Blogtoberfest day 3 - Flashback Friday

Just scraping in under the wire here! Thank you all who left a lovely message yesterday about Wee Granny. She is fine. Just the same as she always is but hopefully some treatment will stop things getting messy for her. So I thought maybe I'd share some photos of her as a youngster. Apologies for any photo corners you spy in these pics. They are my copies and consequently in my scrapbooks. 

Granny was born Elizabeth to Maggie and Sandy in 1923. Now we always thought she was born in her home town of Strathaven but when I was gathering all the photos and info from my grandparents about 10 years ago we found out she was actually born here in my hometown!! Her mum was from here and met Sandy (a carpenter) at the local busy harbour. He worked in Stra'ven and that's where the marital home was. It looks like she came home to her Mammy's to give birth! Don't you love this old pram? It's like a bath on wheels!

 This is wee Betty aged 3 or 4. I adore her outfit - those button details on her coat are amazing. This photo makes her giggle "Oh aye, mouth wide open. What a surprise!" Her nickname at school was "Arabocious" meaning having a bit of front. She's a wee quiet woman, my Granny, but was a ballsy kid!

And here she is a young woman - I think this is her 18th birthday. Her hair was her big vanity and she loved ballroom dancing and competed. Often partnered with the butcher's son.

I think this is about the same time - she told me it was about 1941 so she's about 18. Look at that tiny waist!

She married fairly late for the time - into her twenties - and before that worked in a motor garage during the war wiring up the cars. She was demoted for crashing a Studebaker and had to paint the crosses on the side of the ambulances. Up a ladder. She hates heights. So when a cocky GI named Lee badgered her for a date (shaking the ladder and calling her "Tommy" on account of her boiler suit and hair tucked under a baseball cap) she told him to stop or she'd make him. He didn't stop. She poked him with her paintbrush right in his uniform. *g* She got demoted again to scraping the rust off the bottom of the vehicles. And was eventually fired for being "an agitator" after making a fuss over her wee pal Agnes not being paid the same as a man doing the same job. Arabocious indeed!!

I could go on. There are many, many stories I could share. Happy and sad and one or two mental crazy ones. They're my favourites. But I think I'll leave it at pre-marriage Betty for now. She was and still is some fine woman! x