Hi there, how are you today? I do hope you’re well. I’d like to tell you about my name, Gosling & Plumb. And to do that I need to introduce you to two very special ladies.
This is Miriam Gosling.
And this is Connie Plumb.
They are my grandmothers. Their names changed when they got married, but I love their maiden names and I loved the wonderful people that they were. Without them, I would not be here. And when I came to thinking about names for my blog and business theirs were the ones that stuck! They are part of my history and I want them to be part of my future.
I don’t have a lot of first hand memories of Grandma (Miriam) as I was only seven when she died. I have vague recollections of visiting her house, the steep steps leading up to the front door, the ornaments in the front room. And I randomly remember some very exciting Christmas presents – a rucksack covered in comic book style pictures of Gordon the Gopher and a singing calculator! Thankfully, I have been told lots of stories about her, although some of these may have been embellished over the years… Once, when I was misbehaving as a toddler, she uttered the phrase that has become family legend, “Well, I don’t know where she gets it from because Paul was perfect!”.
The image of Grandma I have in my head is one of a down to earth, no nonsense woman who was a force to be reckoned with. She worked hard, loved her family and looked after them well… and still had time to knit! I wish I had known her better as I’m sure there were so many other facets to her character.
I knew Granny (Connie) much better as I had the privilege to know her as an adult. I have fond childhood memories of spending holidays with her and Grandad, of racing round their garden with my cousins, of numerous trips to a variety of places, of her humming in the kitchen as she cooked. I also remember her encouraging words, her generosity and the strength of her faith. I know she prayed every day for her family and I’m so grateful for those prayers.
Granny and Mum taught me most of my crafting skills. One of my earliest creative memories is knitting a scarf with Granny patiently sitting my side, helping me pick up dropped stitches, reminding me how to twist the yarn around the needles. I produced the most hideous brown and orange scarf, full of holes in all the wrong places (there weren’t actually supposed to be any holes!) but I was so very proud of it!
As I grew up I tried my hand at lots of other crafty things – quilling, glass painting, paper cutting, crochet, sewing, cross stitch, quilting, parchment craft – you name it, I had a kit for it! I spent many happy hours hidden away in my room making all sorts of creations before passing them on to grateful(?!) recipients.
I still enjoy spending hours at a time creating things, and hopefully my skills have somewhat improved since the early days. Now if there are holes in my knitting, they are supposed to be there. Usually.
Anyway, that’s a little about me, my family and how I came to be quite so crafty. I hope that as I continue to develop the skills that were taught to me as a child that I will also develop the same spirit and strength of character that my grandmothers both demonstrated. They were wonderful women and I hope that I grow up to be just like them.