A Moment in Time 1969

This is my school photo of 1969.  I was six years old.  Can you tell which one is me?  I'll give you some clues: I never liked to follow rules; I never wanted to be the same as anyone else; I was painfully shy but ended up having attention focused on me.  I don't remember what command was given but it was probably to face straight ahead, arms by side or folded.  Yeh. Right.

The little girl with her hand in the air.  What was I thinking! I find it difficult to conform 51 years later!

Retro Birth Announcment

 After my Nan died a few years ago I inherited some of her personal belongings. 

It is hard for me to believe that I was born when Queen Elizabeth II looked so young!  Isn't that a pretty stamp too?  Look at the price of the stamp.  Born pre-decimalisation when ha'penny's, shillings, crowns and threepenny (thrupence) bits were the currency in use.

 Yes.  The announcement is of my birth way back in 1963. 

The card epitomises the 1960's of my childhood.  New shiny modern things, time of joy, taking minor risks, a world of colour and hope and hippy freedom.  I do look back with rose tinted glasses and know that my reality wasn't the same as many others born in the UK at that time.  A happy childhood has grounded me for life and having a solid foundation helps me navigate the murky waters of today's society.

My Nans Hand Bag

* Photograph taken from Ron Woollacott's book 'A Historical Tour of Nunhead and Peckham Rye.

Drifting off to sleep last night I started to recall when my Nan (pictured above with my Grandad in the 1930's) used to give me a peak at the contents of her hand bag.  As a young girl it was fascinating to me to see the various items that she pulled out:

• Smelling salts
• Ladies handkerchief with embroidery in one corner
• 2 lipsticks - one orange/red and one pink/red
• Face powder compact with pressed powder and mirror
• Small container of Bourjois rouge powder blush
• Rain hat
• Emergency sewing kit
• Scented cachous to sweeten the breath
• Nail clippers
• Emery board
• Nail polish
• Orange wood nail stick (for pushing back the cuticles)

I notice that all her products are connected with self care, grooming and appearance.  People of a certain era used to take pride in their appearance.  They were presentable without being self absorbed about how they looked.  People used to sew on buttons, turn up hems and polish shoes.

My Nan was born in 1912 and lived through two World wars.  She came from a generation who truly knew the meaning of hardship.  Younger generations could learn a lot from such people.  They had to face daily problems head on, cope in a crisis and just get on with it.  They didn't have a choice.

*********************

Wales 1975

My sister forwarded a copy of a letter my Mum received in 1975.  My Mum had given the teachers a gift after my sister Michele and me had been on separate pony trekking holiday's in Wales with the school, and they wrote a thank you letter (see above.)

This letter brought back memories of the trip in Wales to the fore front.  My huge 'pony' was a white horse named Shane.  He always wanted to challenge the horse at the front and very often I would be forced into a gallop as he raced for first position.  I would be pulled through trees and have branches whip across my face, end up on high verges looking down at the riders below and be flung onto the wet sand whilst cantering across the beach.

The owners of the farmhouse were dour and unfriendly.  Each morning at breakfast we would be faced with a jug of sour milk that would stay on the table until it had been used up.  I resisted the food and resorted to eating a slab of pure sugar Kendal mint cake in the bedroom.

We sometimes walked down the country lane to the local shop.  The air was pungent with wild garlic.

I won a rosette for my riding skills but was too shy (see letter above) to go and collect it in assembly so never received it.

I can't imagine a teacher today would write such a personal letter to a parent.  'Yours, through a haze of smoke and fat tummy's' referred to the fact that the teachers were both pregnant and heavy smokers too.  How politically incorrect  by today's standards! 

Childhood Passions

Once upon a time,

When looking for career advice, I have read that one should look to their childhood passions to rediscover what they should be doing. One of the things I used to enjoy doing was drawing.  I was happiest when I had a new pack of felt tip pens and a pad of cartridge paper.  There was no pre-drawing with a pencil and then going over the lines - I used to go for it and just put pen to paper.  If I ruined the picture (which I frequently did) I would screw the page up into a tight ball and start again.

