Introducing: Maminou

via This is an advert. But this person looks remarkably like my Maminou!

I have seen many posts reflecting on the fact that homemaking as an art has been forgotten, how the transmission between generations somehow stopped at one point. Calah's post springs to mind.

Another post by Haley on Mad Men, was also looking at the shift from homemaker to "head of household purchases" which seems to have happened in the 1950s in America (not in England or France though, there it was more likely the 60s).

I feel these posts are indeed reflecting something I find at work in our contemporary life, and for the most part, all we can do about it is painfully reconstitute the knowledge which has not be transmitted.

Start again from scratch.

Except for me.

You see, I've got a Maminou.

Maminou meeting Patapon

Maminou is my wonderful grandmother.

She is wonderful in many many ways it would embarrass her for me to mention.

She was also born in the 1930s, in Algeria.

Which means, she was brought up with all the homemaking knowledge still being transmitted to her, still knowing how to deal with no appliances whatever (she often says how she got her first fridge when she got married, and how awesome that was).

Maminou knows how to deal with no running water in a desert country, she saw oil being pressed in her father's farm, and artichokes being harvested (I don't know why they were specialised in artichokes, it does feel a bit anti-climactic, but bear with me). Maminou fled her country and started a new life with two toddlers whilst pregnant with twins. I feel there is nothing Maminou can't do.

This summer, Maminou is sharing it all with me.

And I'm going to be sharing with you.

What say you? Are you game?