Box of memories part 3

Nearly finished showing the treasures from the box found in my sister's loft.

Among the photos of me as a baby was this one.
These 2 chaps are my Grandad's.
Sat down is my mum's dad and stood up is my dad's dad.
This was taken on my parent's wedding day back in 1967.
I can remember the day my dad told us his dad had died. It was the first time I had ever seen him cry. We didn't see him very often and I don't have very many memories of him. One very clear one though is of him doing the 'two little dickie birds sitting on a wall' trick with tiny pieces of paper stuck to his fingers. It totally captivated me.


During the couple of days after he passed away I hardly moved from a chair in our lounge and read this book from cover to cover. I can remember telling my mum how upset I was as she was hoovering and she replied with 'he's ok, he's with the angels now' as she heaved the furniture around. It didn't give me one ounce of comfort. I desperately wanted to go to his funeral but wasn't allowed.

The other book I have saved is Baby Island.

I'm not sure how old I was when I read it but I thought it was so wonderful.

Two young girls find themselves on a desert island alone with 4 toddlers to care for.

I thought it all sounded very exciting.

Sounds like a flaming nightmare now!

I wonder what S will make of it when I share it with her?

A bit of a jumble

Saturday morning saw me, my mum and my sister at what was billed as a Bumper Jumble. It attracted a bumper number of people and it was packed out. My sister co-ordinated our strategy. I was to do clothes, my mum went to footwear and my sister did household linens and bric a brac. I ended up with a very cute miniature glass vase (which I have forgotten to photograph) and 6 new items of clothing. I'm not entirely sure what their pricing policy was as I paid for these my sister's 2 items and 3 my mum's 3 items (one of which was a coat) and I was charged £1.80. I very happily passed over two one pound coins and said 'please keep the change' as I wasn't sure I could stand being squashed in between eager bargain hunters anymore and who minds shelling out £2.00 for that amount of clothing?
As well as these 3 very ordinary tops I managed to get a lovely Fat Face one with green and blue stripes but try as I might I could not get a decent photo of it. The grey one is going to be worn with the skirt from a couple of posts ago.

These 2 are my favourite buys.
Now I know the skirt looks like a fabric which may have been used to make curatins for a caravan in the 1970's but I happen to like that look, which is just as well.

It was then off to Southsea as a friend had text me first thing to see if I fancied joining her for a nosy round Southsea boutique market.
It was their first fair at this particular venue and she had heard about it from a work colleague who had a stall selling her own jewellery.

The advert said it would be part market, part vintage, part car boot and it described the mish mash that was there perfectly. We enjoyed a wander round then had a cup of tea from vintage mis-matched china along with a huge slice of Victoria sponge.

They only thing I felt needed to come home with me was another piece of polka dot cuteness.

Yesterday G wanted to go to a car boot as he is rediscovering his love of vinyl and wanted to browse for records. I really wanted to go for a walk because the sun was out and the sky was blue but seeing as I had done as I wanted on Saturday it seemed only fair he got to do what he wanted Sunday.

I bought these tulips on the way home from work on Friday and they looked so beautiful today catching the sun as it shone in through the dining room window.

Spring is definitely in the air.

Spring cutouts

I can't believe it was nearly a year ago since I confessed my love of cut outs.

With the lighter evenings, more blue sky and lots of daffodils in bloom all around I thought I would make another little collage of all things Spring-like.
So there's wellies and pumps for the still very changeable weather, yellow florals, reminders for future day trips and spending more time outdoors, hot cross buns and tea, eggs for Easter and a reminder to get Spring cleaning. All topped off with plenty of polka dots.

Thrifty Thursday

A Next one for S

and a Florence and Fred one for me.

Not bad for £1 each.

February Scavenger Hunt

A lorry or truck - seen in Kensington Park.

Something heartshaped - a ring I bought last year when I went to Isle of Wight.

A park bench - taken during on a dull grey February afternoon in a local park.

A round clock face - outside a department store in Queensway, London.

A postbox - part of a window dressing display for Joules.

Your shoes- not worn these yet, don't do heels very often!

Newspaper headline - a subject close to our hearts

A bridge - the Itchen bridge, just down the road from our home.

A musical instrument - photo taken by G of his 3 guitars which live in the attic.

Eyes - one of this year's Red Noses

Something stripy - the blanket on our bed.

Something red - a sign by our local greasy spoon

Cushiony Goodness

What's this cushioned shaped brown paper parcel on our sofa?

It's a new cushion, but not just any new cushion, it's my new and utterly fabulous cushion from the very talented elsy which I was extremely lucky to win in her recent giveaway.

I have long admired her handiwork and it's not just crochet she is a whizz at. Pop over to see her lovely creations with needle and thread too.

Thank you so much elsy. It's been much admired by G and the children too.

My Back,Their Birthday's and His Brother

At the weekend G and I made plans for the back garden. We talked about what needs to be done and then felt motivated to try and clear a bit of wilderness. All went well at the time but oh my goodness come Monday morning my back was in agony. Don't ask me what I did, we weren't out there long! We had made plans to meet up with a friend and her son, but she had to cancel at the last minute which was just as well as I spent the day with a hot water bottle on my back taking it easy whilst the children chilled and stayed in PJ's.

Tuesday was a bit more active. G, T and a friend of T's went off to London to see the new Dr Who exhibition. This was T's birthday treat. There was much excitement as I dropped them all off at the train station. I'm very happy to say they all thought it was completely wonderful and T and his friend had a couple of 'green screen' photos taken, one of them so it looked like they were actually inside the Tardis!

Whilst they were away rubbing shoulders with aliens I took S and a friend to an indoor soft play centre for a few hours. I read, they ran around.


Yesterday was T and S's birthday.
Both were extremely happy with their gifts from us.
T received a mobile phone

and S had a dolls house. Both have been played with a lot over the last 24 hours.

They were lucky to have lots of visitors bearing gifts all day long. My mum and sister C were the first to arrive at just before 10am. Then it was off into town for lunch at Bella Italia with G's mum, brother and sister. Home again for cake and more visits from my other sister, various friends and other family members.

Although it was wonderful seeing each and every person, by far the best guest was T's eldest brother R. T had no idea that R was coming to see him. It's the first time that R has visited our home. He wanted to make it on our recent trip to London when we met S and her family, but he was unable to get the time off work so he contacted G and asked if he could come and see T on his birthday instead.We were delighted and secret plans were made for R to come and stay overnight. I can't tell you how excited we've been for them. I asked T to open the door when I heard R knock and I was poised with the camera to take a photo of T's face but I was so caught up in the moment I forgot to click the camera button. Needless to say his expression was priceless! He was utterly surprised and so, so happy, especially when he realised R was staying.

All those years ago when we became a family G and I would have conversations about 'when the children grow up wouldn't it be great if they were able to come and stay on their own' and now it's happened. We are so thankful.

R and took T off to town this morning to buy him a birthday gift and one of S too.

Then all too soon he had to leave todo the long drive home again. T has been quiet this afternoon, missing his brother and wishing the visit could have been a longer one. Maybe next time.

I took my 6 year old pink fairy off to feed the ducks at her request this afternoon and we enjoyed being out in the sun for a while.

Happy days.