Sitting on the steps

I was flicking idly through the pictures on my computer and came across this one. I don't know how it got saved here, since very few of our photos from the pre-digital age are scanned in. I suppose the children must have been about 9, 7 and 3, and they're sitting on the steps in the back garden of our previous house.  It was a very nice house but the garden was extremely small, which I found frustrating because I was, and am, a keen gardener. Our current garden isn't exactly large either, and if we move again before we become entirely decrepit, I want a bigger garden.


I wonder what Son has in his hand. I can't imagine. It looks like a wooden pole but I don't remember any such thing. He was a gentle little boy and didn't go in for weapons.


We were very lucky that our children always got on very well. Daughter 1 thought Daughter 2 was wonderful (I think she still does) and so just always let her have what she wanted, and they were both very motherly towards Son and let him have whatever he wanted, which all made things very peaceful. Or so I remember and I think it's true. They were all, however, assiduous players with toys and used to draw and cut out and generally make a tremendous mess. It's easy to remember things with a rosy glow, but I do remember spending lots of time picking up after them; in fact, this was my principal occupation in those days. On the whole, I did it rather than getting them to do it, because it was quicker and easier - or again, this is what I remember. They might disagree. As Laurie Lee said - and it's one of my favourite quotations - "There is no pure truth, only the moody accounts of witnesses".