photo hunting...

Last month I had a go at Kathy's photo scavenger hunt. It seemed like a fun idea and gave me an excuse to take the camera out and keep snapping at things and I enjoyed looking at the things other people  had taken pictures of.

But...I realised that I am completely hopeless and easily distracted from all the things I am supposed to be doing so decided I should probably not try to do it again this month...

Then I looked at the list for March...

I have no willpower at all! And I am enjoying being out and about with the camera soooo much more than 'other stuff'!

So here is March's list:

• a collection
• a fancy gate
• a lamb
• a lion
• a rainbow
• a ring
• a shadow
• an empty chair
• peeling paint
• something as old as you
• something green
• something sentimental

And here are my attempts!

"a collection"

Actually this is just part of a collection. I have collected napkin rings since I was really small. We used to spend our weekends as children traipsing round 'junk' shops - my parents were always hunting for bargain antiques. We were encouraged to collect something, I think so that it made it more interesting - my older sister collected medals, I collected these and my younger sister collected boxes. I think I probably had the best deal as these were a bit more affordable generally and I have got loads - getting on for 100 I should think. They are not all of value at all but some are old and some are just typical of their 'era'. There are bone and ivory ones, some with silver monograms, ornate silver, wooden 'holiday souvenirs' with pictures of resorts, bakelite and enamel, papier mache, glass... all sorts really. Some are really pretty and some just of interest; the one on the bottom shelf is made of shell and carved with the image of a local lifeboatman. It was difficult to take a decent photo because of the reflection from the glass front on the unit - R had this made so we could display some of them a couple of years ago. I do love to look at them from time to time - I can remember where many of them came from and I think they are an interesting item of social history. Does anyone still use napkins and napkin rings any more? We don't, at least hardly ever. I have some in the drawer in the kitchen but they come out on high days and holidays really; although we do try to sit down as a family and eat together whenever possible we just don't do that formal kind of laid table eating much anymore. I do still like to look out for them and I still love poking around in antique/junk shops!

"a fancy gate"

We were in London last weekend and there are a lot of fancy gates in London! I tried to take photos of the ones in Admiralty Arch, St James Park and Chinatown but that was when we were walking round in the evening and my little camera really doesn't cope well with low light so had to settle for this one near St Paul's the next day. I think the building houses the records of coats of arms - quite a fancy gate I thought!

"a lamb"

Ok this might be a bit tenuous but it was the best I could do! Norfolk is not renowned for fields of lambs... farming here is pretty much arable with a bit of dairy; so when I spotted these outside the Princes Foundation eco show house at the Ideal Homes exhibition I just had to snap them! (R by this stage thinks I have completely gone la la - 'why on earth do you want to take photos of loft insulation?!') I thought they were quite cute! And actually I really like the idea of insulation made of wool rather than fibre glass. The whole house was full of eco-friendly ideas and all the furniture and decorations from recycled or reused  materials. Not all to my taste but the principle got my approval.

"a lion"

See what I mean about low light photos!! But the lions in Trafalgar Square really are quite impressive so I couldn't resist. (and Norfolk not full of Lions either...!)

"a rainbow"

I love this bag. I got it on York market about 5 years ago when B (son 1) was looking at unis. I have used it so much and it has been through the wash a few times, so it is a bit faded now. But its a really handy size and cheers me up on dull days!

"a ring"

I'm sure some people have lovely jewellery but I don't! Not that I wouldn't mind some but have never been bought any - at least not that I felt I wanted to take photos of. So I went for this instead - kind of a ring? This notebook is in son 1's bedroom - I love the spotty cover too!

"a shadow"

My 17 year old son looking very long and lanky on the swing in the park the other day!

"an empty chair"

This little chair looks decidedly the worse for wear but I love it and can't bear to get rid of it. (This along with several other things, could have been my 'sentimental' thing - I am much more soppy about things than I had thought!) I can remember sitting in this chair as a small child and it was my chair (definitely not my sisters'!). It left home with me and for years had a collection of soft toys in it, then the boys all used it. But it didn't survive being climbed on repeatedly by small boys, the final straw being when R (definitely not a small boy!) tried to use it as a step! Dur!!! One of these days  I will get it repaired but really have no idea where to try - any thoughts?

"peeling paint"

Oh dear! Another sentimental moment I'm afraid. This little gnome sits on our front door step. He came from Devon where we went on holiday about 15 years ago, when the boys would have been 3, 5 & 7. It was such a lovely holiday - perfect weather, rock-pooling, exploring on the beach and we visited the Gnome Sanctuary. Don't know if its still there, but at the time it seemed a magical little place - lovely woodland filled with loads of gnomes that you could just wander round, playing games that were in the woods on the way round. We were all given gnome hats on the way in and I have photos of the boys in their hats fishing for pebbles and eating their picnic under giant toadstools. It was wonderful food for the imagination and a very happy memory. This little chap was the one they chose to bring home.

"something as old as you"

This bear was bought for me when I was born apparently. Not for us '60's babies nice soft squishy 'baby safe' toys! He is actually quite hard and scratchy but I loved him - which is why he looks a bit tatty! His head came off a couple of times and was sewn back on by my mum (not quite straight so he looks a bit to the left all the time!) and his eyes fell out and were replaced by buttons (I can't remember him with proper eyes - this is how he's always looked to me). When I was little you there were various bears in stories etc - Paddington, Winnie the Pooh, but my favourite was always Teddy Robinson. He was a bear that belonged to a little girl called Deborah and had various adventures. He had a best dress (which I thought was great for a boy bear - we were very into ending discrimination in our house!) so my teddy had to have a dress too - I think my patient mum must have made this dress. Does anyone remember Teddy Robinson? My boys never quite got him - maybe more of a girls story after all!

"something green"

Seedlings coming through in the cold frame, can't wait for veggies from the garden again.

"something sentimental"

As I said, when I was thinking about this one I realized there are loads of things I feel sentimental about! I have things from when the boys were babies, things that belonged to my Nannie, things from my chldhood... but this little silver pendant was given to me by my Mum when I was quite young (10ish maybe). It had belonged to her mother, who we never knew because she died when Mum was just 4 so it has a connection with another generation, somehow. I'm not sure how old it is - the engraving is pretty worn as though it has been worn a fair bit and I guess even if my grandmother had it as an adult it must be 70 or so years old. I have a photo of my Mum wearing it when she was about 10 and if I ever have a granddaughter it will eventually be passed on. 

So, thanks Kathy - I enjoyed these memories that went with finding these photos. Blow the boring 'should do' stuff! Bring on the April list!!

Sx