Another very obscure hint but it certainly got me thinking and I’m starting to enjoy trying to work out how to address them. So, I could have made some cheese scones for my other half but is that art? And then I started thinking about who else might like to know that I’m thinking about them.
I have a 98 year old uncle, my mother’s younger brother, who now lives in a care home in Falkirk. I visit whenever we are up north and write from time to time. I can’t phone as he is stone deaf but I’m in regular contact with his key worker and she keeps me up to date with how he is. For some while, whenever I’ve visited, I’ve come away with as stack of photographs and I’ve been thinking for a while that I should do something with them. I plan, eventually to make a book with some of them, with labels and little memories for my children and grandchildren but for now, a card made from some of the photos with a letter for Uncle Harry.
I interpreted this hint as who inspired me and started to think about some of the strong women in my life. To start with my maternal grandmother, born in 1892, the second youngest of 5. She was a huge influence on my life and I’m sure none of my siblings would dispute that I was her favourite. As the oldest of 7, she made sure I had special times. I would stay by myself with her and grandad for holidays when she would take me out on old peoples trips with her. One of our favourite outings was to the York Cafe in Falkirk where we would have a ‘fish tea’ in the upstairs restaurant and for those who don’t know, a fish tea consisted of fish and chips, bread and butter and a cup of tea.
She taught me to knit and crochet, which considering she was left handed and I right, wasn’t easy. I would embroider with her and she would turn my work over to look at the back and ‘tut, tut, tut’, it was supposed to be as neat on the back as it was on the front. She lived into her 90s, walking down to the town every day to get her ‘messages’ and always popping in next door to see if ‘old Miss Cockburn’ needed anything as granny reminded me that she was ‘over 70 you know’.
I was the oldest of 7 with 3 sisters and 3 brothers. Father was always in work but didn’t earn much so mum, who had trained as a tailoress when she left school, took in sewing. Mum made all of our clothes and it was not unusual for there to a wedding dress or curtains lying on top of her old treadle sewing machine which now resides in my dining room. I learned a lot from my mum, not least how to make a little go a long way and NEVER, throw food away! This is mum on her 21st birthday
My daughter is a strong woman too, it must be in our genes. and I have to admit that I have learned a lot from my daughter too. She works hard but still makes time for her mum and I enjoy nothing more than a girly lunch with Justine.
And then there is me, a mix of all of them, or at least, I am what I am because of them. I should at this point add that I am no expert in amalgamating images in Photoshop, although currently working though an online Photoshop workshop, so hope to be able to improve on this when I have done.
Anne Bryson Photography 