Things I remember from my maternal grandmother's house:
A large ceramic horse ornament, complete with barrel laden wooden cart and genuine leather straps
Really, really hideous ornaments of paupers
An ornament that was covered in small shells. I can't remember what it was supposed to be, but to me it looked a bit like a hideous face. Do you remember the humanoid tapeworm from the X-Files? When I saw that, it reminded me of that ornament.
Awesome beaded necklaces, really long ones
A manual sewing machine
One of those hand-cranked whisks
Scratchy green sofas in the 'big' lounge. This room was home to most of the above mentioned ornaments, plus one of those paintings of an 'Oriental' lady, which by the magic of Google I've learnt was a print of 'The Chinese Girl', a 1950 painting by the Russian artist Vladimir Tretchikoff. There was one in our school as well.
Coloured glass things. Lots of coloured glass things. And doilies.
The dalek in the spare room. It wasn't actually a dalek, it was an old fashioned heater that didn't even look much like a dalek. However, my brother was convinced it was a dalek and was terrified of that room, and passed that fear onto me.
Electric blankets.
An outside toilet. My nan did actually have an indoor toilet fitted in the late 70s/early 80s, but when we were younger we preferred the outdoor one, because we didn't have to go past the room with the dalek to get to it.
The indoors toilet had one of those dolly toilet covers Bregante pictured.
UHT milk. My nan wouldn't have anything else.
My grandad Sid's mini-screwdrivers. Was absolutely fascinated with them because they had bright coloured, see through plastic grips. Got a similar set in a Christmas cracker a couple of years ago, was dead excited!
The pond and its huge lilies.
Really good chips from the local chippy in Pelsall, always eaten with brown bread.
The weird corrugated metal houses over the road
The beige car with the beaded seat covers.
I remember less from my paternal grandmother, we visited her less. Demands on her time were high due to having 8 children - when she died, she'd left 7 children, 16 grandchildren, 8 great grandchildren and 2 great-great grandchildren. What I do remember:
Brown. The entire house seemed to be very brown.
Lots of small ornamental teapots, small ceramic birds and a little house ornaments
Cups, saucers and tea leaves. She utterly rejected tea bags and mugs.
My uncle John. He came of his bike when he was 13 and hit his head on the pavement, and ended up brain damanged. He lived with his mom until her death at 86.
