Times were hard in Grandma's day
No electrical appliances had she
A ringer washing machine for washing the clothes
And a whistling gas kettle for making the tea
No electric lighting
Just a lamp filled with gas
That's what I remember
When I was a lass
Kneeling down, scrubbing steps
And not just her own
With a bucket of hot water
And a block of donkey stone
I remember on a Tuesday
Grandma used to make
In a willow pattern bowl
A pineapple upside-down cake
Sunday was trifle day
With custard, cream and jelly
Then at twenty to four we'd settle down
To watch ‘The Golden Shot' on the telly
Grandma used to take washing in
For all the neighbours in the street
Then when it was clean and dry
I’d fold it in piles so neat
We were very poor
And didn’t have much to boast
But we were happier then than people are now
The ones who deserve the least have the most
STORIES IN POTTERY
Bluebirds above the azure lakes
Burleigh cups - willow pattern trees in gold leaf -
Once with mashed Sichuan oolong,
And on their side plates, shortbread tiffin,
While nephews in white laughed loudly and played tennis on the lawn.
George V Silver Jubilee mug and plate (1910-1935)
Found by slum clearance machines
In a small kitchen overlooking the slipway at Wallsend -
The mug was dropped once and chipped
On the stone floor, toasting the returned Mauretania -
The plate was never used again,
The Mauretania was never used again.
Chipped but uncracked ; dust coated, but loved.
Shapes and pictures that hold more than hot tea.
Saucers deep and smooth, or shallow and scalloped
With painted delicate petals.
With oolong long cooled,
Cups with flared bell-mouths buried
Under crumpled newspaper stuffed
In soapboxes advertising Daz flakes
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