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: 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...

AAM Monday: Project Life Week 23

In having a week out west, this week is out of synch as Week 22 may get regular layouts or not. I'm still up in the air about that and when in doubt, don't is my motto.

So on to Week 23  with grandchildren time and then back home.

AAM Monday Project Life Weeks 27 and 28

I hope to keep going with this and maybe even do a bit more 'pure' PL in the weeks of August. Then with my vacation out west, I'll feel a bit more freedom to do those weeks in a different way. I like that about trips...they are different so they can get scrapped in a more artistic way if I want. Or not... no rules!

Not a whole lot going on during the week of July 4th. Going out to watch fireworks is no longer a thing we like doing very much. Heat, humidity, bugs, crowds. Yep, we're old!

Then came a quiet birthday week for #1 granddaughter. It was also a week of drenching rains, deluges! and yes, affagato is misspelled. It WILL be corrected! At least I saw it before himself tells me once it's printed.

Five on Friday: July 10, 2015

Ah  this summer is just moving along despite a LOT of rain.  We all wish we could send even a portion to California but that's not how it works.

1. If every time you move, you find the same people, well...What does that tell you???

Original

2. I haven't been watching almost any movies, Redbox or Netflix but I have started a few new tv shows that give me about 1 show a night 'on demand' during the week. An hour a day is enough tv for me. "The Crimson Tide", another season of "Last Tango in Halifax", "Humans" and slowly watching "Poldark" as well.

3. We had planned to take Granddaughter#1 out to dinner for her 16th, just her after a visit to family on her actual birthday. She likes Italian and so he selected a restaurant in Alexandria. However, this week of rain had an absolute deluge as we were on the beltway and Alexandria was already getting flooded. Change of plans to a nearby restaurant and fortunately we didn't look like drowned rats going in. 

4. It looks like my plans for dog sitting next month are scuttled. I've done this for quite a few years as my son and family head to the beach. This year Grandson#1 will be home working and not going. Sigh...I'm no longer needed. That's a mixed blessing. 

5. Yesterday, his air conditioner started spitting ice cubes again. We've put off doing a whole batch of Mitsubishi wall units for a while and so off to Best Buy he went for a much bigger one. Lucky for him, there is construction across the street so he was able to get a few of the men to carry it up to the attic and install it for him. Pretty much all done in a little over an hour from the time he left to drive to Best Buy. Would that all things went so smoothly. 

And me? I'm off on a retreat down in Southern Md. Thanksgiving in July meaning we women get a reminder about how to be grateful for what is as it is.

See you all next week!

TBT: A Birthday to Remember

I have scanned a bunch of image of our years abroad, but this one is just after we were evacuated from Tehran in 1978. My middle child's birthday is January 27 so this is his 7th birthday in my childhood home. My mother still lived there but it was during this time of my return with 3 children and 2 (very unwanted by her!) Siamese cats that she started planning a move to a larger house that would fit me and my family if the situation arose again. It was a godsend when I was divorced.

I suspect he was wearing his school uniform though the patterned shirt is surprising. His sister, in a nightgown, was still a bit in the dark about birthday presents - for just one child! How about that vintage tv. I'm also wondering what that big package is behind him. Kind of looks like a rolled up rug or perhaps this is the year he got the drum set. Maybe he'll have a memory sparked by seeing this. You never know!

It's My Birthday - Hello 70!

This is probably in Philadelphia PA where I was born. Thank you Temple Hospital. My mother was working there while my father was in Germany, WWII of course.

It's been a long time since 1944 but it's been a good ride.  I still like to sleep on my stomach and while my bald head lasted for about two years, I've had a full head of hair ever since. I don't think I'll ever have thin hair.

AAM Tuesday: It's His Birthday

My dear husband turns 75 today!! What a milestone.  He already got his Nespresso machine so here is a page for him. The caption under the image of the King and family (daughter Princess Elizabeth and Queen (Mum) Elizabeth says they were amused at a play they saw the night my dh was born. I'm sure there is a connection, don't you think?

AAM Monday: When It Snows, Play

While I did this card before this latest snow, one that is coming down as I write, I'll share it today.

Birthday girl had a visit from me last week, but as I unloaded the car with the various things going to my family, including magazines that get passed on to them, I realized that one specific bag was not there. The birthday bag was still in my house...sigh. So there was a return trip yesterday and I think this granddaughter might just get my older version of PSE. She seems to have the patience to deal with the concept of layers and might just add this to her skill set.  I don't think she has a clue as how many layers ARE on the card, but that is the joy of a template. You just add the colored parts. Any tweaking beyond that is up to the creator.

I think today will be a good day to get more pages done for my Spain and Portugal album. I am now seeing that it's going to be a larger album than I imagined, but that's ok. It took me long enough to start this one so...

By the way, that snow outside is coming down fast and furious. The flakes are very tiny but I think we will get the 8-14 inches they are calling for. I'm not overjoyed, as I have two doctors appointments cancelled, including a follow up mammogram. It's not a lot of fun having those hanging over your head but 'it is what it is.' Play is better than worry.

