towels that came all neatly ironed in a stack. And at the time I was like “Mum, these are so ugly I don’t want them” until our dishwasher broke and I have had to start washing ALL OF THE THINGS ALL OF THE TIME and I opened the tea towel drawer and say that freshly ironed stack. I couldn’t refuse the allure of those fresh creases so I grabbed one and DEAR LORD I am done.

I have found the ultimate in tea towels.

Old lady tea towels. And I have had new linen ones I have bought before but they obviously haven’t had them for long enough because they were not soft like these ones. They may be ugly as sin but they sure as shit work well. I implore you to get into our nearest op shop and find a stack of linen teatowels right now. Here’s some other reasons:

They are soft and get in all the nooks and crannies much easier.
There are no bits of fluff residue after you dry.
You will be recycling and doing the planet a favour.
They will create a little “nanna chic” in your home which is so hot right now.
After you have washed up they act as great cloths for the bench and sink wipe down.
You can learn stuff from them: my knowledge of the UK has grown a lot over the past few weeks.

It’s almost making me think about ironing tea towels. But I am not quite there. Yet.

So next time you are walking past an op shop, head on over to the Linen section and see if you can grab a stack of old linens. Even better! Raid your Grandma or Mum’s linen closet and see what you can find. They may be uglier than the newer ones, but they work bloody well.

Much like us in older age it would appear…

What’s one way you have been bringing Nanna back lately?
Do you use ugly linen teatowels too?
Aren’t they the BEST?

Comments

  1. My mum inherited my grandma’s linen tea towels. And last year I inherited them when my mum passed away. They’ve relocated half way around the world and are decades old, but most of them are still going strong!

  2. My bestie and I always bring back tea towels and beer coolers for each other from our travels. It’s become a tradition for us to also buy them from each musical we see. My mum is over seas at the moment and has also been instructed to bring tea towels. I love turning such a mundane item into sweet memories

  3. We are growing dahlias too and love them. I don’t understand how a flower can be considered old fashioned? They are beautiful and really stand out at this time of year.

  4. I swear I was born a Nanna… I’m not even 30 and I can’t stop myself thinking how awesome retirement must be. I simply cannot wait. Until then I will too wax lyrical about linen tea towels (also linen bed sheets!!), home grown flowers, eggs straight from the farm, and baking my own bread. I actually think we live in a time when “Nan-itis” is cool… like the new “hipster” or something.
    That autumn foliage arrangement is just STUNNING by the way! Congratulations on all your blue ribbons.

  5. There is nothing better than the linen tea towel! 😂

  6. Seedum IS the bomb. It is such a pretty filler, last for eons and sits beautifully in a vase. Plus it is basically indestructible in the garden. I’ve been preserving my stone fruit in Fowlers jars. I have a cupboard full to eat on our porridge in winter and the freezer now has room for other goodies.

  7. Irish linen but a UK map!? 🙂

  8. Hand knitting cotton dish cloths. I use bright colours, find the knitting therapeutic and love using something Ive created myself.

  9. Iron them – you won’t regret it. I wrap presents in linen tea towels the love is so strong. Have completely abandoned the dishwasher. Would love a gorgeous print though….there is a business begging to be created right there….

  10. I used to work in a linen /fabric store many years ago. Back in the days when we had glory boxes. Each week I would buy a towel/towel/sheets etc. I am still using some of the linen t towels and I have been married for over 38 years!! The towelling ones were not really that popular at that stage.I love using tea cosies as well and I am only 58, far from being a nana lol

  11. It is amazing the older I get the more I realise wow, we do just turn into our mothers and grandmothers!

  12. I love them! They make excellent presents to give and to receive, excellent souvenirs, and are so handy in the kitchen! My newest, brought over from my gorgeous sister-in-law catherine from Ireland is from Glin Castle, co. Limerick. My favourite though is older, with an irish toast saying ‘may your house be too small to hold all your friends’. Simple pleasures x

  13. My daughter inherited some unique linen tea towels from her mother in law and made them into cushion covers , they look fab !

  14. My sis in law and I bring each other tea towels! Love it. And you’ve got a touch with flowers, I love the photos. I can’t grow much!!

  15. Yes to the Irish linen tea towel and its superior drying abilities. Weirdly when I lived in the U.K I bought a some at a charity shop that had Aussie designs, but were still made from Irish linen, go figure! xx

  16. Lucinda Cullen says

    Stunning Beth, congratulations!!! I’ll definitely keep my eye out next time I visit an op shop👌🏼

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