I recently found this card which I drew for my Nan when I was a child.  I think it was a self portrait, or rather how I would have liked to see myself with the jet black hair of Disney's Snow White and the obligatory long eyelashes. I like the open and outstretched arms and the way the head is tilted to one side.  I did seem to view the World in a rosy haze of blissful ignorance and sometimes wish that I never had to grow up and be exposed to the harsh reality of a wicked World. 

So forward 40 plus years and here I am today.  That optimistic child still lays within me.  I want to welcome you all with outstretched arms, walk through fields of flowers and live out a story tale future where I can say

....................and they all lived happily ever after. x

Halcyon Days

My sister and me in the early 1960's.  I am on the right in a blue dress.  White socks, Clarks shoes and hair tied in plaits was the order of the day.  That's Auntie Nell looking out over her gate watching us scooter up and down our street.  The sky was blue, the streets were clean and all was right with the World.

My innocent self back in 1969.  If only that child knew then what I know now.

Christmas Tree

The Christmas Tree has been decorated so Christmas can officially begin!  Most of the tree is covered in blown glass decorations but I love this little fabric fairy and have given her pride of place in the front part of the tree. 

When I was small my Nan would machine sew some crepe paper bags and fill them with dolly mixture sweets to be hung from the tree.  I never remember eating any of them though!  I don't think we went overboard with lights back in the 1960's/'70's.  Our tree decorations were ones we had inherited, or made at school,  interspersed with tinsel and lametta.

We made paper chains to be hung across the ceiling and a honeycomb paper Father Christmas and Snowman were fixed to the wall.  We always had balloons tied to each corner of the room and it was obligatory to have two round balloons with a long one in the middle (remember that?) and we would all make out that it was arranged like that by accident!

Decorating the house for Christmas has become a much more sophisticated affair today and seems to have lost some of its spontaneous edge. We no longer have rude balloons, tacky tinsel and paper chains and yet somehow that was all part of the fun wasn't it?

Christmas Eve with Auntie Gladys

Christmas Eve with Auntie Gladys was special.  In the early days I would catch the train with my Mum, Dad and Sister and then have a short walk to my Great Aunt Gladys home.  She would welcome us all with open arms and Uncle Les would stand as the doorman and take our coats as we were ushered into the warm living room.

The Christmas tree was always an artificial white one (as far as I can remember) and I loved it.  It was so contemporary for that time back in the late 1960's.  In the corner of the room was a table packed with festive fare from trifle to chocolate logs and Christmas cake.  Her speciality though was boiled bacon sandwiches and we would each have a plate piled high on soft, fresh white bread with pickles as an accompaniment.

I usually made her a present for Christmas and you would think that it was the best present in the whole World!  It was worth making just for the sheer joy she expressed on receiving it.  She kept those gifts until the day she died.

Some Christmases she and Uncle Les would put on the TV and we would watch a bit of Morecombe and Wise or maybe Perry Como together.  The memories really do seem like a lifetime ago.  As I get older the memories are not so crystal clear and the years seem to intermingle.  Even if my memories are not quite as I remembered I will never forget the feeling of love and warmth received on those Christmas Eve's many, many moons ago.  She would secretly whisper into my ear 'you know you're my favourite' and I would hold on to that special secret for many years until I found out that she had said it to us all!! 

Thank you Auntie Gladys and Uncle Les for giving me such wonderful recollections of Christmas past.

* picture in book 'Christmas Dreams by the Fireside - Anon.'

Comfort

Looking back to my childhood I can see that caring for others was in my nature.  When a close relation was poorly I would cover them with a blanket and tuck it in tightly around them to give them a sense of security.  I wanted to be able to take away pain and suffering and heal people.As I grew older I progressed to giving head and neck massages and even foot baths!  In the back of my mind I thought that I would make a good nurse some day.

