Where/who do/did you get your old-fashioned streak from?

[Mrs-M]

Sort of a piggyback topic to MamaM's thread post, Who are the people.

Parents (mother/father)? A friend? Neighbour? Extended family? Born with it?

[CathyA]

I think I got it from my age. haha There are alot of comforting things from growing up during a certain time, and I guess I still find comfort in them.
My Grandpap loved to garden, and I always loved that about him. My mom would go elderberry hunting. We'd go on trips to forests. Our lives weren't complicated (at least not in relation to how they are now).
My family would sometimes go to the drive-in, taking our own pop and popcorn.
We'd spend alot of time outside in the summer evenings. We went ice skating near our house on a marsh. Alot of simpler things, that I loved.

Also, I had a friend when I was about 25 who was really into gardening and food preservation, cooking from scratch, nature, etc., and I learned alot from her.

I do think I was born with it too! I'm sort of a hermit and can keep myself happy with my chickens, cooking, the garden, birdwatching, etc.

[IshbelRobertson]

My mother and both Grannies. Both were frugal housewives. One from the highlands, the other only one generation from that background. Both were great knitters, gardeners, cooks and bakers. Ditto my Mum.

My mum, as the wife of a British army officer, got used to packing up her home and family, and traipsing after my Dad. We lived in far flung places at a time when The British Raj was almost over. Much pomp and circumstance, but my mother spent time with our cooks, learning local dishes and frugality!

I travelled around the globe traipsing after my husband, putting my career on hold and bringing up my family.

All those skills passed down to me. In lots of ways I'm not frugal, but in the basics... i am!

[MamaM]

Well, as I mentioned my Nanna and Papa but a lot of it has been on my own. I am the only one in my immediate family or otherwise who loves to garden, hang out laundry, find ways to use up food and repurpose items that I can and can otherwise just piddle around all day. . I just live rather simple. Out of the all the people in my family and friends, I am the only one I know that is the way I am. This may harken back to when I was about 10 years old. I would make my fort underneath the forsythia bushes out front, get my cat, my book and some water in an old milk jug full of water. I remember packing to go camping and all I had went into a small duffle. My sister packed at least 4 bags. LOL. Any money I would get went straight to the bank and my mom was floored when she found out I had $1700 in savings by the time I was 16. Circumstances have made it hard sometimes but good ole' frugal and simple living get me through it, everytime...well that prayer and chocolate.

[Mrs-M]

Originally posted by CathyA.
There are alot of comforting things from growing up during a certain time, and I guess I still find comfort in them.

Yes! I'm 100% with you on that!

Ishbel. Your post reiterates to me, the importance of taking younger generation people (little ones/growing ones) under our wings.

MamaM. I'm always inspired by those (like yourself), who embraced simplicity/frugality from scratch. Without much direction.

P.S. Re: chocolate... I never had much of a hankering for anything sweet in my younger days, chocolate included, however, the older I get, the more intense my desire for sweets and chocolate, gets!

[pinkytoe]

Both of my parents (born in 1919) grew up in the mountains of Colorado. I spent many summers on family vacations visiting all the relatives who still lived in mountain towns or farms. As a child and teen, seeing first hand how they lived - raising their own cattle and food, being resourceful and living a very simple but seemingly contented life - left quite an impression. At my grandmothers, I still remember getting water from the well in an old metal bucket, shelling peas and "going to town" - a weekly event. One summer when I was about 13 or so, my mother took me to meet an old woman way up in the mountains who had been a neighbor of hers growing up. She was in her 80s, nearly blind and still getting around on an old horse. She lived in a tidy little log cabin. I admired her independence and wanted to live that way.

[razz]

Lack of money growing up and yet doing well is a great incentive to frugal living. I know that I can have most things if I wait and save carefully choosing between wants and needs and shopping thriftily.

[Gregg]

I don't have an old fashioned bone in my body, but I do a couple things that my family has done for a very long time. Gardening and canning come to mind. I do not in any way consider them to be old fashioned pursuits, however. The things we can are recipes my Grandma never imagined. Some of the plants we grow and the methods we use would shock my Dad (who was a master gardener in every sense of the word). I think both of them would be thrilled with how things have evolved because both were very diligent about staying up with advances and trends related to their favorite activities.

[herbgeek]

What little old fashioned I do have (and its quite little) comes from Mom. I will not have a guest to my house without offering them something to drink and eat. Usually but not always homemade. I love table linens. I like to can my produce. All stuff from Mom.

There's only one other thing that is "old fashioned" and its my fascination with herbs, in cooking as well as medicinally, for crafts, and for household use. No idea where that comes from, must be another life, as no one in my family ever had an interest or knowledge of herbs.

[MamaM]

I forgot to add, in my 20's and early 30's, I was able to travel overseas. It really opened my eyes as to how people live around the world. In Guam, I remember being invited to a tiny home, no electricity, laundry on the line, kids running around barefoot but happy, smiling. They still served me a glass of wine and had a spread that would rival any wedding. I was floored and humbled. I saw this over and over in all the countries I visited. They appreciated what they had, didn't have excess and were very kind.