Red Wellies ~ From Keepsake to Namesake

​I’ve always wanted to have a blog and should’ve started one long-ago when the kids were little and their antics would’ve provided endless articles to amuse, but as they say, “better late than never!”
 
For those of you reading this who either have a blog or are thinking of starting one, and for me at least, the hardest part was deciding on the name.
 
I spent an inordinate amount of time on this, should it have “baby” or “kid” in it, does the name limit the audience, does the name mean anything to us?  We’d come up with a cool name, but within a couple of days it just didn’t sit right with me and it needed to for me to be passionate about writing for it.  For it to become our brand.

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​My office is eclectic to say the least and I was in there looking at my shelves for inspiration, when it struck me… “Red Wellies”, yes, I know… not the typical item that springs to mind when looking at shelves in an office, but in mine I have a pair of bright little red wellies on the shelf.  You know, wellies, gum boots, rain boots… the epitome of the British wardrobe.
 
And these wellies have a story behind them, the more I thought about it, the more it struck me that the name "Red Wellies" was in fact ideal..

My office ~ Can you spot the red wellies?

This is why I needed wellies... Apparently I kept getting stuck in the drain in the horse yard... yuck!

Growing up in England and on a horse farm, you had to have wellies not so much as a want, but a necessity.  When I grew out of my first pair, my mum and nanna took me to the local shop to purchase the next size up.  My first pair I’m told, were bright yellow and I loved them, so when we entered the shop, I promptly marched up to the assistant and said “ellow wellies, please lady”.  Sadly, the shop didn’t have any “'ellow wellies”, they did however have a glorious pair of red ones, I tried them on… they were perfect!

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​Now, you may be wondering why are these wellies sitting on my shelf in my office?  For some reason, my mum kept them out of all the items of clothing that I had as a baby/toddler.  Maybe it’s the way that I marched into the shop and asked for them, maybe it’s this one item that reminds her of me as a chubby toddler with bright red cheeks? 
 
Whatever the reason, I’m glad she did.   Not only did I wear them as a toddler, and then as a pencil holder in my bedroom during high-school, but when I became a mum, all 3 of my kids wore them and yet, they still survive today and look almost like new, ready for Freyja to wear in a few months...

These little red wellies tie together 4 generations of my family and have earnt a place on my office shelf and inspiration for this blog.

I Love wellies!!

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My red wellies!

In case you’re wondering, the manufacture of these little red boots was Mothercare, circa 1974.  Mothercare is still going strong today and so are the wellies. Maybe the oldest pair that are?
 
Yes, I still own wellies today, but have been wearing Hunter Boots for years now and my latest is, yes you guessed it... a bright red pair.

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What keepsakes do you have from when you were a kid or what will you keep from your child?  Let us know in the comments