Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things Things I remember about Turning Teen in the 70's! 1. Music - We had Abba, Queen, Sweet, T-Rex, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple.....and Jasper Carrott! :-) 2. TV - Ah, I used to love the The Wombles! Orinoco (the chap sleeping on the front page of this link) was my favourite - and I knew all the words to 'Underground Overground, Wombling Free!' Morecambe and Wise on a Saturday night, The Good Life, Vision On, The Banana Splits, The Doubledeckers, Multicoloured Swapshop, The Waltons....good stuff! 3. Rule breaking - as new Teens, we were breaking all the rules. We were so brazen. We loitered (sometimes with alcohol) we shoplifted (not me, too much of a wimp!). Having your ears pierced was really a bit wild! Sneaking off after school to the local public convenience to change out of school uniform and into jeans. Dating older 'men', by the time I was 15, I had dated two grown men and two soldiers from a local base - but I never ever.........you know.....!! 4. Radio - the glory days of Dave Lee Travis (DLT aka The Hairy Cornflake!), Alan 'Fluff' Freeman, and listening to Paul Gambaccini under the covers late at night! Also in this section is my first portable radio and my first ever record player, both in my bedroom, thanks to my doting stepdad! :-) 5. Grass - nope, not the lawn kind, the unlawful kind. No really heavy drugs in my circle, grass was the narcotic of choice. I can still remember sitting in a lad's basement with about four friends, the sweet smell of marijuana in the air and Hendrix on the record player.........(see No 3!) 6. First drink - first serious session was when I was 12, and my dad bought me cider at a local bar. I was stopped by the police walking home! And I got barred from my first pub for being D&D at 15. (see No 3!) 7. Swimming - I still love swimming, but in Cheltenham we were spoilt with this fabulous outdoor pool! In fact, I enjoyed spending so much time there that at 13 I was casually employed as a lifeguard. I don't like indoor pools and still promise myself a return visit some sunny Summer afternoon..... 8. Cycling - I cycled everywhere as a teen, with my trusty bike and my cycle lock. Religious meeting, school, stables, friends, music lessons.... 9. Holidays - I had some fab holidays as a child/teen. Quaker Camp, Summer School at Friends School, Saffron Walden, and PGL. All wonderfully Enid Blyton holidays! And no family.....(well, apart from my siblings at Camp!) 10. My Big Brother - Big brother A (not to be confused with Aginoth who isn't actually blood!) was my hero as a child. He took me to senior school on my first day, he rode me places on his bike (sitting precariously on his luggage rack), he was (and still is!) very tall, very handsome and utterly charming. My second brother was also tall and handsome and all my girlfriends were in love with my big brothers. 11. CB radio - in my early teens CB (citizen band) radio was all the rage, albeit illegal. I remember one fun evening we were in a friends car with the CB on and we were chased by the police through all these little Cotswold villages! 12. Food - before all this silliness with food, and my emerging vegetarianism at 20yrs, we had a very simple yet delicious diet. After swimming on Friday we would be fed up with delicious eggy bread. I used to love lamb hearts (makes me gag now, mind!), we used to fight over the biggest and make pea shooters out of the valves! And a pint of milk each a day, to promote strong bones and healthy bodies. One of my mum's specialities was golabki (pronounced gawumkee), a Polish recipe for stuffed cabbage leaves. I loved Kobassa sausages and toast on a Sunday morning. And the reason behind this Polish food - my stepdad from Poland. My mother is still a WAY better cook than I will ever be, despite her doubts. 13. Disco - remember that wonderful disco music? The flashing lights, the girls and boys trying to look cool? I used to LOVE discos (I still do, but they are disappearing fast). I spent hours in my room practising disco steps from Pan's People and then would eagerly wait for a chance to show them off. In fact, I have Pan's People to thank for winning a disco-dancing competition and getting to dance with the disco hunk :-) Thursday Thirteen Blogroll All Thursday Thirteen participants can be seen on the Thursday Thirteen blogroll to your right and down a bit - go on...have a wee surf!

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