Somehow I got lost and never did pursue a career in nursing.  I guess my phobia of blood was too great so I purposefully pushed the idea of nursing out of the way.

Decades on I realise that I still want to make people feel better when they are ill or feeling down.  I like to 'touch' people through my words nowadays though rather than with a 'hands on' approach.

I was unable to sleep for a while last night.  I started to think about people who are on their own or in need of comfort or peace or just wanting a hug.  I eventually drifted off to sleep whilst envisaging being swaddled in a soft, warm blanket, feeling protected and cocooned with love. 

If you are feeling in need of a 'comfort blanket' then try to visualise one as I did and imagine its warmth and softness enveloping you.  I found this technique very calming and it helped to slow down my anxious mind.

Childhood Memories

I inherited this child's dresser a while back.  I believe it was made during the Second World War and that it is made out of an old drawer.

I  used to play with the dresser on visits to my Nan.  I could play with it for hours.  There was so much stored inside the cupboard doors.  Want to have a peek?
 

 There was heaps of tin plates, cups and teapots.  Many of the items Disney themed.

I used to love all of this tin ware and would spend ages playing with it and measuring out dried rice and pouring out imaginary cups of tea.

 I used to spend time to get the arrangement on the shelves just right.

There was even some tiny glassware and ceramics which I will share with you at another time.  At the end of the visit I would pack up all the items and place them carefully back into the cupboard to play with another day.

The Christmas Fairy

What adorns the top of your Christmas tree? For some it is the star and for others an angel but for me it has to be a fairy. When I was a child, my sister and I had a fairy each. My sister had a plastic fairy doll that looked like a baby with huge glittered Micky Mouse style ears. My doll was a little more refined with her plastic sculpted hair and 1950's style dress!

Each year our dolls took it in turn to be top of the tree and each year there were arguments of whose turn it was! If your fairy didn't make the top of the tree that year then it was placed a little further down the tree. Every so often our dolls would acquire new costumes usually fashioned from white crepe paper and a touch of glitter!

I have had the fairy above for a few years now. She is a modern porcelain fairy and has poseable arms and legs. I think she is just as a tree top fairy should be. She is tiny and delicate and really looks like she could fly up to the tree and pose on the top. When I was small I imagined that at night the fairys would unhook themselves from the branches and fly Tinkerbell style around the room. Oh to be that child again.

I'll Let You In To A Secret.....

As children, my sister and I didn't want for anything. We were well fed and well looked after. Occasionally our mum would pop around to the corner shop if she needed to get some extra groceries and would leave us alone for about fifteen minutes.

Now comes the guilty 'secret'. No sooner had mum closed the front door my sister and I would dash straight to the kitchen, open the kitchen cupboard, dip our fingers in the sugar tin and drink vinegar straight from the vinegar bottle! Now what was that all about?

On reflection mum was probably going to the shops to replenish the sugar and vinegar supplies wondering why it was disappearing at such a rapid rate!

The picture at the top of the post is a doll designed by Marie Osmond. I was an avid doll collector when I was a child and writing about the sugar and vinegar incident made me recall my childhood and remember some of the dolls I collected. I never threw a doll out so they are probably in a loft somewhere gathering dust. The dolls I had included Sindy, Patch, Barbie, Tiny Tears, Pippa, Sasha. Timey Tell, Tracey's Tea Party, Chrissy and her cousin and even blonde Action Man with a beard!!!

I started collecting dolls again as an adult, mainly artists vinyl and porcelain dolls. I no longer collect dolls and they are sadly packed away in tissue and hidden inside cupboards. I may dust them off one day and feature them on this blog so they at least get an airing!

Me and my Teddy Bear...........

This is my teddy bear. He is about 40 years old. His left arm is lame due to being hugged and loved over the years. The left arm is also slightly shorter due to being sewn back in the wrong place after the sawdust had come out.



