Hi, Hélène has recently sent me a number of pictures of objects which had belonged to Auntie Olive, no value whatsoever (like her zip collection!), but I call them treasures all the same because they remind us of the times when n°7 DR was still full of them. What a nice house Auntie Olive had! Upon entering it, I remember feeling the difference with n°9; it had a quiet, a scent, a cleanliness which Grandma's house didn't have in the same way. There were uninhabited rooms, which was as if they were forbidden (or forgotten), and which perhaps because they were kept shut, were quite cool in the summer, something which added to their mystery. I especially liked her front room, and the superb chime of its mantelpiece clock: I never saw this room used by anyone, yet it was immaculate and I felt I had to tread very carefully after I had pushed the door open!

This cupboard used to be in a small room on the first floor, just next to Auntie Olive's bedroom.

Hélène doesn't remember whether this little box was inside the cupboard, or in the downstairs dresser, but I had never seen it myself! Click on the picture for a close-up (the ballerine's pretty face)! And what do you think it contained?

Perhaps these embroidered designs were meant to be sewed on tablecloths or such linen elements. Tini thinks they were bought already embroidered, which saved time when making tablecloths. Does somebody still have such a tablecloth, perhaps with similar patterns, which could have originated from the same lot?

Finally, here's a pic of one of Auntie Olive's scissors! Do some of you remember her using them?

Here's the sequel to the post "Cath childhood and youth": you'll also find many other photos of her in the posts devoted to us children, and there are a few in the post called At the door! I'll try and put here only pictures I've not put elsewhere.

Probably pregnant with Paco (so 1961)...

Here is the last series of Broomfield Park pics I have, with shots taken at various times between the sixties and the eighties:

The house in 1960

1970s Elm Avenue

The playground

View from the big slide (1975)

This one above is perhaps earlier

A passing double-decker

1975 the pond

Two other views of the pond, in which I once fell (wasn't deep enough to be dangerous), and where we used to float our "VPZ": I wonder if it is still somewhere??

1980 the house

some views of the lakes

Park railings on Aldermans Hill

A link on the park (film by Ch. Lalla)

and here's a link to some views of the Park in the late 1960 (thanks Noel for the transmission!):

You have already seen pictures of myself in 1961-1963 (here): here are some later ones!

1969. The gap between the early and the late sixties could be explained either by the absence of photo-sessions, or the fact that our stays in 64, 65, 66 etc. were considered routine... And perhaps there simply wasn't any camera at 9DR (anyone?) Below I can be seen with one, a sort of toy I had won at a local shop in Bonnebosq.

1971 with that crummy camera referred to.

Monsieur Père had bought me this balsa model, and I had spent part of my stay passionately building it, but the rubber band engine, when wound, broke the badly adjusted inner structure: it never flew!

1973 (see here)

1976, at Jane's, making popcorn. And the following one has a comment by Jane at the back!

The one below could be 1977 (in front of 66 Selbourne) - I had decided I'd wear a discarded pair of my Dad's sunglasses. He'd always get them VERY large, so as to shade as much of vision as possible!

And here's the effect my bad influence had on an unsuspecting cousin:

1980, fooling around in the park (more pictures of that stay here)

(above:) I was reading Death of a salesman, by Arthur Miller, which was on the syllabus of one of my undergraduate years. Perhaps this was after my "Cathedral tour" of England.

1985 the wedding party at 9 Derwent, see here)

I thought it might be fun to put together the few photos I have of Grandma's trinkets as seen on her kitchen dresser and mantelpieces:

On this photo of Carol and Janet, which I have often shown, in front of the sash on the left there's the old telephone (886 0382, this is Grandma, who are you?), then Grandpa's scales to weigh his food so that he didn't have too much sugar; then behind, between the girls, we can spot the watermark press. Here's an example of the pressed address below:

Next to the press, further on the right, I suppose it's Grandpa's covered typewriter. Hanging from a hook, on the right of the main clock (and Tini's drawing discussed here), there's Grandma's (or was it Grandpa's?) wristwatch; and I think on the left of the clock, we can see Grandma's timer, which I loved to wind up and make it ring for nothing (she didn't like me to do that!). Below the wristwatch, there's an hourglass, and isn't that long instrument hanging above the sash a sort of cooking thermometer? I think she'd use that for checking the heat of the water when making preserves. And at a later period, perhaps, among all the cups and saucers you might have spotted this!

Above in this picture of Hélène's birthday, in Grandma's frontroom, we can spot part of the purple string-drawing (does somebody know who did it? - May 19th 2014: Answer: Carol! see here in the comments section) which she must have marvelled at (I mean, enough to have pinned it on her wall), a small statue of the Virgin Mary, and this picture:

Upstairs in "Cath's bedroom" (as it was called) - here a picture of Cath back in 1985, just after she'd been made ready by Bonky for my wedding-party - there was another little mantelpiece, and on it, we can recognize a little eathen dog, with a broken left ear. On the right of the statue (Saint Joseph? I'm not sure), there's a sort of earth flower composition that I don't remember. God knows where they all are now - if someone still has them!

And finally, here's the mantelpiece of Grandma's front-room with her collection of 8 blue glass-horses, and in the middle, I think there was a very thin statue of Our Lady (just under the cross). On the right pillar, I believe there was a conch. Then the white statue of Jesus showing his Sacred Heart, and all around some photos and pictures. The one on the left looks like a reproduction of Durham Cathedral, because I know she used to go there for some reason; but the other photos I don't recognize (perhaps Jo's children on the right? and some of Mary's lot on the left?). Any help, anyone?

 Who's got the toast rack? This might just as well be the only photo we have of it.