TBT: 1971 Birthday Party

1971 in England. My son's 4th birthday party with some of the neighbor children. I don't recall the boy in the striped shirt but suspect he was a schoolmate from my son's pre-school class. While this is August, he is the only one dressed for summer. But then again, this was an English summer.



What you probably would not see at a children's birthday party these days (I hope!) is the father smoking a cigarette with all the children and, as you will see in the next image, a newborn.



Outside our front window is another image - my dark green Hillman Minx, aka 'the pig car' as it was extremely sluggish and chugged up the many hills of Yorkshire, always making me wonder if it would die then and there. Also, here's ruddy British Mum and children.



I was just talking to a friend about the Wedgwood china you see in the back cabinet. My xh has that set which included almost all the pieces made in the Black Florentine pattern. It was one of the benefits of living in England when the $ was strong. And yes, a cake dotted with Smarties.



Not the greatest photo but one in which you can see the clothing of the era. Note the length of my dress. I had others that were shorter...

TBT: More of a 1971 Sunny Day in Yorkshire

In 2014, I did an earlier post about this day in Yorkshire. There is not a lot of rhyme or reason to some of my older scanning I fear. Now I am paying the price and going through albums in order. These photos tell more of that earlier story. I now see that we had a day in the Yorkshire Dales and yes, as my friend Cat noted, not as close to my Knaresborough home as I'd said. She was living in Yorkshire when I wrote the first post and went "over the top' to Skipton a lot more than I ever did.

My cousin Donnie, who was about 15 then, down at the water with my son and husband. There was nothing my son loved more than skipping stones in the river, here the River Wharfe.



I don't know exactly where in the Dales this was exactly  but it certainly gives you an idea of the height of that massive rock formation. Lots of open land for little boys to run and run also.

Not many trips up here after we had two sons and not many days I remember as sunny and bright. These days were special.

TBT: 1971 My Mother's Escape

I'm thinking this photo was taken in 1971. Long ago, eh? My mother worked hard at a job she didn't like that much but a job she needed. There were things like the mortgage and food and expenses  for my Nana who lived with her and my father.  This hill in the backyard was quite a project for her but it gave her a needed relaxation after those hours in Washington DC, in an office next to the parking lot of the beautiful government building, a parking lot that often had vans waiting and filling her office with exhaust fumes. 

The garden was her escape.

TBT Sunny Days in Yorkshire 43 Years Ago

I'm thinking this was in the late summer of 1971 a time when my grandmother and cousin came over to England. If it was, then we took my grandmother hostage and kept her til the following year. I in the early days of my 2nd pregnancy here and had a 2nd son in January 72 and my mother came over to visit and the two of us went to see the bulbs of the Netherlands. Nana wanted to leave earlier but my mother convinced her to stay til spring so the could fly home together.

In 1971 my grandmother would be 75 years old. I'm not far from that now which is a strange thing to think of.

I didn't know which village this was but thanks to the internet I found out that it is in Hebden, outside of Skipton in the Yorkshie Dales.  The Clarendon Hotel. Not terribly far from our home in Knaresborough but a bit of a nice country drive with visitors. Sitting outdoors in the summer sun was not as common then as it is today - weather seemed cooler back then - and I see my xh has a turtle neck under his shirt and my grandmother's coat is on the table. I am wearing tights (lacey but substantial ones) under my bell bottom jeans. I still have that road atlas!

My cousin was about 15 then and stayed for a couple of weeks if I recall correctly, sharing a bedroom with our firstborn.  The boys are dressed for summer and seem to have been content. Happy days. 43 years ago.

TBT - Easter in England 1971

My mother had started the habit of holding his basket and then rehiding the eggs on him when we realized he was a very good spotter at age 2. We would have needed several dozen eggs for his eagle eyes. Here he is looking at the basket, age 4, thinking something fishy is going on again.