A quick update! I’m cleaning my kitchen, it’s messy as it’s the end of the week and I do all my chores after work on a Friday. First thing I did was clear some space in my food cupboard for my non-perishable items and later I will clear a shelf in my fridge, portion out my margarine, butter and cheese and place my weekly purchased vegetables and homemade oat milk all together. This will make it much easier to find things and see how much I have left at a glance!
I’m a little distraught that I cannot locate my Woods Beryl Ware, I had a few pieces and they may well still be in a packing box somewhere. I also need to dig out a teapot for my tea!
I also lost my trusty flask. It was a simple stainless steel one but it was getting filled everyday with tea and sat on my desk when I was working from home or went with me to work when I wasn’t. I visited the two shops I popped into yesterday but both hadn’t seen it. I blame the menopause for my extreme forgetfulness right now!
Monday we start the challenge, am really looking forward to doing this as accurately as possible and hearing what everyone else is up to!
I’ll be recording a video over the weekend about the challenge and it will on my YouTube channel below as will hopefully a few recipes!
C xxxx
PS: Hold the press! I found my Beryl hidden in the back of my dresser. I only have two cups, one saucer and two side plates but am thrilled! I also have lots of older crockery too so not all is lost and will put that to good use! Even found my cow creamer!
When I had my smallholding in Wales before moving to Canada (I’m British and now living back in the UK), I had a huge stash of kitchenalia and it broke my heart to sell it at a car boot before moving overseas. I don’t have much vintage stuff, just a few pieces. C xxxx
I am going to be using my Woodsware jasmine crockery, of which I have a decent sized collection. I hope you can locate your Beryl, it will add a touch of authenticity I feel.
Losing your flask during wartime would have been a catastrophe! I have a Thermos brand flask, mines a raspberry colour but there are other colours, it is excellent, far better than my other flasks.
My kitchen scales have given up the ghost and I am working all weekend, so this could be a bit of a challenge!
I found it! I only have 2 cups, one saucer and two side plates but thrilled!
Would you like a 1 pint Woodsware Beryl jug? I have one that I would love to go to a good home.
Oh gosh, are you sure? Maybe I can send you something in return? That would be so very kind of you!!!! C xxxxx
Oh yes, you do need to find your Beryl Ware, your meals will look so authentic on the beautiful green plates. And look bigger too as they are of a much better portion size than modern dinner plates … and your tea will seem so much tastier drunk out of a cup and saucer.
I found it Sue, 2 cups, one saucer and two side plates that’s all but am so pleased. They were in the back of my dresser all the time. The top of my dresser is crammed with some old fancy vintage china that I was gifted which I will use too!!!! xxxx
I can’t seem to reply to my post, but I am absolutely certain, I have also found 2 saucers. I am on 3 nights starting tonight, so I can’t post them until next week. My email address is- sumrytlemay at gmail dot com
Cos obviously I will need your address.
I don’t want anything other than to know they are appreciated.
If this is not too much trouble they will be treasured! This is so, so lovely of you, thank you Su xxxx I will email you C xxxxx
I have a small amount of Woods Wear, including a Beryl wear cup that has been mended and its accompanying saucer. It doesn’t look pretty but I figure that they’d have ‘made do and mend’ during WWII, fixed it instead of throwing it away. I have loose tea and always use a teapot- must admit I haven’t used a thermos though – not so far anyway. I am away dog sitting until Monday morning but will then go home and sort out my rations. Looking forward to the challenge!
Sounds wonderful, see you soon on the challenge! xxxx
Carolyn, your suggestion of a rationing challenge has had me researching and thinking about how to approach it and also about what would be hard to get in a current day disaster.
In Australia the food rations were few and generous (with the exception of tea), both in comparison to UK rations and also by modern standards of food consumption. (I wouldn’t get through even half of the red meat, butter or sugar ration.) I don’t think the availability of fresh food has changed much, as Australia remains a net exporter of fresh foods such as meat, dairy, sugar, grains legumes etc. The only rationed food that is far less than I currently consume is tea. I loathe coffee and am a bit of a tea addict and I love the ritual of making tea in a pot with quality tea leaves. So I will follow this restrictive ration of 1/2 pound for 4 weeks. What I have also considered is that transporting fresh food across the country would likely be impacted in wartime. So perhaps getting mangoes, pineapples, bananas and avocado to Adelaide from Queensland may not have been as easy as it is now. So in addition to the tea ration, I will limit myself to fresh produce that is actually grown in my state. Confining myself to locally grown fruit and veg will be limiting as it’s early winter here, so if I exclude produce from northern Australia I’m limited to root veg, alliums, brassicas, some pulses, spinach, kale, pears, apples and oranges. I will also avoid any processed foods that are imported (except my tea allowance, which is definitely imported).
The rations that would have impacted me more than food are petrol and clothing. These were rationed in Australia well before any food items were. I think that would be true today also, as we import petroleum products and we produce even less of our own cloth, yarn and clothing than we did in the 1940s. We even export our large wool clip to Asia for processing now.
I have calculated that my petrol allowance of 1000miles per year, would have equated to just 133km per month (about a quarter of the kilometres I normally drive). That’s going to be a real challenge. Thankfully the school holidays start just after I finish this challenge – I would never have met my child minding responsibilities with so little petrol.
Clothing coupons of 112 per year, equates to 9 for a month (sufficient to buy 2 pairs of socks, but not enough for a dress or jacket). Forgoing new clothing for a month is no real hardship, although if I had to live within those restrictions for several years, it would certainly have been challenging.
The restrictions on driving and drinking tea will bite deep – especially the tea!
Good luck to everyone who is following their own rationing challenge for the coming month.
That is such a good idea to limit yourself to local produce. I think I’ll try that. I’m heading to the supermarket now and I don’t know what they might have that us local. I think a lot of our food in Texas comes from Mexico.
Hurrah for the found crockery! 🙂