Ignorance is bliss

I know some people who are not craft orientated regard me as “quaint” as I enjoy spinning, knitting, crochet, which to them are old fashioned pursuits, but it is these people who are surprised that I am capable to using a computer!  This entry is just a verbal ramble with no recommendations, so if that is why you usually read this, you have been warned and may wish to click on the X button on the top right of your screen now.!

My sister in law suggested on Facebook that I was in the need of an organisation like AA for my addiction to gadgets!  Me? Gadgets?  You bet!!  I am a sucker for them. 

Electronics hold a fascination for me.  I believe in magic, and my computer, tablet, phone, etc all are living proof to me that magic exists.  And I don’t want anyone raining on my parade and telling me they are function as a result of anything other than magic. I am still in awe at the memory capability of my ipod touch.   But then I still find it wonderful that one can flick a switch and a light bulb illuminates the room.  Admittedly I am not so old that the wheel hadn’t been invented when I was born, but I do remember living a very simple life where gadgets were not an everyday part of my life.

The first gadgets I remember are now every day items.  The day my father bought home a vacuum cleaner was a momentous occasion.  The family was gathered together to watch this appliance in all its glory clean the floor.  My father even demonstrated how labour saving it was going to be by sitting in his chair and showing how the vacuum head could still glide across the floor. 

Obviously the gadget gene runs in the family because by 1955 we had a television.  There were two televisions in our street and one was ours.  I can still remember the feeling of wonderment when my dad  turned it on and we waited with baited breath for it to “warm up”.  The picture would be considered very grainy and inferior by todays standards, but in those days it was the bees nether regions!  I still think it was a good idea that the broadcasters shut down between 6 and 7 p.m. giving families time to get their meal out of the way and kids sent to bed.  It was not “good form” to eat in front of the tv.  Announcers read the news in in clothes fit for a chic dinner party.

The tv was watched and savoured and nothing else was pursued while it held court. 

A special atmosphere seemed to prevail as the curtains often had to be closed so that the picture could be appreciated.

Two other gadgets impacted massively on my life style as a teenager, the first was a “gramophone” or record player.  The other was portable radios.  Hitherto the wireless sat in the corner of one room and we listened to the Home Service for serious stuff and the Light Programme for music and comedy.  The portable radio gave the listener the chance to listen anywhere so the bedroom was where many teenagers cut their teeth on the pop music of the day, and the crackly sounds of Radio Luxembourg or Caroline.

Do I hanker for the “old days”?  No.  The internet keeps me abreast of current affairs, has provided me with wonderful sites like Ravelry where I can share my interests with like minded people, my ipod gives me listening of my choice in any location. 

Doesn’t mean I don’t have fond memories of my childhood though, and the one my family must be sick of hearing is how we had no bathroom, so baths were in tin baths in front of the open fire, afterwhich my mother would envelope me in a huge warm bath towel and give me hot cocoa to drink.  The downside of course was having no bathroom meant trips to the bottom of the garden to the loo, and on dark nights, wet nights, even snow, there is nothing magical about that!

I found a site that had old pictures of the street in which I lived as a child.  I hadn’t realised how dismal the whole neighbourhood was! 

So to conclude, my name is Sandra Davidson and I am addicted to gadgets!