Storytelling Sunday 3 ~ Passport

Three years of Storytelling with Sian draws to a close today. Not being much of a writer, it was a good few months before I plucked up the courage to join in for the first time, with the story behind a dress. I’m glad I did.

So, for the last time, with Sian’s encouragement, I’m picking a precious…..

Around this time, in 1985, I was in my first term of A Levels and preparing to set off to India, with a fine group of friends, for five weeks.

Here we are in 2013 and my son is just beginning his A Level studies. On Thursday I waved him off on his own little adventure, to Barcelona for a five day Geography trip.

Neither of us would have got very far without our passports.

Thank you Sian for giving us this platform to share our stories and thank you to everyone who did just that. I enjoyed reading them, long before I shared any of my own. I’ve been a sporadic participant over the three years, but many thanks to all of you that have taken the time to read and comment here. It’s been fun.

Of all the stories I’ve told, the shortest is still my favourite. How about you?

Storytelling Sunday 3 ~ Sketches

Here we are again, on the first Sunday of the month. Which means it must be time to join Sian From High in the Sky with a little something we treasure.

 

I pulled out this pencil sketch a couple of months ago, to show my daughter, who was drawing portraits for her Art homework. I was reminded of it again when I stayed with my best friend from Uni last weekend. We drank red wine and reminisced and the years just melted away. Friends like that are the most precious kind.

The paper is wrinkled and a little discoloured now, but the lines remain strong. It was drawn around this time of year, when we had not long moved into a house together, along with three other girls. We had all lived in halls prior to that and it was fun settling into our first proper house and making it home.

Five was the perfect number and we each took a week night to cook for everyone. Three of us were vegetarians and The Cranks Recipe Book became my new best friend. I learnt a lot about cooking on a budget in those first months and it was lovely to sit together around the table, after a day of lectures, sharing a meal.

On Saturdays, when it was my turn, I would cycle down Withycombe Village Road and come back with a basket full of paper wrapped chips. There’d be thick slices of white bread, generously buttered and plenty of tomato ketchup, waiting to be made into big fat chip butties. Happy days.

Three of us are still in touch, twenty five years after we first met and I couldn’t have wished for better friends to share those first years away from home.

Storytelling Sunday 3 ~ Pebbles

The first Sunday of September falls on the first day of the month this year. There is something nice and neat about that. I’m joining up with Sian at From High in the Sky and all the other tellers of tales. Big and small. The tales not the tellers.

Mine is of the small kind this month. The objects and their story. These three pebbles sit stacked on my kitchen window sill. They were collected from the beach at Broadchurch West Bay. I’ll look at them, when I’m standing at the sink washing dishes, in the coming months, and remember all the fun we had this Summer.

It’s not quite over yet. We’re off Gromit hunting again today. I’ll be looking forward to reading a few more stories this evening, when I get home.

Storytelling Sunday 3 ~ The Matchbox

It’s the first Sunday of the month and that can only mean one thing. In Sian’s own words:

Storytelling Sunday Three? There is no excuse for not joining in with this one! Everyone can do it. Pick Your Precious is about celebrating the little things you love: those souvenirs, bits and pieces, things from your past you can't bear to throw out. You know, the special little something you have tucked away in a drawer or up on a shelf? Or the thing you love most in a room? Or the object you would save if you knew you had to leave the country? Your favourite things.

Sian had suggested a theme of travel for July, but, for me, the first week in July is all about Wimbledon and the Gold Hill fair. I’ve used both of these as a subject for Storytelling Sunday before. What else? The School Summer Fete and something that came to mind, while taking part in The Great Big Swap of Small Things.

I was fairly sure I still had this prize winning matchbox tucked away somewhere. Thankfully it didn’t take long to find, in our incredibly hot attic, this afternoon. Carefully labelled by my 8 year old hand and filled with a multitude of very small things indeed. The competition being who could fit the most items inside the box.

The accompanying list has long since disappeared, but I know there were 100 items on it. That was my aim, when I started to fill it. My Dad said I’d never do it, so of course that made me all the more determined. Each one had to be different.

The largest things include a patch, from my puncture repair kit, and a raffle ticket. Among the smallest are a seed bead and a tiny button from Action Girl’s clothes. There are pieces of elastic, lace, fabric, tissue, cellophane and thread. A pin, needle, popper, hook and eye, staple and paper clip.

