If someone gives you something nice, you should probably “keep it for a better thing”.

You need no more than three of anything anyway – one on, one clean and one in the wash.

Always remember to wear clean underwear, in case you get run over by a bus and have to go to hospital.

And if you’re going anywhere, be sure to have a clean hanky!

If you can’t be nice, then hold your tongue.

Sometimes rules are made to be broken.

And remember you can’t always trust a Sassenach! (My granny was Scottish …)

Staying in bed after 7.00 a.m. is sheer laziness …

Nature needs five
Custom takes seven
Laziness nine …
And wickedness eleven!

Finally … she taught me a very important lesson! How to make tea …

• Warm the teapot first
• Put in one for each person and one for the pot (spoons of tea leaves)
• Take the pot to the kettle, not the kettle to the pot
• Put milk in the cups first (for those “contrary enough” to take their tea with milk)
• Let it steep for at least two or three minutes before pouring …

That last is absolutely necessary if you’re making tea for someone who appreciates a decent cup!

I remember Granny commenting disgustedly about visiting someone where she was served tea that was “nae mair than a cup o’ hot water wi’ a couple o’ tea leaves floatin’ in it!”

My grandmother died a very long time ago, when I was only 17.

But all these years later, I still hear her voice. :)