I never met my paternal grandmother, she died when my DF was a teenager. However, she must have been a determined and strong woman, as she had divorced her husband in 1930, when my DF, the youngest of five, was three years old!
I have very vague memories of my paternal grandfather (the man she divorced), but I hardly knew him. He wasn't a nice man in any way, and my DF kept away from him as much as possible.
My maternal grandmother could knit, crochet, sew, cook, bake, and drink, and the drinking was her favourite hobby! Consequently, my DM as the eldest of four, mainly brought up her siblings, with her father's help when he was home from work. I grew up living one road from them, and did love my nana, but my great love was my DGF!
I loved everything about that man, he was kind, clever, musical, sang and danced professionally into his sixties. He taught me so much, I used to spend ages sitting on his knee with him telling me about all sorts of things from 'Pear's Cyclopedia’! He taught me to play the spoons (I've lost the knack), tap dance (too hefty now), he tried valiantly to teach me to sing (I can't carry a note in a bucket).
He taught me how to hang wallpaper, to grow vegetables, to listen to music properly, to identify different instruments from their sound.
He taught me to read, we used to have spelling competitions, and he taught me his method of doing mental arithmetic, I could read, write, knew all the times tables, including the dreaded sevens, and do basic arithmetic before I started school, at the age of four and a half!
We wore ties as part of our school uniform, and I was the only girl who could do her own tie, and in a double Windsor knot!
He used to make his own butter, and taught me to handle a pair of butter pats!
I loved the very bones of my 'Grandy'! He's been gone since April 1983, and I still miss him, he was just great!