Going back, way back.............

I think I might have started something that is building into something much larger than I imagined. In between working on custom quilting, and watering the garden, I have been going back in time, a long way back. Further back than my lifetime in fact, and what a journey it has been.

Val has been staying for a few days again. She likes to spread out and sew here where there is more room, although I have to say the space has been limited this week, as I have had stuff spread out everywhere. We have looked at lots of old photos, and had some good laughs, and all the while talking about times gone by. After a lot of sharing of each other's lives, we both decided that we would rather look at the glass as half full, and not half empty. (But we could both be sitting here thinking about how awful things have been, but won't.) Everyone is sitting on something and no one's life is perfect. So after setting the world to rights, we have had a few great days.

I could be what you would call a hoarder, but my story is, that it has been kept for a reason. And the reason is this book I am writing, that has been on my mind for a long time, as a "gunna do", one day. It has almost consumed the last 2 weeks, and has brought back so many memories. One friend could not believe the "stuff" I have kept, and when she thought about how many house moves I have had in my life, started to realise just how much I had packed up each time!!! I know that lots of people have a good clear out of stuff when they move. But not me!!

Just a few things below.....

a scrap book about the school trip I went on to Tasmania when I was 16, with the photos and a description of the tour.......

I even had an envelope with the plane tickets, entry to Pt Arthur tickets, and some sugar sachets, from the motel we stayed at. Anyone need sugar for their cup of tea??? It's only about 50 years old!!

In 1971 when my sister was born, I started to collect newspaper notices of births, marriages and deaths of people I knew. I can tell you that this is a wealth of information for my book. (My grandmother used to do this, and I lived with her while I was working, so perhaps that is why I started doing this??)

Our family went on a holiday to Queensland in December 1966. This little book gives the exact mileage (and it was miles back then), that we travelled and all the towns we drove through. It also details our spending and the cost of meals and fuel and accommodation etc, even down to the icecreams and milkshakes and lollies!! You might notice I was not very neat, and even though there is a picture of a ship on that page, we definitely did not travel on a ship, or the plane either!

My mother kept all the baby cards when I was born, and stuck them into a book, which I still have.

 Here is what happens when sticky tape has been used, as it has gone yellow.

This family photo was before DS was born, so maybe about 32 years ago??

As I said before, having kept all of this, (and much much more!) it is making it easier to record the story of my life, which in reality is really a collection of everyday, mundane happenings, just like newsfromjude is. And I am continually amazed at the number of people who keep reading my story, when I think it is nothing really exciting. I was surprised to receive a lovely letter from a reader last week, who thanked me for allowing her to share in my family life. She said she has hardly any family and "seeing the photo of the four generations of my family was something to cherish, even for her". How lovely is that. 

After spending the morning finishing the custom quilt on Max, I have spent the rest of today in front of the air con, scanning and writing. I am heading up the highway again tomorrow for an appointment, and will call to see mum and dad on the way home. I have printed out what I have written so far, and will get it checked, and add some more information from them. I am concentrating on the first 19 years of my life to start with, and so far I have 4,333 words and heaps of photos. And there is lots more I want to put into this section yet. Aged 19 is when I moved away to the next stage of life, marriage, family, farms and quilting. When I get the first section where I want, it will be time to get my head back into more quilting, and cutting cases of fabric again, ready for this year's retreats.

Before I finish this post, I will post a few photos of the garden. The heat of this week will be stressing everything out, as we hover around 40deg and over for a few days. No watering will happen tomorrow, so we will see how it looks by Thursday morning.

That's all the newsfromjude for this time. I think it's Wednesday evening. I am quite confused as to what the day of the week. Last week I made an appointment for the Friday, thinking it was only Wednesday and I had another day in between. Then Val said to me, "you do know it is Friday tomorrow, don't you?"!! So I might have gone to the appointment on Saturday !??  Maybe when the holiday season is over it will be different. (Not that I have had a holiday, but it is summer holiday time for a lot of people, while school is out until end of January.)

(Edited, on WEDNESDAY morning!! Actually it was TUESDAY evening when I write the paragraph above, told you I was confused!!)

Stay cool, if you are in Southern Australia, and stay warm if you are in the northern part of this world.

Blessings, From Jude