Blog Along with Effy - Post Nineteen

This is the start of my Wanderlust Week 16 with Dyan Reavely. Lots of lovely colour!    

If you have been reading some of my April posts you will know that when I saw

Effy's Blog Along, I thought I would share some 'diary' posts, along with some of the crafty things that I have been doing.

I like a bit of colour! The photo shows me in one of my very favourite outfits - I kept wearing it even after removing the shoulder pads - but eventually it went to 'the charity'. The occasion was my husband's 40th Birthday in December 1990.

Do you remember when woodchip wallpaper was 'the thing'? When Kevin and I moved into our first house in 1975, every wall was woodchipped - and then painted with the ubiquitous 'magnolia'. The woodchip was very forgiving of the defects in the walls - the house was an end terrace and had been built in 1895. But the kitchen - yes, we installed orange wall units! I was trying to find a photo - but all I could find was in the process of renovation! The photo does have an orange tinge!

My Mum and Dad's houses were always painted with 'magnolia' and 'eau de nil'. But I am reminded of a story from when they were first married. Dad was going to decorate the living room, so Mum said "Frank, people are now having a bit of colour and pattern in their living room". Dad armed with pots of magnolia paint replied "Marg, we are the colour and pattern in our lives!"

You may have noticed the Welsh dresser in the Birthday photo. This was a wedding present to Kevin and I, and it has travelled the world with us. The china on it is Crown Derby 'Derby Posies'. I was born in Derby, so when I started work I decided to collect this, buying one piece each pay day. This stopped when we had the kids! I can still see Tom, aged two, playing 'teaparties' with the teapot having climbed up the dresser... Fortunately both survived...

I don't know when Mum also started collecting 'Derby Posies', but she passed hers on to me and I now have quite a collection.

We found the small coffee cups in an antique shop here (very unusual to see Crown Derby here in Australia) and Kevin bought me them for my Birthday two weeks ago.

Of course they won't go in the dishwasher so they are not used very often - in fact I think the last time Mum and I washed them all to be used, was for a "Golden Oldies" get together. Mum initiated these meetings of her brothers and sisters (she was one of 5) and their wives and husbands, maybe 30 years ago. Our daughter was an honorary member of the GOS, as she lived with Mum and Dad when she was at University, and Kevin and I also joined in when we returned to the UK in 2014. The GOS met regularly every month either in each other's homes or a local pub right up to the Coronavirus Lockdown in March 2020. Sadly three of the number are no longer with us...

Mum is in the foreground of this picture. To gather around a table to celebrate an occasion gave her the greatest pleasure. She loved to be the provider of food whether it be a picnic, a roast dinner or a harvest basket full of home made jams and pickles. She was renowned for her flapjack and treacle toffee. She often claimed that for her it had been Christmas every day.

All for now... more tomorrow!

Happy Crafting!