Let me tell you a story........
I will give you a bit of background first, Aunty Edna is a farmers wife, she is in her 80's and has always had a special place in my heart. As a child I thought she was the most amazing person I had ever met, she was also the most scariest. Myself, some of my brothers and sisters visited her often when we were children, we were sent to the farm so that our mum could have a break...she was raising 8 children after all, the babies stayed home!
I always remember Aunty Edna's expertise when it came to all things food, she could cook up a storm! The wood stove would be firing away, trays would be going in and out of the oven and the most delicious smells wafted from it. I loved going into her laundry, it was outside and made of wood but you could see the bones of it in the weathered frame. What delighted me was the bottles and bottles of preserved fruit she had sitting on the frames cross beams....the colours were amazing, the bottles were all shapes and sizes and the overall affect was mesmerising! Aunty Edna could turn her hand to anything, she had to...running a farm with two small children required lots of skills.
I was telling my Aunt about my little business, she listened as I told my story and she waited until I paused to tell me this; she said "My dear, so you think what you are doing is something new!" (I was quivering at this stage, when she spoke, you listened) "Well let me tell you I was doing that 50 odd years ago! Neighbours would give me their men's pyjamas and nighties when they were no longer needed and I sewed them into children's night ware." I wanted to hear more......"Where do you think your new nightie came from? Where do you think your brothers pi's came from?"
I felt quite emotional at this point, I always remember that I thought they were new, always wondered how my mother was able to afford to buy them! Aunty Edna finished the conversation by saying "everything old is new again, it's amazing what you can make out of nothing!"
The women in my life, my mother, my Aunty, my Grandmother were recycling, repurposing and reusing long before we knew how important it was. It's no wonder that Ambling Home was born, it was it was in the genes.....always meant to be!
I will give you a bit of background first, Aunty Edna is a farmers wife, she is in her 80's and has always had a special place in my heart. As a child I thought she was the most amazing person I had ever met, she was also the most scariest. Myself, some of my brothers and sisters visited her often when we were children, we were sent to the farm so that our mum could have a break...she was raising 8 children after all, the babies stayed home!
I always remember Aunty Edna's expertise when it came to all things food, she could cook up a storm! The wood stove would be firing away, trays would be going in and out of the oven and the most delicious smells wafted from it. I loved going into her laundry, it was outside and made of wood but you could see the bones of it in the weathered frame. What delighted me was the bottles and bottles of preserved fruit she had sitting on the frames cross beams....the colours were amazing, the bottles were all shapes and sizes and the overall affect was mesmerising! Aunty Edna could turn her hand to anything, she had to...running a farm with two small children required lots of skills.
I was telling my Aunt about my little business, she listened as I told my story and she waited until I paused to tell me this; she said "My dear, so you think what you are doing is something new!" (I was quivering at this stage, when she spoke, you listened) "Well let me tell you I was doing that 50 odd years ago! Neighbours would give me their men's pyjamas and nighties when they were no longer needed and I sewed them into children's night ware." I wanted to hear more......"Where do you think your new nightie came from? Where do you think your brothers pi's came from?"
I felt quite emotional at this point, I always remember that I thought they were new, always wondered how my mother was able to afford to buy them! Aunty Edna finished the conversation by saying "everything old is new again, it's amazing what you can make out of nothing!"
The women in my life, my mother, my Aunty, my Grandmother were recycling, repurposing and reusing long before we knew how important it was. It's no wonder that Ambling Home was born, it was it was in the genes.....always meant to be!