Saturday 6 February 2021

Those Were The Days

I have removed all the photos from the albums. They were all different sizes and honestly, some of the photos were not worth keeping,. In the days when you took your pictures then sent off the film to be developed, I kept every single one, because I had paid for it. And why did I keep three very similar shots, all slightly out of focus, of a group of friends on a church picnic up a hill in the Lake District in 1978? We can't remember their names, and we've lost touch. I think there are only 30% of the pictures left now. They are all in an orange cream cracker box waiting to be put in date order, labelled and put in decent albums. Some of the pictures have caused much laughter.

1986, Orpington. We still have the red chairs- and the duplo, with its patchwork bag.

Those jumpers were the most successful garments made on my knitting machine. I got my inspiration from Clothkits, who produced lovely children's clothes [way beyond the budget of a student family]

Do you remember their lovely knitwear - and the DIY garments where the pattern was printed onto the fabric and you had to cut it out and sew it together? I designed the girls' jumper pattern on graph paper, then transferred it to punchcards, then knitted them up in budget yarn. How mad was I?
This picture is even older - 1981. We were packing up our flat in Hemel Hempstead before Bob went to Gillingham as a student minister.
He is so slim, and has so much hair! You can see the arm of the rocking chair, bottom left. That is in the bedroom at Cornerstones now - still draped with my Grandmother's blanket. The bureau in front of Bob had been repainted and upcycled a couple of times. That isn't coming with us - we have no space for it. 
I was really pleased with myself on Wednesday, I did this ruthless cull of the pictures, and then packed the good ones into a box and taped it up...then Thursday discovered a file of more photos in a drawer. You think you have finished a task and then realise it is never ending!



11 comments:

  1. Sorting photos was my first lockdown project. I then scanned the decent stuff and slung almost everything! I shall have a couple of photo books printed so that even if I have to go into smaller accommodation I will be able to keep it.

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    1. I hadn't considered photo books - but scanning is a good idea

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  2. I think I should have done this as I've shoved about 8 albums in a box and there is another Really Useful box full of loose photos too. Years ago I divided up lots of photos of the children and passed them on to them. But really need a good cull. So many memories

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    1. The memories are what delay the culling process. I pull out a photo and waste 5 minutes thinking "who IS this woman?" before discarding it, then the next one is someone much loved and has died, and I lose another ten minutes weeping, and making a restorative cuppa. The full sort-out will have to wait till we are settled!

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  3. We had an identical high chair for our three daughters. It had been passed on to us by my older brother and his wife and had been used by his children. Being the 6th born boy I was used to hand-me-downs and this continued to some extent in the next cycles of life. Speaking of which I have a shovel, whose handle recently snapped, which I have used for 30 year and which was my fathers, and he must have had it for at least thirty years before that. This is what happens when looking at old photographs.

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    1. Our high chair was a hand-me-down too. Don't start me on "old tools"... Bob is at this moment sorting his out in the garage. But there's something wonderful knowing that previous generations have worked with that shovel/chisel/Crochet hook. Which is why The Repair Shop is so popular

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  4. I remember my mother and step-dad tossing album after album of old pictures before we left the country. My mother kept their wedding album and I was looking through it the other day - I have forgotten who half the people were!

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    1. When we first got Cornerstones, I found a wedding album in far corner of the loft. As the house had been repossessed, we didn't know the previous owners. I showed the album to a neighbour. He recognised one of the bridesmaids as the previous owner, and said his daughter knew her and would pass it to her at the school gate. I thought it was right to try and return it

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  5. We just sorted through dozens of photo albums of my mom's and I know what you mean about out of focus and 3 pictures of the same exact shot! But it has been fun looking at memories.

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  6. I do remember Clothkits, very expensive but a Good Idea!

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  7. As above we are scanning and doing photo books bit by bit of the best pictures - like you I tended to keep ones that are not worth keeping. We have been playing with our Duplo this week which is identical to the one in your picture - the little tractor and wagons are very squeaky now through age but is still going after 40 years - not bad value.
    I do remember Clothkits my friend at Art College designed for them at one time when we had completed our Fashion Degree. I have pictures of my girls in their clothes.

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