Last Monday, my mum gave me two shopping bags filled with home grown lemons.
They sat on my kitchen bench for a week.
We had a beautiful lemon tree at our old place and I too used to give away bag loads of fruit.
Our lemon tree is one of the things I miss most about my old house.
We grew it from a small pot that my father gave me for my bridal shower, into a plentiful, lively tree.
We loved that tree.
This time of year, when I dig out my electric juicer, my thoughts always drift to my Grandmothers. Between them, they had sixteen children, each one hand-reared, in their respective villages, in Greece.
They lived simply, ate meat rarely and they made food using grains.
Compared to my standards, they lived very inconvenient lives.
No IGA up the road, no takeaway for those busy afternoons and hardly any refrigeration.
Everything needed was made by hand. Every day.
With purpose. Without waste.
So as I juiced my lemons today, quickly and conveniently, I thought about my Grandmothers at my age, juicing their lemons by hand.
I thought about them as young wives; hand washing woollen blankets, pressing clothes and rearing so many children.
What did they think about?
Did they curse the never ending fucking housework when the citrus stung their cuticles?
The more we want, the more we want.
Some days, the thought of having so much stuff makes me sick.
I’d love to live more simply.
Do you think if we did more by hand, we would want less?
My grandmothers passed away aged 96 and 103.
There’s definitely something to be said about the Mediterranean lifestyle.
Linking up today with Essentially Jess for #IBOT.
Did you know that I was April’s Blogger of the Mo?
Yep! I was…
Robo X
RoboMum 
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
Absolutely yes. I often think that when I throw in a second half load of laundry – if I had to wash by hand would I wash so much?????
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
I think we’d buy darker colours and re-wear everything!
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
Yes Lydia indefinitely think I wouldn’t wash so much if I did it by hand! And Robo I agree we could learn a lot from generations gone by, and certainly from those today living in less affluent parts of the world. Here’s hoping some of it is in your genes though too!
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
It is. I yearn for less stuff and more time.
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
We certainly would be fitter and healthier doing things the ‘old’ way.
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
Yes!
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
How awesome to have grandmothers that lived to such a wonderful age. Manual labour definately makes you fitter and stronger 🙂 Nikki @ Wonderfully Women
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
I think it does. I also think that modern day stresses have a huge impact on our longevity.
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
My 9 year old would have fainted and then got up drooling at the sight of all of those lemons! He loves to eat lemons, we just peel off the outer yellow skin and he will eat the rest. Freakish! What amazing ages! Hopefully it was from all of those lemons 🙂
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
What a funny little kid ;o)
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
I often yearn for a more simplistic life. I too wonder about our foremothers before us and if they struggled with their daily grind as much as I do mine. Especially since like you say it would be such a struggle compared to the way we live at times.
fairy wishes and butterfly kisses lovely #teamIBOT
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
It was probably the same amount of worry but about different issues. I reckon we worry about very trivial things these days.
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
I’ve thought about it a lot lately. As I struggle with the two, and I can’t work out how I’m going to get a load of washing on, or reheat dinner, I think about how lucky I am to be able to throw clothes in the washing machine, or some pre-cooked food in the microwave.
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
You can say that again!
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
Lovely pic and nice lemons. Mmm i live pretty simply in that I don’t have a dishwasher nor microwave – and they both cause me stress!!! Give me mod cons any day … but on the weekend i like to get away from everything to a beach or natural bushland with few people, a picnic blanket and some food and my daughter – i regroup, let my spirit catch up with me … and go home and do the bloody washing up 😉
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
Hehehe! I don’t have a microwave either. I got rid of it this year. I need my dishwasher and would love to upgrade to a self-emptying version. I’m happy you at least get a few hours to reconnect and regroup…
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
I wished we lived closer, I go through heaps of lemons a week, but I use them for my indulgent drink sometimes at night, mixed with vodka!
Both my set of grandparents were born and bred on farms and died in their 60s, so maybe you’re right, they would have eaten a LOT of red meat, saturated fats etc!
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
Ugh! I don’t want to think about it. I’ll be dropping dead pretty soon if I don’t adjust my ways. Bad diet lately. BAD!
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
Love our lemon tree too and will miss it. Yes, I’d love more of the simple life too, who wouldn’t. We seem to be simultaneously simpler and more complicated in our modern ways. What were your grandmothers thinking about? After that many kids, possibly feigning headaches that evening! 😛
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
Right you are! I bet there were a few “headaches” after so many kids!
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
103! Definitely something to be said about the Mediterranean lifestyle!
I do wonder why we make things so complicated these days. And I guess my fear is that in my children’s generation, it’ll even become more so. I hope not.
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
I hope they go back to living simply. Too many first world problems.
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
I would be a lot thinner if I lived my grandmother’s life! Walking everywhere!!! Ever day a trip to the shops by foot for the food to cook for dinner! We don’t even know we are alive do we???
May 7th, 2013 at 20:51
I would do it if it was the only thing I had to do. Factor in full time work and a long commute and there it goes, out the window Impossible.
May 8th, 2013 at 20:51
I’m quite sure I was mediterranean in some past life. The lifestyle appeals to me so much, and I feel so alive in Europe. A month in Italy walking everywhere, eating bread, meats, cheese and sun-drenched tomatoes in the sun, wine to BURN, and heaps of mineral water… no wonder they lived so long. Lemons? Yes please. I’ll make them into limoncello. 😉
May 8th, 2013 at 20:51
I often think about the parallel between my life and the life my grandmother lead. She was a career SAHM. No conveniences like a washing machine or microwave (I remember her first washing machine in about 1995!) She never held a drivers licence (or drove), she never traveled in an aeroplane.
She always seemed happy with her lot in life. Me, the career woman, am always yearning for more. For my next conquest. Never satisfied with the point I’m at.
May 20th, 2013 at 20:51
I completely agree. Maybe we’re looking at it with rose-coloured glasses a bit – I mean life was hard for them. But with all our conveniences, we just fill it up with more “stuff”.
Our lemon tree is now full of fruit. We don’t grow anything else, but it’s nice to be able to make guacamole with the juice of our own lemons 🙂
May 22nd, 2013 at 20:51
I think we do. Filling voids perhaps… Enjoy the guacomole. x