TBT: just one of those English days circa 1972

Another one of the TLP scrapping challenges from March 2019. This one was to take a photo, split it and frame it as if it were two different shots. Yes, 1972 on my beloved red  couch, with the forest green walls in the background. How trendy I was with my velour animal print pillow covers! Old is new again.

One thing I hadn't noticed that a fellow scrapper pointed out...the extra large cuffs on my son's shirt. Yep, it was the 70s and I imagine his collar had had 'matching' long points. And his overalls were on trend then too. His hair was his own and I imagine he'd be glad to have half of that 50 years down the road.

What I love about challenges is that if often gives me a chance to tell old random heritage stories before I forget a lot of them.

TBT: 1931 Summer Day

As a child growing up, I was the one who had the down comforter from these geese. Nana called it a feather tick and I always loved the feel of nesting in amongst those feathers. I still do like a duvet - cuddly and so easy to make the bed! But oh the indignity those poor geese suffered!

TBT: The 1st Birthday 1945

As much as I like to scrap what I please, challenges often get me going on images I just haven't got around to doing. My mother in law used to say she needed a 'getroundtoit' when she knew she had things that weren't getting done. She was a fun woman!

While my birthday is in September, it's almost always still hot round here and even up in Pennsylvania where I lived then. Other photos show us outside in the sun. This is probably one of the biggest parties I had because the guests are my cousins and a few other children I don't recall. I was only 1!

TBT: I967 Maternity Clothing

Back from Texas in 1967, I was pregnant with my first child, the child who turned 51 yesterday! Oh how time flies. I guess I must be having fun, right?  I do like this photo for many of the things it shows, including the fact that at 5'7 my father is considerably taller than I am with his height. He was 6'4 which seemed kind of normal to me. Somehow I married a 5'9 husband in the first go round.  But that aside, I really like that dress too. It was one of my favorite maternity dresses. All gone, years gone but fortunately we have photos some time. And now there's a scrapbook page to tell some of the story!

TBT My Great Uncle or Grand Uncle, Your Pick

I am a Guest Creative Team Member at Designer Digitals for a couple of months and this was the easiest layout to do so far. I love almost anything Heritage but don't always use the subtle colors.This Vintage Mini Mix Kit No 07 called out to me and I was so glad I had scanned a bunch of images from one of my mother's old albums. Old, as the photos go back to the 1930s. I don't have a lot but I'm so grateful for what I do have.

Uncle Pete, as I called him, definitely did not want to go down the mines as so many of his male relatives did. How was it that he had the get up and go to go to New York and stay there for the rest of his days? I think there's always one in the family like that. Even though I'm an only child, I was one like that. I wish I had known more of the whys and wherefores of Uncle Pete's story while he was alive. But that's life, isn't it.

So here's Uncle Pete and his story or as much as I know of it.

click here for credits

TBT: That Day in Boston 1978

We moved to Thailand with two sons and were expected to be there for two years. However, in that time we adopted a little three year old little girl, or should I say we started the adoption process. Many obstacles came up including a coup over the weekend after we received permission from the Thai government to adopt her. Over that weekend the government changed and so decisions made  by Friday's government were no long valid on Monday. Start the process again... We extended our stay in Bangkok by a 3rd year to, god willing, hope the process would be resolved. My husband also considered putting her in the diplomatic pouch to get her out of the country!

But she received a Thai passport eventually and legally became our child on the 4th of July! This photo was taken when we arrived in the US with our little 'foreigner' and her brothers. She would be naturalized in less than two months. But that's another story!

Throwback Thursday: Two Sisters

Aunt Florence was my Aunt and though her sister Mary always seemed very nice, Aunt Florence seemed to be the fun one. My mother really liked her and enjoyed her company whenever they could get together. As we lived about 4 hours away from her, it wasn't that often unfortunately.

ThrowBackThursday: My Heart Burst

Not me nor my child but a friend and her mother. If you're a parent, I hope you've had this feeling.

TBT: Another View of Boston

This layout was just earlier this year, but it still makes me happy. I'm happy that my son has married the woman that seems to be a really good match for him. I'm happy that she is adjusting to a New England cold now. And I'm happy that this iconic sign is still there. Hi there Citgo!  I first saw you over 20 years ago!

TBT: Who Are These People?

In doing anther round of getting rid of paper clutter, I found this photo. Who are these people?

I will guess that it is in the 80s from the hairstyle of the woman. I also think it is a family gathering, grandfather on the far left and his daughter, her husband and their two sons. The woman and the two boys have that same jutting jaw which the mustached man does not have.

