Category: Personal

Saturday Snapshot – Stepping Back in Time

Published on by Margaret17 Comments

Whilst looking through old photos last week (when I posted one of my husband rock climbing) we came across photos of our holiday in Budva in what was then Yugoslavia. We had a wonderful holiday even if I was feeling sick every evening, which I thought was ‘holiday tummy’ until we returned home and realised I was pregnant.

In this photo I have long, dark curly hair (a very curly perm which fortunately was nearly grown out)  – sadly it’s now grey! It was the era of the mini-skirt and hot pants, but here I’m covered head to foot in a delightful yellow creation, borrowed from one of the other holiday makers to cover up when changing out of my bikini.
Me in Yugoslavia poolside (2018_05_20 14_13_57 UTC)

And here we are in Dubrovnik with the owner of the ‘cover-up’ on the left of the photo. I’m the one second from the right next to my husband.

Dubrovnik 01 (2018_05_20 15_18_26 UTC)

Saturday Snapshot is host by Alyce of At Home With Books.

Saturday Snapshot: Rock Kids at Ratho

Published on by Margaret19 Comments

Yesterday we went to watch our grandchildren rock climbing at Ratho at the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena.

This is our oldest granddaughter, underneath the overhang, looking like spiderman:

and grandson, in the middle of the photo, nearing the top of his climb – white stripe down the side of his tracksuit trousers:

and finally our youngest granddaughter, who was fearless as she scaled the wall!

We’d been to watch them once before – see this post.

And here is their granddad in his youth, rock climbing in Wales – note no rope, or helmet! Safety standards have improved since then!

But he is using a rope in this one:

More Saturday Snapshots can be seen at Alyce’s blog At Home with Books.

Saturday Snapshot

Published on by Margaret27 Comments

I’ve been looking at old family photos again:

This is my Great Grandmother, my mother and her older brother. I don’t know how old my mother was at the time, but this was probably taken in about 1917/18.

I know very little about my Great Grandmother – her name was Elizabeth, she was born in 1855 in Wales. When she was 12 she made this sampler:

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home with Books.

Saturday Snapshot

Published on by Margaret24 Comments

I have a scrolling photo viewer on the computer desktop and this photo greeted me this morning when I switched the computer on. It’s the view from the field near to my previous house looking towards the town of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. The grey tower block in the background is where I used to work at the County Council offices – I was on the 8th floor, just over halfway up the building.

I like this photo because it shows the contrast between the old and the new, although the County Hall tower block is not new, completed in 1966, it’s certainly centuries older than the timber-framed house in the foreground.

Believe it or not, the tower block, sometimes called Pooley’s Folly after the architect, is a Grade II Listed Building. It’s constructed out of concrete and glass and whilst I was working there it was discovered that the core of the building was crumbling and it had to be reinforced. We were surrounded by scaffolding for months. It’s also a most inconvenient building to work in, boiling hot in the summer, freezing in the winter, draughty windows and only two lifts serving 13 fours and no service lift. I spent hours in total over the years I worked there just waiting for the lift. Still, that meant I had more time to read whilst waiting.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home with Books.

Birthday Presents

Published on by Margaret15 Comments

Today is my birthday and I’ve had flowers!

and jewellery!

and books!

From top to bottom they are:

  • A Kindle gift voucher – a lovely present because I can enjoy choosing as well as reading!
  • Blood Harvest by S R Bolton – I’m currently reading her first book, Sacrifice and I’ve read that Blood Harvest is even better. It’s about the disappearance of a little girl two years earlier. A fire had devastated her home but her mother is convinced her daughter survived.
  • How the Girl Guides Won the War by Janie Hampton – this looks absolutely fascinating. I was a Brownie and then a Girl Guide (not during the war – I was a post-war baby), and it made up a large part of my childhood and teenage years. This looks a very comprehensive book. In the introduction Janie Hampton reveals that she had intended to write a satire on Guides and Brownies, making fun of them (how could she!) but the more she read and the more former Brownies and Guides she met she came to realise what an important part of 20th century history the Guide movement was (hurray!) with Guides playing a crucial part in feminist history and the women’s equality movement. I can see that I’ll be reading more from this book very soon!
  • The Distant Hours by Kate Morton – historical fiction featuring a dilapidated castle, sisters and dark secrets. I can hardly wait to read this one as well.
  • The Confession by John Grisham. It’s been years since I read any of John Grisham’s books – I binge read his books some years ago. This one is another of his legal thrillers about an innocent man days from his execution, with the guilty man deciding whether to confess. Should be good, I think.
  • A Companion to the History of the Book edited by Simon Eliot and Jonathan Rose. This book was a complete surprise! A mammoth book, covering many aspects of the history of bibliography, literacy and the future of the book. It includes the history of the materials used – clay tablets, papyrus rolls etc,  book culture around the world, book issues, such as censorship and  finally there is a chapter on the book’s digital future. This looks fascinating and no doubt it will keep me occupied for some time to come.

Thanks everyone for these lovely gifts.

I think of all of these I may start How the Girl Guides Won the War first. Time to go reading! and later on a meal out to celebrate (this will be the second one – the first was on Friday with our son and his family).

(Click on the photos to enlarge.)