Being Mrs C

Nella Last in the 1950s: Further diaries of Housewife, 49

Nella Last in the 1950s is the third (and sadly last) of the books (following Nella Last's War: The Second World War Diaries of 'Housewife, 49' and Nella Last's Peace: The Post-War Diaries Of Housewife 49 ) that have been compiled from the many diary entries that Nella Last submitted as part of the Mass Observation project. The title is pretty self-explanatory and contains entries from the 1950s. Admittedly not as "exciting" a time in history as the war years or period of change immediately following them, but fascinating all the same in terms of seeing how a normal housewife's life was at the time.

One common thread through all of Nella's diaries is the role of food. She is forever writing about the meals that she has prepared, often from rationed ingredients (remember that rationing didn't end until meat finally came off ration in 1954), and I am frequently stunned by the amount of food that she seems to put on the table. What has therefore been particularly interesting is reading Feeding the Nation: Nostalgic Recipes and Facts from 1940-1954 at the same time. This book, by the wonderful Marguerite Patten OBE, gives a detailed insight into the recipes of the day and how people made the most of the limited food that they had available to them at the time. If you have an interest in war time cookery then this book is a must.

What is also fascinating in the diaries is how Nella and many of the women she knew often spoke about missing the camaraderie of wartime when the women used to work together in the "Canteen" or in various other vital roles supporting troops and those left at home. As much as none of them wanted to return to the horrors of war, they did often say that it brought out the best in people. With the 1950s cold war threats hanging over them many did wonder if these times would return, and certainly when the 1953 North Sea floods occurred Nella took on a lead role in organising Barrow's response to help flood victims in a manner that was very impressive.

If you've read the first two instalments of Nella's diaries then this book is highly recommended as a way of rounding off the story. It's a shame that there will be no further books, but I certainly feel keen to seek out some of the other books that came out of the Mass Observation project.

Am I a MADs worthy mummy blogger?

I started this blog nearly three years ago when I was still getting used to calling myself Mrs C. At the time Little Miss C hadn't even been thought about and therefore there was certainly no aspiration to be a "Mummy Blogger".

Times have changed though and several people recently have referred to this blog as a "Mummy Blog". I still don't think of it like that myself, instead it is just about me and my life, of which LMC is obviously a huge part. Over the last year I have heard several tales of downsides to being a mummy blogger, especially on the competitive side. I've always been someone who tries to rise above things like this as often they do just come down to a form of bullying, and that's something that I have absolutely no interest in at all. I blog for my own pleasure, and if I get nice things to review or a (very) small amount of money from adverts or amazon sales then I'm even more happy. I don't really keep track of how many people read my blog, and I certainly don't lose sleep over whether it's in any rating system or not.

It was therefore quite a surprise earlier today when I received a message saying that I had been nominated for a MAD award. I've seen these mentioned on several blogs I read, but once again not paid them much attention until now. It appears that I've been nominated in the Best MAD Craft Blog category (at least I think that's the case!) and having read a little bit about the award I'm actually quite thrilled about it. From the blurb about it: "The craft blogging community is a constant source of entertainment and inspiration for parents everywhere, and the winner of this award has inspired, amazed and taught us with their crafting skills, and enthusiasm for family craft activities." It was reading craft blogs several years ago that not only inspired me to get crafting, but also to start blogging about it. A lack of time may mean that the amount of crafting I get to do is no where near the amount I want to do, but I do still make a point of making some time for it, and I can't wait until LMC is old enough to involve her in doing so. If I in turn have inspired just one person to take up crafting with their family then I am ecstatic!

It seems that to get to the shortlist of entries for MAD Awards it all depends on how many nominations you get. Bearing in mind I only found out about this about an hour ago and nominations close at 5pm tomorrow (Monday 25 April) I'm pretty convinced I'm not going to make that shortlist. But, if you have been inspired just a tiny bit by what I get up to here then please do just take a minute to pop over there and fill in a nomination form and as a thank you I'll promise a few more crafting posts over the next couple of weeks!

Thank you.

Be-Ro Victoria Sponge

For years my late Gran told me to get myself a copy of the Be-Ro cookbook and last year I finally did - I just wish I'd done so sooner. This book has in every standard baking recipe you could ever need which is pretty impressive when you bear in mind it only costs £1.50 a copy!

Unfortunately this Victoria Sponge never made it to its intended recipient as an ill Little Miss C had to take priority. There was one bit I had to disagree with though; Step 5: When cool, fill with jam or cream. Or??? Surely that should read "and"!

The 1950s Housewife

We've had a house full of sick people this last week so there's not been much to blog about (or much time to do so - my washing machine has never been busier!) We're not quite at the end yet, but I'm hoping we're not far off.

Someone today sent me a link to this article in the Daily Mail: My (very slimming) week as a 50s housewife. I'm not normally a Mail reader, but this did make an interesting read over a cuppa. I'm trying to track down the Good Housekeeping book that they mention though and when I have a bit more mental capacity and time it'd be interesting to compare and contrast this with the 1930s housewife challenge that some bloggers have been doing lately, and it also fits in quite nicely with Nella Last in the 1950s which I'm reading at the moment.

Clothkits Sunhat

The Clothkits catalogue can be a dangerous place, especially when you have a little girl who seems to like girly stuff as much as Little Miss C does. Today's sunshine made me even more determined to spend some time with my sewing machine to ensure that she actually had a sunhat and amazingly I actually did make the time to do so!

I bought the kit for this hat a while back, along with a matching sundress kit which is next on my to do list. I think it's turned out really well, especially since I managed to do all the sewing just in the time that Little Miss C had her lunchtime nap today. The instructions were really easy to follow and it all just came together without any problems. I think my measurement of her head circumference may have been a bit out though as it is huge on her, but hey, she'll grow into it.

I am completely in love with the Clothkits range and regularly have to drag myself away from their website. I was dressed in their clothes as a child of the late 70s and early 80s (thanks to the amazing sewing skills of my mum) and it looks like LMC may be the same. But with the lovely range of adult clothes I'm wondering what I should make for myself next... ;-)

Simple Chocolate Cake

Looking back I am amazed that I haven't blogged about what has to be the world's simplest chocolate cake before. This recipe came to me from my Gran and there's one for making a plain sponge (of which there is a similar recipe in Hugh F-W's River Cottage Family Cookbook).

• The weight of two eggs in self-raising flour
• The weight of two eggs in sugar
• The weight of two eggs in margarine
• Two eggs
• Cocoa (I usually use 2-3 tablespoons of Green and Blacks' Cocoa)
• A splash of milk

Sieve together the flour and cocoa. Cream together the sugar and margarine in a bowl. Beat the eggs together and then mix all the ingredients together. Add a splash of milk to help it mix.

Put in a well greased tin and bake at 170 degrees C for approximately 40 minutes.

And it's as simple as that.

The one in the photograph was one I made for last week's Hedge Laying and it was completed with a layer of raspberry jam in the middle, chocolate butter icing on top and a sprinkling of hundreds and thousands. Simple.

New shoes

Not much time for words right now, but Happy Mothers' Day!