My very first thread on gn was ages ago and...

Greatnan sounds like someone I used to know. Thankfully there is nobody I know now who has that effect on me.

Not now - but my old grammar school headmistress fitted the bill. I confess to being quite pleased when I read she had died many years later.

More so with relatives when I was younger and naive. I would try to please them but soon learnt to treat people as they treated me.
I don’t set out to impress anyone as I am who I am. Someone’s impression of me is as mine is of them their choice.

I think my very first was a bit of a moan about what I considered inadequate facilities in an expensive holiday let.

I was roundly ticked off by one or two who sternly told me that ‘roughing it’ was part of the ‘fun’ of going on holiday. Which just made me think, no wonder stingy owners often got away with it, when some people were evidently humbly grateful for whatever they condescended to provide.

I think my first thread was me musing on whether it was more interesting to be female than male. I can't remember the outcome or responses but I still sometimes wonder. I'm glad I'm female though.

Without thinking twice my late MIL She undermined me from the minute I met her
I was the wrong shape and had the wrong hair colour and length. Been to Grammar school, was in further Education and even had a street in her village called after my fore bares.
The first words I ever heard her say were "I thought you would have chosen someone like me".
I was never invited to call her mum thank goodness because I wouldn't have.

No criticism of you kittylester for reminding us of Greatnan’s standards 🌞. I miss her and the debates she’d start or co tribute to

My first post was asking for advice on whether I should wash some ‘dry clean only’ curtains.

I got several replies, some said yes, some said no.

I did wash them, and they were fine.

I then progressed to bolder stuff, GN wise!

Several years ago DH and I arrived to visit my DD and SIL for a weekend at their invitation.
As soon as I walked in the door my SIL berated me as he had been allocated the job of cleaning the bathroom - because of me. I was bemused as I pointed out I had not taken part in making it dirty. I knew that was not the point obviously my DD had passed on her views of my so called standards

I felt quite upset for a while!!

My first foray into GN around 2011 was almost my last. I just added what I thought, cannot remember the subject, but somebody roundly told me off for not supplying facts and figures. I scuttled off for a few weeks.

I remember Greatnan RIP.

I joined just after Greatnan had died and remember how upset everyone was.
My best friend had died suddenly but I thought I'd start a thread and join in, needing friendly company.
My word, I got shredded by someone who is still on here - persevered but eventually left then came back again.

Some visitors used to put me in a spin of cleaning, tidying;
dinner parties were always rather stressful but we only have family gatherings now so they're far more relaxed, or friends just popping in for a coffee.

Take us as you find us! However, I did put a bit lot of effort in to cleaning the house on Monday as we were expecting visitors but in the event they got delayed by a couple of days. Do I have to clean again?

glad you scuttled back, Charleygirl5.

My first post on Gransnet was about plays set in regions where the actors can't do the accent. I was put in my spot by some Scot's grans who continued to goad me about my spelling until they left or were banned.
I also made some good friends through that post and when I had to change my user name because of it being the same as some pole dancer on U Tube I think I might have decided to mellow myself. Thanks to FC and GMS.

GSM sorry..

kittylester

I felt quite upset for a while!!

My sister in law and her DH visited at short notice recently. She is a lovely person as is he. They had only visited briefly once before last Autumn in all the decades we have lived here... I had a very dear friend coming to stay the following month too and needed to clear the loft of post Covid bruck and find the bed for her as well. Of course I started on the ground floor - where all flat surfaces accumulate (different) piles of brick each day - so that DSIL and DBIL would have somewhere to sit and a table to have lunch.... The whole process for both visits took several exhausting days.... and both visits went really well, especially VDF's...who commented I must have worked really hard!!! (She knows me really well...). DSIL made no remark about the house on either visit..... However our (tiny) house is silting up again.... already... DM was an immaculate housewife and was constantly cleaning and turning the carpet on the twisty staircase. She was very loving otherwise though, but would tell me not to follow her 'like a bad smell' when she was cleaning...I think my lifestyle may be a reaction to that. I'm 73 so don't think I will be changing now... No doubt someone will tell me off for being superficial or something.....

when I had to change my user name because of it being the same as some pole dancer on U Tube
Love that!
😂😂😂

My first post was ripped to pieces, I had been reading since my mum died, and decided to post on the Grenfell thread. Fortunately Annibach took me under her wing despite being in despair herself.

As for visitors, yep I have a friend who lives in what only can be described as a show home cleans top to bottom every single day even when the children were still at home. We mostly meet up at restaurants etc nowadays.

(P.S. my home is clean, but is about to undergo major structural repairs so not as pristine as I would like, and honestly it’s rather disheartening to see the internal and external damage appear and change frequently. )

Re housework and state of house...or state of anything I am comforted by my friend's advice "Those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind".

I can't remember anything about my first post.

Greatnan's death was sudden and shocking. I remember the sense of relief when the police said she must have died straight away after her fall in the mountains. The worst of the waiting (ten days I think it was) was wondering if, for part of that time, she was still alive, in agony and unable to call for help. She died doing what she loved.

My house is, ahem, busy or, as MrB puts it, "productive". That is, we do stuff and it shows. As does the dust 😬

Which reminds me of a professor in whose house I was a lodger for a while. His wife was an alcoholic and so there were always a lot of wine bottles in the dustbin. Gosh! That was before glass recycling had started and it was only in the late nineties. Not so very long ago when you think about it! Anyway, Michael would comment about how much heavy "dust" there seemed to be on bin days.

I was hesitant about starting a thread as I had seen some unkind comments on some but I gave it a go and "dogless" showed me that there are some lovely people on GN. I can't have a dog due to asthma as I'm allergic to them 🙁

I meet up with two very different groups of people for coffee or lunch and we all get along so well. We have been doing it long before Covid.

I have 2 more GN penfriends and we also get along very well.

There are some really kind and helpful people on GN but when I see a few names I am inclined to go elsewhere as life is too short.

One of my first efforts was a general moan about DH.. I was quickly shot down by Maw and a few others, telling me that I should be glad I still had one!

I just jumped straight in with my maiden post 11 years ago when I saw a rare GNer of the male variety having a real go at another poster. I didn’t know their back story, it turned out the spat was six of one and half a dozen of the other, and it somehow all ended up being my fault. I took a few days off to lick my wounds.

Then I ventured back to post on a thread on baby names. Completely safe and non-controversial, I thought. Nope! I said I liked the name Matilda and mentioned the Empress of the same name. I got another ticking off and a long history lesson from someone who obviously held a deep personal grudge against this twelfth century woman.

I can’t remember who any of these people were but I’m obviously deeply traumatised and scarred for life (there is a compensation fund, isn’t there?).