Friday 22 March 2019

The Red Stools

Hello, thank you for dropping in.  Now that we have reached the vernal equinox and astronomical spring has sprung, I've changed my header photo to show you Acton Burnell Castle behind the village churchyard, which is noted for its heritage collection of daffodils - much as I love Ironbridge, I don't want to be looking at a picture of it bedecked with snow when outside my window, the daffodils are flowering. I did think about going back to my previous header photo, the one I have used since I began blogging over four years ago, but I fancied something seasonal and I hope you approve.

Today I would like to tell you a story so are you sitting comfortably?  Then I'll begin...once upon a time there were two little girls called April and May.  They were cousins, born a few weeks apart at the end of the 1960s.  One year, when they were quite small, their aunt bought them each a shiny, red, wooden stool.  Aunts do that, don't they?  They see a good idea for a niece or nephew and if there is another niece or nephew of the same age, they buy one for each of them.  A small stool is an excellent gift for a small child because it is so very useful: you can stand on it to reach the things which are too high up, you can sit on it when your little legs need a rest and you can use it as a little table, perhaps for your tea set when you are having a tea party.  If the stool has been painted a bright and shiny colour, so much the better.

These stools, however, were even better gifts because they had an extra function.  Four little wheels were set into the seat, and can you see the bracing piece between the legs?  This meant that you could do this - 

Turn the stool upside down and a small child could now sit astride it and use her feet to scoot around.  What a marvellous design!  April and May now each had their own set of wheels.  Many, many hours of pleasure were had with the red stools (and April's, at least, was always known as "the red stool") in the 1970s, both indoors and outdoors. April had three siblings and May had two and all seven of the children enjoyed playing with the stools; April's big sister may have been a teeny bit jealous that she didn't have a red stool of her own.

Alas,  after years of sterling service, April's red stool eventually succumbed to the pressures of wear (and four children) and the seat split, the piece of wood which held two of the wheels shearing right off.  The red stool was irreparable and she and her sisters were very sad.  May and her siblings grew up and her red stool was cast aside, by now looking very scruffy and worn.  However, May's mother tucked it away inside her house and kept it.

More than twenty years later, May gave birth to a little boy.  Her mother brought out the old red stool, sanded it down and repainted it with glorious, shiny, red paint so that it looked as good as new, ready for her new grandson to scoot about on it as his mother and her siblings had done.  

Years after this, when May's children had also outgrown the red stool, May tucked it away inside her house (well, not quite, because she found it very useful when she needed to reach things on the high kitchen shelves)...until the end of last year, when I visited her with my family and she brought it out for Tom Kitten to play with.  When we left, the red stool came home with us on long-term loan.  I photographed it and sent pictures to my family to show them which caused a good deal of excitement as many happy memories were recalled.  At Christmas, when we gathered together, I took the stool for them to play with to show them.  April was thrilled to see it, for she is my little sister and May is my cousin - and by chance, it is her birthday today.  Happy Birthday, May. 

So this little red stool is now serving its third generation of small children and more memories are being made.

See you soon.
Love, MrsTiggywinkle x



27 comments:

  1. What a lovely tale. I hope the little stool will be able to be enjoyed by many generations to come. X

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    1. I hope so too. Isn't it funny how something so seemingly ordinary can become so precious? x

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  2. Oh, what a wonderful story. I’m certain that Tom Kitten will have hours of fun with the little red stool. Love your seasonal blog header. Hugs from a cold and still-snowy PEI. Marie x

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    1. Thanks Marie - I can't believe you've still got snow!! x

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  3. What a lovely story and a fantastic stool Cx

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    1. Thanks Cathy. I hope you're well? x

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    2. Just seen your comment (wondering if I'd commented... I had, lol), yes all well thank you. I'm trying to get back with blogging and less social media. More reading and yarny craftwork are happening now. Take care, Cx

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  4. I love to read your story about "extra function" of red stools ...used to third generations....

    Have a great day

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    1. Isn't it fab? And isn't it lovely that children continue to be charmed by it and things obviously haven't changed that much, after all? x

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  6. I've never seen a little stool like this before with wheels set into the seat, isn't that the cutest thing, it must have brought hours of pleasure, and lots of happy memories to look back on. Amazing that it's still in use today.

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    1. I've never seen another stool like it either, and yet it seems so obvious. My husband thinks that we should develop a business plan and take it to Dragons' Den! x

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  7. I enjoyed the story about the stool. A happy ending since it's still giving pleasure to another generation.

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    1. A very happy ending indeed - and hopefully not an ending at all! x

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  8. What a lovely story and how wonderful the red stool is stil bringing joy to all your family;)

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    1. Thanks Rosie. I couldn't believe it when May brought it out of the cupboard for us, I thought it would have been long gone. x

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  9. A gentle tale of love and survival. x

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  10. Such a sweet story of family memories and fun times.

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  11. I what a happy post. Love the idea that you can scoot on that red stool. My boys would have loved it when they were young. Hope Tom Kitten has fun :) B x

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  12. Oohh...I wonder what happened to the other little stool?! x

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    1. Sadly, it did not survive. It didn't survive intensive fun with four little girls and eventually broke beyond repair and was thrown away. That's why I was so surprised to see its partner in such good shape. x

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  13. Another well-told family tale :) I too used to have a little red stool, and it was always called "the little red stool". My dad made mine, and everyone in the family found a use for it for 20 odd years. My mother sat on it in her huge vegetable garden to pick peas (as did I and my siblings). It was three-legged, a little bit tippy, and eventually the legs became so wobbly that I (shamefully) threw it out when I was about 40. I agree that there is not much better than a stool as a gift for a small child, and this stool is a wonderful design with the wheels! Lucky Tom Kitten!!

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    1. You threw it out!! It's such a sweet story, though. Tom Kitten is lucky indeed. xx

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