My Mad Mother!

[Caran]

After watching Michael Portillo on his railway programme where he was sweeping a chimney. I remembered my mother making me clean my teeth with soot. I had to rub my toothbrush on the fire back and go to bathroom and clean my teeth. I can still remember the gritty horrible fell of it.

[tonyav]

Could have been worse Caran, she could have had you up the chimney giving it a sweep.

[gness]

And my mad mother convinced my dad to attach the hose to the wrong end of the vacuum cleaner so she could use it to dry our hair......

We had the dustiest hair in the school...... :-(

[Caran]

Her cure for earache was warm mashed potato in a sock, strapped to the side of my head with a scarf!

[tonyav]

LOL, that sounds like something from a Monty Python sketch, Caran.

[gness]

Heck.....never heard that one, Caran!

[Caran]

She also made me wear goose grease spread on brown paper on my chest under my vest and Liberty bodice because I was a chesty child.

[gness]

Oh mine did that, Caran......I did like chewing the buttons on a liberty bodice though.....☺

[Caran]

Me too gness, they were nice and rubbery!

[Mamyalynne]

They didn't let me down the chimbley till I was seven!!

I recall my Gran making a sugar n soap poultice for a boil on my brother's arm , when she removed it you could almost see through to the other side ...blurgh!!

[Caran]

I remember that one too. It was great for getting splinters out. In fact I applied one to OH not long ago, it got his splinter out. He was most impressed.

[DaisyNonna]

Still use sugar and soap for splinters

[tonyav]

I have a scar on my leg, I still don't know if it's from the boil or the my mom's 'special' politice.

[Peter Pedant]

// Could have been worse Caran, she could have had you up the chimney giving it a sweep.//

or LICK it clean - the chimney I mean
that would certainly give you horrible fellings

[PankySmooch]

Tony, my nan used to do my boils with a poultice, it was fecking torture!

[tonyav]

Yep, and then when they thought it was ready came the pinching and squeezing, AHGGGGGGG. Torture indeed.

[PankySmooch]

Lol, imagine that happening nowadays, social services would be kicking the door down

[tonyav]

Yeah and that would be just for the poltice !.

[PankySmooch]

As far as I can remember it was a cotton flannel and boiling water?

[Cloverjo]

I remember my granny giving me a clove to chew on when I had a toothache. I can almost still feel the pain. My head just about hit the ceiling.

[tonyav]

Had that one as well, PankySmooch.
My moms 'special politice was spread on a piece lint and strapped on to boil for a few days and then 'inspected' to see if it was ready !!!!!!!!