He is a well-travelled bear and has slept in many hotel rooms throughout europe. He used to have an enviable knitted wardrobe of clothing and would have a new knitted suit for each yearly excursion. His bed was usually improvised when abroad and he would have a paper tissue for his blanket (after all he didn't want to be bogged down with heavy bedding whilst in a hot climate.)



Can you guess the name of my teddy? Well I'll give you a clue by showing you behind his left ear. He used to be this colour all over.


His name was and still is........................ GOLDIE!

Sewing and Supper with Betty

This post is about Betty. Betty was a lady who featured in my childhood. I have no photo's of her. I tried to sketch her quickly with a pen in my notebook last night. The drawings are just a suggestion of what she looked like. I am glad that the pictures have come out hazy because in my mind I see her in the haze of a warm summer's day. The haze of a distant memory.


As a child I spent a few ocassions at Betty's. Betty was our neighbour. She had a hearty laugh and a smoker's cough. No matter what the weather was like, she went bare armed and bare legged. She always wore her hand made sleeveless cotton frocks and sandals even in the depths of winter.

I loved going to Betty's. She lived in a quirky corner house with tiny irregular shaped rooms. I remember one room in particular where every available surface was covered with plants. She had grown all of the plants from fruit pips and they had grown tall and leggy like huge beanstalks.
Sometimes I went to her house for the day. She would make me Corned Beef Patties served with a glass of cold milk. I used to sit on her stone scullery floor and use the seat of a chair as a mini-table. Nothing was formal and I felt very much at home.
After supper we would sit on the sofa in a room upstairs with Tina the old English sheep dog joining us. Betty would hand me some fabric and guide me through a simple sewing project. It was usually a small present to make for mum. When mum came to collect me I would show off my project with pride.
I believe that Betty inspired me to craft. She was an extremely talented lady who always had a craft or sewing project on the go.
Below is a recipe for Corned Beef Patties. I have not made these for years and the recipe comes from memory. You may need an egg to bind the mixture but I don't recall Betty doing this.

Corned Beef Patties

Ingredients

potatoes suitable for mashing, peeled and quartered

knob of butter

tinned corned beef

onion, chopped

seasoning (salt, pepper)

2 tablespoons of oil for frying

Method

Fry onion in 1 tablespoon of oil until soft but not browned. Boil the potatoes until soft. Drain and mash up with the butter. Add the cooked onion and corned beef and seasoning and mix well together. Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in a frying pan. Shape handfuls of mixture into small patties. Fry on both sides until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper and serve with something green and healthy!

Sunday Tea-time

I was born at the tail end of March, delivered by the district nurse who arrived on a bicycle. Snow was falling outside as the nurse safely delivered me. 'The cleanest baby I have ever seen' I am told she proclaimed. It was Mothering Sunday; I came just in time for afternoon tea.

Many of my childhood memories focus around Sunday tea-time. Dad was happy to eat a bowl of winkles doused in vinegar and white pepper with white buttered bread, cut into fingers to mop up the juice. Mum would eat peeled prawns. I preferred to forgo the savoury dish and have two helpings of cake or dessert instead.

As a special treat dad would cook us apple fritters coated in brown sugar and cinnamon but mostly mum would bake us a Victoria Sponge Cake.

Victoria Sponge Cake

Ingredients

250g unsalted butter, softened

250g caster sugar

250g plain flour

4 eggs, beaten

2tsp baking powder

1tsp vanilla extract

Filling

125g unsalted butter, softened

125g icing sugar

6tbsp good quality jam of your choice

1tbsp caster sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and gradually beat in the eggs a little at a time.

Sift together the flour and baking powder and fold into the mixture.

Grease and line the bottom of 2, 20cm sandwich tins. Dust the sides with flour to prevent the mixture from sticking. Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins and bake for about 25-30 minutes.

When cooked, cool in tins for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Beat together the butter and icing sugar until pale. Spread filling over one of the cakes and top with jam. Place the other sponge on the top and sprinkle over caster sugar. This cake is just as nice without the buttercream, just make sure to use lashings of jam!