The dust cap from my bike tyre and an apple pip. Sindy’s fork and a piece from an Airfix kit. I wonder if my brother missed that last one? A spare brush from one of our Scalextric cars and a strip of ammunition from my cap gun. As I put them all back in the box, they conjured up many memories from my childhood.

When I first looked at the photo, I noticed the ivory coloured thing nestling in the middle and for one horrible moment I thought it was a tooth. It’s not. I can no longer recall what my prize was, but more than likely a book token, probably for the princely some of a pound. I would have been delighted with that.

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading and commenting on the other 26 stories (so far) between games in this afternoon’s epic Wimbledon final. The perfect way to ease the tension. Find them all over at Sian’s place From High in the Sky.

PS If you’re one of the winners from my giveaway, please could you let me have your address and colour choices as soon as possible. Thank you.

Storytelling Sunday 3 ~ 26 Years Later….

I had a completely different story in mind for the June edition of Storytelling Sunday, hosted by Sian at From High in the Sky, but I wanted to tell this one instead.

I didn’t share my story last Sunday, because I was meeting up with these lovely boys. Thanks to a friendly stranger, enjoying a coffee and the view, I have this great shot of us all standing at the top of Gold Hill. I’m sure they were never this tall!

26 years ago we all left school and went our separate ways. The story goes back further than that though. Some of us first met in 3rd Year Latin lessons. I went to the High School in town and we had our own Latin teacher. The boys from the local Grammar weren’t so lucky and they had to come to lessons at our school. I can’t imagine why we were all so keen to be allowed to study a second language.

Fast forward a couple more years and after taking our O Levels, we all went parachuting together on a school trip. Yes, really. I don’t suppose it would happen now. After that it was hiking and camping on Dartmoor for our Duke of Edinburgh Awards. I was never a girly girl and my poor Mum despaired of my tomboy ways.

Four of us were also very fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to India for 5 weeks. Another school trip. Two other friends joined us for that experience, but couldn’t make it to the reunion. One of them lives in Australia now and the other was flying as part of his work with the Aerobility charity so we’ll let them off.

I feel very lucky to have been part of this group of friends at school and to have had the chance to meet up again after all these years. We had coffee at one old haunt and lunch at another, then spent the sunny afternoon in the beer garden reminiscing. It was as if no time had passed. What could be more precious than that?

Scraping in under the wire, although it seems a shame to mess up the nice neat rows in Mr. Linky!

Storytelling Sunday 3: Pick Your Precious

The pancakes have been cooked and eaten, with lashings of maple syrup. The breakfast table cleared and the washing up been done happily by the children. Well maybe not that last one, but a girl can dream. Being the first Sunday of the month, it must be time for a tale or two From High in the Sky with Sian.

The sun is shining here, Spring is hopefully on its way. Seems like just the right time for a tale about a rabbit. This particular rabbit has been part of my story since I was a little girl. He’d be waiting for me, sat on the bed, when I went to stay with my Aunty Kath. I only found out recently that he had a story all of his own.

The rabbit was made by a man who lived in Aunty Kath’s village. He fought during the Second World War and was taken captive by the Japanese. He survived, on a meagre daily portion of rice, until he was freed at the end of the war. When his wife knew he was coming home, she wanted to make something he loved. She scrimped and saved to gather the ingredients. Milk was not a problem, living in a rural village, but sugar was difficult to obtain. None the less she managed it and when he returned she was able to serve up his favourite dessert. Sadly he couldn’t even manage a mouthful. What was it? Rice pudding of course.

The rabbit (called Rabbit) is a little bit faded and a little bit moth eaten these days. He is still part of my story and now sits on my own bed, where I can see him every day and be reminded of happy times spent with my Aunty Kath.

Storytelling Sunday 3: Pick Your Precious

It’s the first Sunday of the month, which can only mean one thing. We will all gather eagerly at Sian’s place with a story, a memory or a photo to share. This year to ring the changes Sian has suggested a new twist on the theme. Finding something that is precious to you and sharing its story. It was easy to choose this month.

This is one of the very few photos we have in the family of my lovely Aunty, who passed away peacefully in her sleep (and in her own bed) a few weeks ago. It was taken when she was eighteen and my Dad was just a toddler. Wasn’t she beautiful?

