Gross Mistake

[so lucky]

Especially since the outhouse was a far distance from the house. That chamber pot was handy in the middle of the night, as Bee pointed out, particularly for the old and infirm.

 

[Smart Red]

I'm sorry. They can't get up and use out house? Dang that's lazy.

As my g'pa would say, animals crap in their stalls.....

Tell that to the crippled 80 year old aunt whose walker slips on the icy path to the outhouse . . . to the blind grandfather during a deluge. . . to the child with scarlet fever who must be kept warm on a cold winter night. . . or to the tired mother whose 3 year old wakes up at midnight with the urgent plea, "I gotta pee."

Chamber pots -- aside from those wealthy people with servants -- were used for those more exceptional reasons. Not for every day, all the time use and nighttime use makes sense to this old lady.

 

[Nyboy]

 

[aftermidnight]

This thread has brought back some fond memories . My grandparents owned a summer cottage at the beach on quite a large piece of property back in the 30's, 40's and 50's. Two bedrooms, a dining/sitting room, a kitchen with a small pantry where the sink was. The sink had a pump, grandpa would prime the pump to draw water from the well as soon as we arrived but hot water had to be heated on the stove for dishes, the cottage did have electricity so no oil lamps. The outhouse was along a flagstone path some distance from the house, it went through a rustic pergola covered with roses. There was a chamber pot under every bed, no one used the outhouse after they retired for the night. The nights when the tide was in you'd go to sleep to waves lapping at the shore.
This is the place where I became addicted to gardening even at the tender age of 5. I carried pails of water or manned the pump on the well out in the garden, helping my grandfather with some of the chores didn't seem like a chore to me.
Grandpa gardened cottage style, foxgloves and canterbury bells, lavender and roses, pinks and carnations and lets not forget the hollyhocks and the many other old fashioned flowers like sweet william, salpeglossis and another I can't recall the name at the moment, it had flowers along the stem, rose colored and sticky to touch.
Cabbage, carrots and potatoes, peas and beans (scarlet runners), grapes, gooseberries, blackberries and currants, I know I've forgotten something.
From the beach oysters and clams and salmon from an evening out fishing. I can still remember what it was like to fall asleep in the long grass beside the long row of lavender on a lazy summer afternoon, it was pure heaven.
I count myself so very lucky to have experienced this, even with the war and the hardships it created back then. It was a kinder and gentler world than it is today.

Amazing what a thread on chamber pots can lead to .

Annette

 

[Beekissed]

I LOVE your description of your grandparent's home, Annette! What a wonderful place to experience and it's no wonder you love to garden. Wish we could turn back time and revisit these old places and old times....time seemed slower then, food tasted better, sleep was more satisfying and summer lasted forever.

 

[thistlebloom]

This thread has brought back some fond memories . My grandparents owned a summer cottage at the beach on quite a large piece of property back in the 30's, 40's and 50's. Two bedrooms, a dining/sitting room, a kitchen with a small pantry where the sink was. The sink had a pump, grandpa would prime the pump to draw water from the well as soon as we arrived but hot water had to be heated on the stove for dishes, the cottage did have electricity so no oil lamps. The outhouse was along a flagstone path some distance from the house, it went through a rustic pergola covered with roses. There was a chamber pot under every bed, no one used the outhouse after they retired for the night. The nights when the tide was in you'd go to sleep to waves lapping at the shore.
This is the place where I became addicted to gardening even at the tender age of 5. I carried pails of water or manned the pump on the well out in the garden, helping my grandfather with some of the chores didn't seem like a chore to me.
Grandpa gardened cottage style, foxgloves and canterbury bells, lavender and roses, pinks and carnations and lets not forget the hollyhocks and the many other old fashioned flowers like sweet william, salpeglossis and another I can't recall the name at the moment, it had flowers along the stem, rose colored and sticky to touch.
Cabbage, carrots and potatoes, peas and beans (scarlet runners), grapes, gooseberries, blackberries and currants, I know I've forgotten something.
From the beach oysters and clams and salmon from an evening out fishing. I can still remember what it was like to fall asleep in the long grass beside the long row of lavender on a lazy summer afternoon, it was pure heaven.
I count myself so very lucky to have experienced this, even with the war and the hardships it created back then. It was a kinder and gentler world than it is today.

Amazing what a thread on chamber pots can lead to .

Annette

Thank you for sharing that Annette. I could see it all perfectly in my minds eye, and I could smell the warm grass and lavender in your nap spot.
What a wonderful childhood.

 

[digitS']

I can still remember what it was like to fall asleep in the long grass beside the long row of lavender on a lazy summer afternoon, it was pure heaven.
I count myself so very lucky to have experienced this, even with the war and the hardships it created back then.

Steve

 

[Nyboy]

Annette sounds like dream place for a child.

 

[ninnymary]

I love cottage gardens. You were so lucky to grow up in an environment like that.

Mary