What do you remember about how your grandma used to live?

PLEASE keep adding to this thread. It's absolutely wonderful.

My paternal Grandparents married in 1915, I have a newspaper cutting reporting the 'pretty wedding' and honeymoon in Brighton and Hove. I remember their lovely 1930' s house that I used to visit every Saturday evening with my parents. ( Didn't want to go when I was a teenager). They had a big garden with a summer house that my father had made and lily of the valley growing under the window. In the lavatory they had Izal or Bronco paper and to get to it I had to go through a dark hallway with a grandfather clock that had a really deep chime and a dark carved monkey hat stand...I was very scared. My Granny was very stylish ( she wore Chanel no 5 ) and was wonderful at needlework. She made dolls clothes for me and really pretty night dresses for my cousin and I. My Grandfather was injured in the first world war and was very, very quiet. I really don't remember him speaking on more than two or three occasions. They both lived to see my first son as a baby and I have fond memories of them.
My maternal Grandparents lived very near and I was always in the garden with my Grandpa ( who was Dutch). My mother and I were both loved him very much. I remember my mother being really upset at his death when I was about nine. He had a beautiful rose garden and a TV in a wooden cabinet with doors. I wasn't at all close to my maternal Grandmother. I think she was sick of children, she had nine !

We moved in with my Mother's parents when Dad joined the navy during the war. 2 of Mum's unmarried sisters were still at home. one was still a teenager and was into the current music from America which she constantly played on the gramaphone. Unti she joined the Land Army. The other sister, my namesake, became a Red Cross Nurse.
In spite of the worries of wartime I remember it being a very lively house with lots of visitors, including Servicemen. Granny played the piano and everyone sang and danced and I had lots of adult attention. She took me to church with her and really brought me up as Mum was at work in the nearby Home Guard office.
Grandpa had a good sense of humour and was another keen gardener, on his allotment.
Dad's parents were different, especially Grandma who was very serious. They lived in the next street so I saw them most days. Every Saturday the whole family came there for tea, each contributed something to eat, we cousins played together. Granda was quite droll too - he taught me lots of songs.
Thank God Dad came home safe, he was a good pianist and we had singsongs at these Saturday parties - hewas the only son with 4 sisters who were all there with their families.

I had two grannies; a Scottish one and an English one. There was a Scottish grandpa who died when I was 7. I adored him. He was the most gentle man ever. He was the only person I ever knew who wore spats. He wrote stories about Scottish villagers and was the editor of a well-known and well-read fiction magazine. Scottish granny was small but formidable and much stricter than grandpa. Their house was a big detached one, with five bedrooms. Most of the life was lived in the parlour which led into the very large garden where there were all kinds of fruit which we enjoyed picking - and eating.
English granny was a widow who lived round the corner. Born and brought up in Leicester, she came to Scotland with her husband. Her house was a big semi with plenty of rooms and a long garden. Part if the garden was no longer cultivated but there was an old air-raid shelter where we used to play. She loved animals but a cat she had was the most vicious animal and a dog was not much better!

Great thread! I've only read a few posts, but I know I'm going to enjoy this thread, they are so interesting and nostalgic.

annodomini your scottish Gran sounds like my Dad's Mother who came from the Borders and was very strict. "Hold you tongue!"
Looking back, I don't think my Mum ever got on with her.
No offense to you Scottish Grans .

I remember staying at mine when she lived in Edmonton. Her house seemed large to me but it wasn't really but to a small child it was. She had a downstairs bathroom under the stairs. I was terrified to go in there as one of her husbands had died in the bath and i was scared . She had a parlour with beautiful furniture in but we were not allowed in there. We stayed in the kitchen at the back of the house. She was always cooking or doing the washing in a boiler. I loved the smell as she used Persil and her whites were dunked in a blue bag and looked amazing. Linen was sent to the local laundry. My nan was a fantastic cook and she used real butter in all her cakes and boy could you taste the difference. I remember the garden full of veggies and sitting on the front door step shelling fresh peas for her. She also kept rabbits which were used as food. This stemmed from the war as it was extra for her family. She just continued doing this until she left that house and moved into a small bungalow nearer to us as she got older.

Some lovely stories here. I know nothing about any of my grandparents. I don't even know their names. My parents came over from Southern Ireland in the 1930s. I know the areas they lived in as children and I knew some aunts and uncles but know nothing about my grandparents.

I have loved reading all about your grandparents.

I remember my maternal granny who I still miss. She was wonderful.
She lived in a busy road near the shunting yard and all the washing used to get covered in soot! The toilet was outside and I used to go across the road to the greengrocer and ask for the tissue paper which apples were wrapped in. Sometimes he would give me some, these were used instead of newspaper in the outside loo. Also tHere were ‘rags’ which were used as sanitary towels and washed when used, hanging behind the door,!!? I could go omelette

I could go on! Don’t know where ‘omelette ‘ came from!

Apologies