AAM Project Life 13 Wk 37

I was away at the beach all last week and as always I found it a lot harder to scrap on my dh's old MacBookPro than on my dear well-loved iMac. I also found that I didn't have any of my actions loaded on that copy of PSE and I'll be darned if could remember how to do some of the things I wanted to do - like make a web sized copy - without an action. I finally bit the bullet and just brought the psd files home and finished up the supply credit and resizing with Christy Vanderwall's wonderful actions. Ok, they're actually called scripts and you can find them right here at SpeedScraps - for free! Thank you thank you thank you once again Christy!

And now on to the pages. The 2nd page was such a happy facial shot despite being a pretty lousy photo. I almost missed Anne but decided to use it, and even tilted it a bit more than it actually was. Dad's son is actually 26 but he could have fooled me if I'd been told he was 18 or so! This guy is going to look young all his life I suspect.

Do you realize there are only 15 more weeks in the year? ONLY fifteen???  How can that be? There seems to be something in doing this project that keeps the flow going only to have me suddenly realize how time much time has passed. For the most part, the weeks have been good, actually very good. Here's to the next 15!

Still More Project Life

I've been able to get a bit caught up after the seemingly busy time with the paper sewing. I've put that project to bed for a bit, but will get back to some mail art for a few more classmates. What I did learn is how to adopt some sewing ideas into collage. It's all good learning new techiniques for various media.  If it's not fun, I'm not doing it. The art work is not a job so I can adopt that attitude easily.

This was my birthday week. My dh did a lot of work round the house for me and for himself.  Lots accomplished. I never got the porch decorated for Labor Day so this page has to have patriotic colors.

AAM Project Life 13 week 9

This was a week short on many photos so I haven't decided what I could use for a single one.  A week with a happy celebration followed by yet one more return to 'over there'. So far this is all she wrote - or scrapped.

Happy Birthday Josie!

My dear granddaughter has a birthday today. 13. Always precious, she's now growing into a beautiful young woman. She is loved so very very much.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Older, but "still crazy after all these years.." and darn glad of it!

Flashback Friday

This little one will be 11 years old on Tuesday...how time flies.

She's no longer interested in a Barbie pink cake and party, but wants (and is getting! courtesy of the heart-stopping eBay auction) a Vera Bradley purse. Actually, it's easier now when I can ask her for a list of what she'd like, and know I can get a gift that pleases her. She's still a beauty ...in size ten shoes!

Scrap the Daily

The BIG truck for the big tv, and the workers who were in a whirl of their own unloading. Dick bumped into me while I was taking that shot, and there was no time for a second one they were so quick. Whooosh! I am content.

Sweet Saturday

Last night was a great time with my Artist Way peeps where we altered books for an exhibit the Pratt Library is having. We enjoyed ourselves so much that no one, NO ONE, took pictures. That's a real first for our group. We do have a round 2 coming up to complete the books so maybe someone will stop making art to document the process. It certainly is a full moon week.

Today I have a whole week ahead of me - on my own. Despite forgetting my birthday ON the day, my dh had ordered my gift which arrived yesterday.



There is still a bit of fiddling to do to get the cable box and the dvd player in a different location but that'll happen. We aren't sure if we want to make/buy a platform to raise the tv up so that all the crapola can go underneath it. We'll see. I seriously want to do something about the stained glass window in the hallway which is directly opposite that tv wall. It appeals to everyone but me, mostly because it has always interfered with watching a tv in the daytime. Upscale problem, huh? So sometimes I prop a piece of cardboard up against it, and sometimes I just wait till it gets dark.

Maybe the Sebastian has a better idea about dealing with that afternoon sun.

On My Desk...September 10

Still in the am, and not much really happening yet. I have other stuff to get done before I get down to some hopefully fun ATC making and creating this afternoon! Retired, and still 'other' stuff to do...how does that keep happening?!?!?

This was Saturday, a gift from Dick's boss who was unable to make it to my birthday get together. It was pouring with the dregs of Hurricane Hanna when they arrived. So very nice of Steve and Yumi to send these. I did share..a bit.

I am doing some Halloween ATCs and one of my swap partners is interested in the 1940s. I googled "Halloween 1940" and this is one of the images that came up. I have a very hard time imagining a child dressed as Hitler in 1940...but then who knows what the politics of this Canadian family might have been... Very very strange and creepy to me.

Other desks are listed on Kirsty's blog which you can go to if you click that On My Desk button on the right...go ahead. You'll have fun.

Time to click and party!

This girl is is having a birthday party and you're all invited! As I've said before, it you are feeling low and lonely and (fill in the blank), you can find a world of friends to listen and perhaps give you some cheer thru blogging.



I haven't met her ...yet...but she is one of my swap partners for some ATCs. I love it when a partner has a blog and isn't THAT far away from me! So, click that link and ...join the party! (she even has giveaways, and I know for a fact that the REAL day is the 16th)

It's my birthday!

So to celebrate...my only ever naked shot.

March 25, 1945

The funniest part of this birthday has been that for quite a while, I thought I was turning 65. I was looking forward to finally getting ALL the senior discounts and rates. In fact I turned 64...

Sunday mornings go for a ride
Doing the garden, digging the weeds
Who could ask for more?
Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I'm sixty-four?
Thank you Paul McCartney.

Well, I couldn't ask for much more in life; I am content.