A friend is on a Caribbean cruise at the moment and keeps sending photos like this to the WhatsApp group of our little Monday coffee gang. She's having a wonderful time but - is this a tiny bit insensitive, do you feel? Or just giving us a taste of somewhere interesting? I don't actually want to go on a Caribbean cruise (she loves cruises) but I doubt that the rest of us could easily afford to anyway.
Big Granddaughter is now 10 - how did that happen? I can't help feeling a bit sad for her, with periods doubtless looming. She's quite tall and I imagine they'll come upon her before too long. Both I and our daughters had/have the curse of painful periods. I hope BG escapes. But childhood is sadly short. On the other hand, I suppose I don't particularly want to be 10 so... I hope she'll enjoy growing up. She designed and mainly executed her cake decoration - she had a rolling-skating party.
I have very few photos of my paternal grandfather, who died a few months before I was born. Here he is with my young parents, my paternal grandmother and my improbably chunky big brother. He is no longer that plump, or sonsie as we'd say here. It's a fairly awful photo taken clearly in bright sunshine, but it's nice to see Grandpa S. He had a good head of hair for 68 (gosh, younger than I am now).
And here are my maternal grandparents in 1955 with some American visiting relatives who took colour photos - unknown here. That's my lovely granny sitting in the middle, beaming away, my mum behind to her left, my grandpa at the back right and my dad, my brother and me at the front. Those were the days when small boys wore their school blazers to be smart!
Is the decluttering proceeding apace? Hmm. Not precisely.
Pictures from abroad? Nice to see and experience second hand..but no need to go yourself.
ReplyDeletePictures at home...keep a note of who is who with the photo!
I thought I might like to take a cruise but changed my mind, Too many illnesses, boredom and a trapped feeling and the possibility of seasickness. Also, TOO many people. I like sandy beaches and sun but am not a beach sitter. Those old photos are treasures; that's the problem with "clearing out." We find too many precious artifacts that are hard or impossible to let go of.
ReplyDeleteHow can your oldest Grand girl be 10?! I've been reading your blog since before she was born.
ReplyDeleteI'm in my 70's and have no interest in traveling. My parents and siblings were born in England and I've visited relatives there. Love what I saw. Also, I was fortunate to visit other lovely European countries...several times when I was much younger. Of course, we've visited many states in the U.S. and loved doing so. I no longer wish to travel except to see our children in Utah and New Hampshire. I like being home and enjoying my garden. Patty McDonald So. Ca.
Old photos are so evocative but often raise questions that cannot be answered.
ReplyDeleteWe have friends who love cruises but we are not so inclined.
I like your granddaughter's cake - very jolly. My eldest great-granddaughter had her 10th birthday at the weekend - how the time flies.
No tropical vacations for me, either. And all your writing of archives reminds me that I have been stumbling over boxes full of my family photos for a year now. Last winter I had set a goal for myself to make up 2 photo albums, one for each son. I might have made a dozen pages (the current scrapbook style) and then stashed it all in my bedroom for the summer... have not touched them since except to move and dust around. So sad. What is even more sad is my view out my window. We still have several inches of snow cover, which according to my gardening journal is NOT the thing for this time in March! We may have had a brief snow storm at this time, but nothing lasted on the ground for even a week. We have had constant snow on the ground since late November. It's getting old. I envy you your garden with crocus and snowdrops and budding trees. AND you ability to walk outdoors - it's either too icy or too sloppy. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteWe did our 'bucket list' ultimate Mediterranean cruise in 2019 - on a small ship. It was wonderful - amazing meals and stopping at all the places we'd dreamed of getting to - and we didn't have to lug our bags to a new hotel every day. The two disadvantages are - you're not in a place for evening meals, so you get less sense of how the locals live, and you're committed to moving on even if you'd like more time somewhere. BUT for oldies like us the advantages far outweighed the disadvantages.. And we could choose which place/s we want to do a return trip to I guess (Covid not intervening!)
ReplyDeleteHow fast those grandchildren grow, and what interesting people they become. Isn't it a joy to be part of their lives.