Lots of things pop into my head when I look at her smiling eyes. Time spent staying at her cottage, during the Summer holidays, when I was a little girl. Trips to see the pantomime at Christmas time and Holiday on Ice, travelling by Leather’s coaches. Playing Newmarket on a Sunday afternoon and betting with pennies from the big jar.

When I was older and had left home, for college in Devon, she would send me a parcel each term, which would always include a tin of pink salmon and some of her famous rock cakes. I was the envy of my halls of residence when it arrived and it was so special to receive a little taste of home and family.

At her funeral on Friday, the vicar quoted James Peterson, “Tears are the jewels of remembrance – sad, but glistening with the beauty of the past.”

Sleep tight Aunty Kath.

Storytelling Sunday ~ Mr Sandman

It’s the first Sunday of the month and that can only mean one thing. It’s time for the telling of tales and the sharing of stories and maybe a few pictures to go with them.

Once upon a time, when I was a very small girl indeed, another little girl lived next door and we played together in our garden almost every day. By the time I started school her family had moved, but we still played together from time to time. We stayed friends into our early teens and then they moved a very long way away.

You might remember I went to 50th anniversary party a couple of weeks ago. That celebration was for the other little girl’s Mum and Dad. We had a lovely evening and it was great to see her again after 30 years. One thing she asked me was, “Did we play with a man that you could push over?” and the answer was, “Yes. Yes we did!”

I don’t actually remember him at all, but my brother does and says we called him Mr Sandman. I dug through the family photos when we got back home and found these two little gems. I was able to email them to her and I thought I’d share them with you today. I’m the little girl on the left, in case you were wondering.

If it’s a dark and stormy night sort of tale you’re after, then there are plenty to be found at Sian’s place. Mine from last November fits the bill too.

Storytelling Sunday ~ Here Come the Girls

It’s the first Sunday of the month and time to share our memories/stories. Sian suggested a theme of Let’s Dress Up! for this month which gave me plenty of choice.

Dressing up was something I did a lot of during my student days and usually in the fine company of these two gorgeous girls. Wednesday was college night at Sam’s, the local nightclub, which usually involved some theme or other and we were only too happy to oblige.

I think on this occasion it was punks and rockers. The black was not a problem as, along with purple, it was the mainstay of my wardrobe at the time. The make up would have been borrowed, because I never wore it and still don’t very often. The photo was taken in the kitchen of of our student house.

Here we are again, almost 23 years on, outside the (now closed) nightclub. We stopped an old chap on his way to the pub and he eventually (after many patient explanations) managed to snap this for us. We’ve switched positions and I’m on the left here, instead of in the middle as above and purple still features in my wardrobe.

For more words and pictures head over to From High in the Sky.

Hello Monday, Hello Blogtoberfest

Hello laptop. I’m so glad to have you back.

Hello blog friends. How I’ve missed visiting you all.

Hello Blogland. It feels good to be back.

Hello Blogtoberfest. I’m looking forward to joining in again.

Hello new blogging schedule. I hope I can keep up.

The plan for this week is to:

• say Hello Monday
• share a recipe on Tuesday
• show my workspace on Wednesday
• be random on Thursday
• share my favourite finds on Friday
• Stamp Up on Saturday
• tell a story on Sunday

We’ll see how it goes!

ETA I've been using Live Writer for so long now that I've completely forgotten how to work in HTML. Having spent, what feels like, the whole day trying to get this post to look right I'm just going to publish as is.

Storytelling Sunday ~ Lazy Days of Summer

From the days when summers seemed endless and the sun always shone.

When we got up in the morning, met the other children in our little close and spent the day in the fields behind our homes. Only returning when we got hungry.

These photos triggered a whole host of memories from childhood summers. The boy on the left was literally the boy next door, next to him is my younger brother, then the boy who lived ‘up the top’ and lastly my nine year old self. Look at those flares! Well it was the seventies.

On my back I’m carrying a rucksac of sorts, that I made from a curtain remnant my Gran gave me. Inside was an exercise book filled with the cards that came free in boxes of tea, depicting wild flowers and birds. There would have been I-Spy books too (remember those?) and a container to collect wild flowers in, for pressing later.

I could go on…..and on. Happy days.

More Lovin’ Summer than Summer Lovin’, which is Sian’s theme for Storytelling Sunday this month. There will be plenty mores tales to read over there. Why not pop in and maybe share one of your own.

Storytelling Sunday 2 ~ Thirteen

I really wanted to share a Jubilee themed story today, but alas I cannot find a single photo of our Silver Jubilee celebrations back in 1977.

