Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Wombling into the New Year

As a child I read Elizabeth Beresford's Wombles books. I also loved the little stop-frame animation Wombles series which must have aired on the ABC, probably just before The Goodies.

Feeling nostalgic, I bought some Wombles on DVD when Charlie and Jasper were very young. It was a revival series: new episodes, all in colour, and at a rather faster pace than I remember the old ones. But still pretty much true to the Wombles philosophy and still with the theme song:
"Overground, underground, Wombling free, 
the Wombles of Wimbledon Common are we,
making good use of the things that we find, 
things that the everyday folk leave behind".

Charlie adored the DVDs and found them especially soothing when he was ill in the middle of the night, as very small children often are. I know most of the episodes off by heart. One is titled "New Year, New You".
And so at New Year I can't help but think of the Wombles. And, wouldn't it be good to be more like a Womble?
They are resourceful; they were pretty much the original recyclers. They make use of what they have, and what they find.
Now I'm not going to be able to get by merely on stuff other people ditch. Well, perhaps I could, but I don't think I'm quite up to being a freegan just now.
But I do want to buy less, and use what I have more thoughtfully.
Less waste, fewer purchases. I'm thinking a lot about my fabric stash, but also about pretty much everything else we 'consume' in our household. We're reasonably frugal but could definitely be more so.
Perhaps I should start 'Wombling' by giving myself a Womble name, which they did by flipping through Great Uncle Bulgaria's atlas. And my Womble name shall be... (spins Charlie's world globe, randomly jabs finger)... Hohhot, which Wikipedia says is in Mongolia and the globe seems to place outside of this, in China. In any case, they quite likely live a more sustainably Womble-like existence than I do.

I'm not intending this to be a serious life-changing resolution. Just a new thoughtfulness that will, I hope, save us some money and the earth some resources.
I do have another resolution. One I seriously considered last new year but ditched as over-ambitious.
I'm going to make the bed every day.
Not everyone's in the house, just mine-and-Andy's.

Yep, I'm deadly serious. 365 days of bed-making. Look out world. I might even get around to making the matching quilt-cover for the pillowcases I sewed last year, but one step at a time, right? (The white part of the pillowcase above was made from an old sheet - how Womble-like!)

- Jane x


8 comments:

  1. Oh, a fellow Womble lover! I grew up with the Wombles - and have some of the original episodes on VIDEO! I also just bought an audio CD of the stories for the kids, which is destined to be repeated often :-)

    Good luck with your wombling - and with the bed making!

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  2. I loved The Wombles too! And Mr Ben. And Bagpuss. Oh the memories...it's lucky we have kids because we get to relive our childhoods through them! Not sure about the bed making though. Rather you than me on that one...

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  3. Oh, good to see more Womble love.
    Justmejay - so jealous of your original Womble videos!
    Emma - I don't think we got Mr Ben or Bagpuss in Australia but I fondly remember Catweazle from around the same time. It is great when we can relive stuff with our kids!
    Making the bed... 4 days down, 362 (? leap year?) to go. Good to know I'm not the only slacker who generally puts that right down the priority list.

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  4. No kids here so Wombles are off my radar. They are cute though and somewhat familiar. I must have seen them somewhere in the past.

    I, or DH, or both of us, make the bed every day. Starting my day with this done, and a few other easy chores makes everything go more smoothly for me. Good luck on that change.

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  5. I love the Wombles.. My cousin has a Womble toy, and I'm insanely jealous. Question - does making the bed 5 minutes before the husband gets home so he doesn't know you forgot count? Cause if so, I manage it most days. Usually. Sometimes.

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  6. I am so with you...well, except on the bedmaking thing. I never make our bed (because I'm lazy like that!)

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  7. Mary - yes, it just makes me feel like a better human being when the bed is made, but it's also too easy to ignore! I don't want to ask Andy to do it because I feel like I nag him about enough already, ha.
    Sarah - absolutely it counts! Anything except right before you hop into bed at night counts in my book.
    I do have a feeling this may be one of those 'good intentions' resolutions but I'm sticking with it for the time being.

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  8. Great resolution and one I should take note off, we have way too much 'stuff' and certainly don't need more. I should add de-clutter as well. We also love the Wombles and The Goodies, great childhood memories of both for me and my boys love the old DVD versions we watch.

    Happy New Year!

    Beth/the linen catx

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Hey, I would really love to know what you think. Go on!

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