We had an old Austin A40 ute with the dimmer switch on the floor.  Dad, Mum, Brother and me (my brother 3yrs old, on Mum's knee all the way, me in the middle with the manual gear shift, drove from Sydney to Melbourne in that old thing.  Took 3 days, brother and I slept in a tent, Mum & Dad in the back of the ute. No seat belts or child safety seats in those days. Ignition switch on the dashboard.   I remember hand signals for turning,  Right hand out the window pointing left for a left turn, elbow bent with hand up for stop signal, and extended right arm for right hand turn. Had a party line telephone, the water shaker for the iron, no steam irons then.   Didn't have a bicycle, still can't ride one.  Dad said Bondi was way to hilly for a bike.  I remember walking with my mother, brother in the pram up the hill to Bondi Junction for shopping.  Couldn't fit a pram on the bus.  Brother too young for a stroller (pushchair),  Strollers were a heck of a lot bulkier and heavier then.  

No electric blankets, just rubber hot water bottles, no doonas, just blankets.  Definitely no air conditioning, anywhere, not even in shops.  Just windows open.  First shop to get air con in our area was Grace Brothers Department Store in 1960.  That was the year we had a heatwave of over 100 degrees for a week.  People were sleeping on the beach, in back yards, anywhere they could find a breeze.  Fans were not that common then.

Di, that's funny and troubling at the same time.  Still, I laughed.

Back to being old, I remember my mom used to sprinkle dad's shirts with water, roll them up and stack them in the fridge.  Easier to iron crisper that way.  No steam irons.  And my aunt still used a washing machine with a roller press on it for wringing out the clothes.  That was one dangerous appliance!

And I remember the days of shopping centers where we'd go to Hecht's or Hochschild Kohns or Hutzlers or Learner Shops or Buster Browne and would constantly complain when it was raining or snowing outside because we'd get wet going from store to store.  Then someone invented THE MALL!  How glorious was that to shop in total comfort, no worries about heat or rain or snow.  I still remember when they were building one quite near our home and how excited we all were on opening day.

Now, town centers are all the rage.  Shopping centers, only designed as fancy town centers where we get hot and wet on inclement days.  I guess that old saying is true, what's old is new again.  LOL

Southerners

There ain't no magazine named "Northern Living" for good reason. 

There ain't nobody interested in livin' up north, nobody would buy the magazine !

Southerners know their summer weather report:

Humidity

Humidity

Humidity

Southerners know their vacation spots:

The beach

The rivuh

The crick

Southerners know everybody's first name:

Honey

Darlin’

Shugah

Southerners know the movies that speak to their hearts:

Fried Green Tomatoes

Driving Miss Daisy

Steel Magnolias

Gone With The Wind

Southerners know their religions:

Bapdiss

Methdiss

Football

Southerners know their cities dripping with Southern charm:

Chawl’stn

S’vanah

Foat Wuth

N’awlins

Addlanna

Southerners know their elegant gentlemen:

Men in uniform

Men in tuxedos

Rhett Butler

Southern girl

Okay, now that's funny!  And I'm sure you would never have guessed it, but I've pitched a conniption or two in my life.  Hahahahaha

Oh, and I've cooked a mess of baked beans too.  So, okay, does that make me Southern and Northern at the same time?  No wonder I'm confused.  LOL LOL LOL

I happen to like iced tea without sugar, but in the past, I've been know to make it with some sugar.  But sweat tea, that's a whole food group unto itself.  It's like 3 cups of sugar and a passing teabag.  Can't do it.

And I do use y'all quite frequently.  Okay, for the sake of being totally honest, have used all y'all too.  

Confession is over, I'm starting to sweat.  LOL LOL

Glad it made you laugh, I was not too sure of how it would go down!

It went down great!  Very cute.. makes me want to get there as fast as I can!

Are you a snowbird?

Unfortunately, no.. I'm just a wannabe snowbird lol.

We had so much fun and met so many wonderful people on our family camping trips to the south.  I'd have to say that Georgia tops our list of favorite places, the people there were so friendly, welcoming and helpful.  We always got generous helpings of southern hospitality at restaurants, grocery stores, anywhere we went.  We loved it there!  Ate a ton of peaches and brought pecans home for everyone too!

oh those white peaches! nothing like it anywhere! I love Georgia