There was a celebration of a different kind in our house last month.

                                             Thirteen candles

                                                    One wish

These are the only two pictures I managed to take. You have to be quick to catch her unawares these days. No second chance to get a sharper shot, the blur will have to do. Better to have that, than no photo at all.

I’m linking up with Sian today and everyone else who has a story to share.

 

Storytelling Sunday 2 ~ May Queen

On the first Sunday of the month, Sian plays host to anyone who has a tale to tell or a photo (that tells a story) to share.

I didn’t have a story in mind for this month, so I did what I usually do on these occasions and turned to the old photo album.

This one seemed like a good choice…..

That’s my Mum right up there on the throne. We’re not certain of the year, but Mum thinks she was nine or ten years old, when she was chosen to be the May Queen.

It’s not a tradition that was followed at my primary school or my daughter’s, so we were sure to write on the back before tucking it away in the album again.

Have you got a May Day (or any other) story of your own? If you have, then head on over to Sian’s place, where we’ll all be happy to see you.

Storytelling {Monday} Sunday

I had a wonderful weekend in Herefordshire with some lovely ladies. There was much crafting, coffee, cake, chocolate and chatting. What more could you want? It was back to reality with a bang on Sunday night, when I walked through the front door, so my story had to wait until today.

We moved into our house 4 years ago and being a new build, it was a vision in magnolia throughout. High time we had some colours on the walls then. My husband is not a huge fan of decorating, but he likes to do it right. This meant we couldn’t just paint the walls, but had to do the ceiling as well. The room was duly dust sheeted and work could commence.

We took down the old light fittings, which we both hated, ready to fill, sand, wash down and finally paint. The idea being to push through, no matter how long it took and get the new light fittings up, once the paint had dried. Neither of us spotted the fatal flaw in this excellent plan. Once the natural light ran out, we had no other light at all and couldn’t actually paint the ceiling. Doh!

The lounge was very cosy, with a selection of bedside lamps, that evening, but I’m very happy to have a fresh white ceiling and some new lights now. Maybe we’ll even get some paint on the walls this week.

For more tales, of anything from great adventures to everyday life, head on over to Sian’s place.

Storytelling Sunday 2 ~ Precious Gems

In 1985 my 17 year old self walked down a side street in the ‘pink city’ of Jaipur. She bought four tiny garnet cabochons with thoughts of turning them into earrings.

A little over 10 years later, her husband to be walked down a side street in Taunton and found a jeweller who would turn one of them into a simple engagement ring.

Now I’m not usually one for sickly sweet sentiment, but how could I possibly resist a sheet of scrapbook paper with a Cure lyric printed on it.

For stories with many more words than mine, head over to Sian’s place.

My Month in Numbers ~ January 2012

Like a lot of you, I set myself a few goals for the coming year. Some of them I declared and others I kept to myself. How have I got on during this first month of the year? Better than I thought, but not quite as well as I would have liked!

4 is the number of challenges I have managed from the list I made public. I told a story about a Christmas past for Sian, shared my desk each week over at Julia’s, blogged a list of 10 for Shimelle and I’m counting up my month with Julie today.

1 is the number I failed to complete, although I do have 2 sewing projects on the go and I did bake a delicious lemon drizzle cake. Does that count Annie?

2 is the number of new recipes I’ve tried. The lemon cake above and a new way with chicken. I was hoping for 4, something new each week, will try harder next month.

2 is also the number of books I’ve read this month. That was my aim, although I would love to read more, I’m being realistic here.

4 is the number of ‘labs’ I completed from this book. I’m aiming for 1 a week, as there are 52 of them.

31 is the number of daily photos I snapped. I know a lot of fellow bloggers are following the 365+1 challenge and I have used a few of the prompts, on days when I didn’t have anything else in mind. This was ‘cosy’.

Not a bad start to the year. I can’t quite believe this month is over already and it will be the first What’s on your Workdesk Wednesday of February tomorrow. Don’t forget Storytelling Sunday this week too. Maybe I’ll be reading a tale of yours then.

Storytelling Sunday 2 ~ A Very Different Christmas

Before I started writing my Month in Numbers post yesterday, I had no idea what I was going to tell you about today, for Sian’s Storytelling Sunday. I wanted to tell a New Year tale, but I always find it easier if I have a picture as a starting point and I couldn’t think of any in my albums. I mentioned that it was 25 years since I last had any sort of fringe and I wondered if I had any photos of that.