Is it that jawline that makes most of them look less than happy or is that the mood? I don't know who they are nor where this photo was taken and there are no notes or dates on the back. Perhaps this was a command performance but in any case I hope their future years included more smiles.

TBT: The 1940s Swingers

Back in the 1940s this photo was taken of my maternal grandmother Mary Rose flanked by her daughter in law Florence on the left and her daughter, my mother, Mary aka Pat on the right. I am looking at my Aunt in a suit, my Mother in what looks like a wool skirt and Nana in a dress made of...cotton? rayon? light wool? I imaging that most of this clothing was home made. Nana and my Mother were quite the seamstresses as most women were in that time.

This was in the early 40s before I was born so I'm thinking  it was 1942, the year that both my Aunt and my Mother were married. They would both have been in their 20s while my grandmother was 46. Amazing how 46 looked back then, isn't it. How happy they all look here, yet Aunt Florence would be a widow in 1945 when her husband's plane crashed in India, and Nana would also become a widow in 1947 when her husband died of MS and Black Lung. My Mother would find that her WWII husband would not die but would come home with many issues that led to an unhappy marriage for the next 30 years. The ups and downs of life.

TBThursday: I Know That Outfit!

You know how when you click an ad in any social media these days, you then see that ad everywhere you click. "The Google" knows... Well, I saw a navy dress that had a white collar, very prim looking, and while I don't need anything like that as my working days are over, it appealed to me. Today looking through old images, old like in 1971, I saw this.

It's no wonder I liked it. I had a pants suit like it back 46 years ago. gasp. Here with my eldest son and only one at the time, I believe I'm at the airport. It looks like my mother is going back to the US. I wonder how much he remembers his grandmother who died 10 years later of cancer. But here she's whispering to him ...last minute love?

I remember that suit of hers and the mink hat. I thought she was so old. She was 54. Oh how our perspectives change with time. Now that age seems so...young?

TBT: Thoughts of My Uncle

A couple of weeks ago, I saw that my cousin's daughter had posted a photo of her late grandfather on Facebook.

People often post photos of dead relatives who were Veterans on Memorial Day. I've seen this photo of my uncle who died just as WWII ended many times over the years. My Uncle Joe died in a plane crash September 5, 1945 in North East India. His son, my cousin Joe and I were both born in 1944. Joe was born in October and I was born in September.

I never met my uncle and my cousin Joe never knew his father but my mother always told me how handsome he was with his Lithuanian heritage good looks. Uncle Joe was blond and blue eyed or perhaps with green eyes as my mother had and I do. My two sons are blond but have the Irish blue eyes which has always pleased me.

This photo is of my Uncle Joe and his wife Aunt Florence before WWII started. Like my parents, my cousin Joe's heritage is half Lithuanian and half Irish.  I suspect that was pretty common in the small towns in Pennsylvania where they lived. Coal mining towns that had jobs for their immigrant fathers. Towns that most of my parents generation were glad to leave and never hear of coal mines again. My cousin Joe is the only family member who stayed and raised a family in the same neighborhood where his wife grew up.  Now these old coal mining towns are towns for the newest immigrants, those from Central America who are glad to do the harder jobs just as the Irish and Lithuanians did in the late 1800s.  It all goes in cycles.

TBT: Bound for Texas via Mississippi

I have not scanned photos or slides in many a day. It's not a process I enjoy so I can always find something else to occupy myself. However, I do try to make some effort on Thursdays to deal with my abundance of images. I really wish that my dh would scan another photo album for me!

These two slides were ones taken after my first marriage in April 1966.  Had we not divorced it would have been 51 years this year. Amazing... After a honeymoon in Quebec we drove back to Maryland and set off for his next duty station in the wilds of Texas. While my father had driven us to Florida in 1955 for a Christmas trip, we never had those long cross country trips that many other families did in the 50s. So my sight of the Mississippi River was a big deal to me and I managed this shot. Apparently it was the first shot on a roll of slide film and thus the yellow on one side.

Coming down from the north through Tennessee, I know we crossed at Memphis which I do not remember at all. I suspect we may have arrived at this point at night and just moved on in the morning.  In any case, I did ask my husband to let me take the next photo. Mississippi brought mental images of the horrors of the Civil Rights Movement to my mind. Murders, bombings and the power of the KKKlan were more representative of Mississippi than magnolias in 1966. I was really glad to get though that state and on to Texas.

