My good news

[timer lady]

Mazol tov (sp?), Esther! You sound like a proud grandma (as you should be). My mom was the proud grandma of 20 grandchildren with 2 great grandchildren. She loved those kids like you wouldn't believe.

Again, congratulations.

 

[Abbey]

WOW!! Twenty grand children??? That is amazing. Congrats. I can't even fathom keeping track of birthdays, etc., for that many grand kids. You're a good granny.

Star...stop showing off.

Abbey

 

[busywend]

Congrats!

Mazal Tov!

20 - WOW!!

 

[hearts and roses]

Congratulations! Twenty grandchildren! Wow, you are so blessed!

 

[Marguerite]

Wonderful! Congratulations, Esther! Mazel Tov! I like their names, too. Lovely, and they have a lot more valid meaning than some of the (sometimes silly, in my opinion) names that kids seem to get these days. One of my husband's ancestors was named after the ship that brought them to Australia - Palmyra!

I like what you do for them when they start school, too. That is a lovely idea.
Whenever I hear the word "satchel" it conjures up the image of the old, leather sort with straps and buckles at the front. Something much smaller than the more commonly used backpacks these days. For me, a satchel is only slightly bigger than a sporran (but without all the fur and silver on the more expensive, ornate ones).

I hope the Bat Mitzvah on the 9th is a wonderful family day for you and her.

My mother had 24 grandchildren by the time she died - the last 4 were mine. But she was a lot older than you by the time she reached No 20. She had about 6 great-grandchildren by then, too.

If your eldest granddaughter plans to study medicine then it could be some years before she gives you any great-grandchildren!

Marg

 

[Star*]

Esther -

I have many talents - lol....

Abbey - I can show off iffin I wanna!

 

[Estherfromjerusalem]

Star, I love it when you show off!

I love it when Abbey tells her tales (and goes to her corner!).

I love the humor on this board.

And I love this board, and the whole "family."

And Marguerite, yes, when I say "satchel" I remember mine, made out of leather, with leather straps and buckles, on my back. Oh my, I am really old, even ancient. Do you know, my first few years in grammar school (aged 11 +), we had inkwells in our desks at schools, and an ink monitor who used to be responsible for getting the ink jug filled with ink, and would go round all the desks and put ink in the inkwells, and we would use our nib pens, dip them in again and again. And we used blotting paper!!

My grandchildren (and even my children) just can't believe it when I describe it to them. I remember when having a fountain pen was a great honor, and they would not allow us to use biros in school because they were a modern invention, they smudged and made a mess!!!

Oh dear. Well, I have seen some changes in this world, and I'm not really all that old yet (I'm just 63).

I think I am making myself depressed, so I shall stop now.

Love, Esther

 

[Marguerite]

Esther, I remember the inkwells too. And before the inkwells (in Kindergarten and Year 1) we had to use very thick, very black, "BBBB" pencils which were so soft they sent large smudges across the page (especially for lefthanders like me). I was lucky that I fell into that small gap of time when they had decided to not interfere with lefthanders. Mind you, there were some half-hearted attempts to persuade me to write with my right hand, but I was too stubborn.

Did you ever make matchstick darts with four matches bound together, a pen nib stuck at the front with the match heads, and two triangular flights stuck at the back between the four match-ends? You could flick them with an elastic band and the pen nib would stick in the blackboard.

I think these days using one of these would earn a suspension...

And I'm even younger than you!

We didn't just use blotting paper - we used old banksia flowers. If you pull off the petals and the crumbly bits around the step of the flower UNDER where the petals were, you get a velvety brown layer around the stick which was perfect for wiping big blobs off the pen nib. We could pick a fresh flower at recess or lunch if we'd already made a mess of one. Banksia flowers are like weeds in the Aussie bush, the old spent flowers stay on the bush or on the ground under the bush, for the whole year round. It takes only a few minutes to make a new pen wiper.

But this is something my kids have never needed, so they never knew about it. No inkwells these days!

Esther, please write down all these memories for those lovely grandchildren of yours. The things we took so much for granted, considered so commonplace as children - these are the first things to be lost as information to the next generation.

Marg

 

[Star*]

I can write with both my left and right hand and I do calligraphy -

That makes me ambidextrious!

I can turn the tub fawcett off with my left toes or right toes-

That makes me aquadextrious!

I cant' write with my toes -

I have tried. Need more practice to sign checks in the bank - I get such looks.

 

[amazeofgrace]

happy dance for the Gramma!!!

 

[totoro]

Wonderful news. New life is such is such a joy and blessing.
We were at a family friends today and they are awaiting their 15th Grandchild... I thought that was impressive. You are much more inspirational! Nice to read that you do so much for them, sending them off to school on a positive note is so important.