I found this one.

It shows me, aged 17, on Christmas Day 1985. I was in India with a group of school friends and we had just opened our presents. My gifts included a beach mat, a tin mug (which I still have), joss sticks and a bar of sandalwood soap. My Secret Santa was very imaginative and did amazingly well with the small amount of rupees.

We had left a Poste Restante address, in Kerala, with our families and friends, as we would be there for a week between Christmas and New Year. I was lucky enough to receive several pieces of mail, including the Christmas card I’m holding. As you may have noticed the sender has attached a balloon, to help us celebrate. The silver disc is an Extra Strong Mint, something he was well known for having about his person at all times. There was also a lovely long letter inside, added to by almost all of our Sixth Form friends. I still have that too. I can’t tell you how special it felt to have those words on a Christmas Day so far from home.

We saw in the New Year at a hotel across the road, which was much posher than the accommodation we were staying in. I remember drinking some locally brewed spirit and dancing to Talking Heads Road to Nowhere. Whenever I hear that song now, it takes me right back to that night.

We travelled further north by train and visited lots more amazing places, before we returned home. I love that there were repairs being carried out, while we were in Agra, because it makes my shot of the Taj Mahal a little bit different from the standard touristy images.

Here’s a closer look at that scaffolding.

There seemed to be quite a few repairs in progress while we there.

It’s funny the things that have come back to me looking at that first shot. I had completely forgotten about those gifts and without the photo would not have remembered them.

So when Uncle Dave says, "You've got to persuade them! It's so important!” You really should listen to him, because he’s absolutely right. Get your stories down on paper, or on your blog, before they are lost forever.

Storytelling Sunday ~ On a Dark and Misty Night

When I was a little girl, we didn’t go Trick or Treating and Halloween wasn’t really that big a deal. We made lanterns, not out of a pumpkin, but carved from a mangel-wurzel. I can still remember how much our hands hurt afterwards.

One year, when I was about 10 I think, we went to a Halloween party that our neighbours were throwing. We played lots of fun games, including apple bobbing and trying to grab a bun, tied on a string, without the use of our hands.

Later, we gathered round to tell scary stories and when it got to Midnight (or so it seemed) we all went out for a walk. I don’t think I’d ever been allowed to stay up that late before and it was strange and exciting to be outside in the dark. The local church, where I sang in the choir, was just around the corner and that is where we headed.

With our heads full of spooky tales, we walked up the path to unlatch the gate, but it swung open before us. By now my heart was racing and then I noticed that there was a hand holding the gate. There was a large ring on its finger and a lacy cuff hanging out of the burgundy velvet sleeve.

That was enough for me and I didn’t let my eyes travel any further. I no longer remember who was standing beside me, but we grabbed hold of each other and ran screaming from the churchyard. I can’t tell you how happy I was, to be safely back in the warm bright house.

It wasn’t until a few weeks later, when I was getting my Mum’s sewing machine out of the bottom of her wardrobe, that I noticed a burgundy velvet sleeve hanging there. I nearly jumped out of my skin! Then I realised that while we had been out in the misty night, I couldn’t remember seeing my Dad anywhere.

He had gone ahead to hide behind the wall and give us a scare. In the end, all he needed to do, was pull back the gate and our over active imaginations had done the rest.

I hope you enjoyed my Halloween memory. For lots more stories, head on over to Sian’s place, where you’ll find a warm welcome.

Storytelling Sunday ~ The Paddling Pool

With temperatures in the high twenties for the last few days, it didn’t seem quite fitting to tell a story with an autumnal flavour this month. I got out an old photo album this morning, had a quick flick and pulled this Summer snap from its pages.

So what’s the story here?

I’m only two years old in this photo, so I can’t claim any memories of the day. My blurry left foot, caught just off the ground, coupled with that unbecoming frown, suggests that I may have been stamping it! I loved nothing more than to splash about in my paddIing pool all day long, during the summer months and I think I was probably being just a little bit impatient, because it was still empty. The part of the story the picture doesn’t tell, is that I had a six month old baby brother by now, who may well have been keeping my Mum busy. Although somebody obviously had time to take the photo, so perhaps that’s what I was grumpy about!

Not exactly a story, or a memory, but a little snippet of my very early childhood, brought to you as part of Sian’s Storytelling Sunday.