TBT: Dolls Don't Appeal to Everyone circa 1945

Recently, I found this photo of me and my cousin Joe. I'd say we are about 4-5 years old here. We are - obviously- in my bedroom with all my dolls, stuffed animals, and other toys on the decorated bookcase. Now there is no doubt that I was a little ham even then but apparently Joe did not want to have evidence of his doll-playing days. I have to laugh as he is a man with a 'harem' - one wife and three daughters and some granddaughters also!

I find the details of the photo fascinating - the little doll table and chairs, the usual scrapes on my legs showing I played hard, the old wooden blinds with tape that was often replaced, the Art Deco turnings on the wood of...my bed? So much to see in old photos that give a feeling for the time.

Also looking in detail on the shoes I'm wearing I suspect they are a pair of my mother's or grandmother's. And, I'll bet that the socks are red because I have my heart pinafore on.  Maybe, maybe not.

TBT: Some Ways To Make It Happen

Thursday is my normal day to work on old photos or slides. Since I have a few pages that can now go from blogpost to scrapbook page and I have a tray of slides that need to be - ugh - scanned, I'll leave your with this post from Houzz. Me? I'll be on it. Bit by bit it can get done. Or so they say!

You Can Do It: 6 Steps to Organizing Your Loose Photos

TBT: We're All Doubtful About Clowns

Wy back in 2002, this little pumpkin was not so sure about the clown hired for her birthday party. It was only her 3rd birthday and it was a party with a clown, lots of people and two cakes. As the years went by, birthdays became simpler as the tend to do.

Clowns etc really sounds like a good idea when you want to make your little girl have the best party ever but some things just have to be learned. I look back on photos of my own first birthday and even in war time (WWII) it was over the top!  I wonder if birthday clowns are still hired. Only birthday girl's cousin seems to enjoy him.  Her brother, with the camo face paint, also looks dubious.

Then again, when birthday girl's father has his 3rd or 4th birthday, one of the chunky 4 year old neighborhood girls almost tipped the swing set over with her energetic swinging. Fortunately, we got her off the swing but not happily. Childhood birthday parties...all part of the parenting experience.

TBT: Joe's First Communion circa 1950

I can't be sure of the date but as my cousin Joe and I were both born in 1944, I'm thinking that our first communions would have been in 1950 or 1951.

This image is cut off on both sides because it came from our Nana's wallet. Nana, the woman in the center, lived with me and my parents a lot of the time so there was no photo of me at this stage. Joe however, lived up in Pennsylvania so she didn't see him as much. On the left is his mother, Aunt Florence and on the right is his Aunt Mary - the Irish McGee sisters. Joe's father had been killed in WWII so he grew up with a lot of women about and funnily enough now has a wife and THREE daughters!

I see Nana is still wearing lace up shoes as a good matron did in those days but my Aunt Florence has a pair of rather fancy ones. The appear to be red and peepy-toe. Snazzy! I will bet that her suit is navy blue, a spring color to go with that boater with the red ribbon! One day I'll get round to getting rid of that yellow cast but today is not that day!

TBT: Pennsylvania Summer of 1967

These are some of the photos I had not seen for over 30 years. This set surprised me quite a bit as I did not recall coming back to Maryland from Texas before my 1st son was born. Good thing I didn't go into labor here because then he wouldn't be a Texan! I am with my father, my tall father who was 6'4 and I was considered tall at 5'7. Believe me, I never never wanted to be short.

Since the sign up on the right says First Bank of York, one might think it was York but if I recall correctly, we often met up with the Tamaqua crew in Harrisburg. Why these meet ups? My Nana alternated her time with my parents, my Aunt Florence in Tamara, and my Aunt Ruthie in various places over the years - the Philadelphia  area,  Upper Montclair NJ and at this time, probably Towson MD.

From left to right we have Nana, my Aunt Florence's sister Mary McGee and I'll have to leave the man for my cousin Joe to identify. I suspect it might be Florence and Mary's brother Jerry.

My mother finally got in a photo! though my father was the main photographer in the family until I took over that role. I loved that dress though blue was not my best color. btw, most all my maternity clothes were made by my mother and grandmother and true to form, I almost always balked at standing on the kitchen table so they could hem them accurately! My head almost hit the ceiling in the kitchen but still I just hated that part of the process. What a spoiled thing I was! The green dress my mother is wearing was mine and I think it was Liberty of London lawn, fabric we bought  in England back in 1965. Such a fabulous feel to that fabric. 

Isn't it amazing how little details stick in your memory from old photos!

TBT: Air Drum in the 70s

Drum boy knew he was good when he  got this set of drums. Yes, there is 'air drum' just like air guitar. It was a good start for him on a lifelong musical adventure. Keep playing Iain!