My latest Nikon

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Grandad
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My latest Nikon

Post by Grandad »

I had a birthday yesterday, the Big 8...0 ;)
My three offsprings arranged a family gathering at a local Seafood Restaurant for all my family. A rare event for us all to be together in one place at the same time. (Teenager grandchildren with their own cars always have something MORE important to be doing :lol: )

Anyhow we did all gather and after some appetizers, starters and mains, there seemd to be no rush to move on to any deserts....until that is one of the waitresses arrived with my, most unexpected, birthday cake resplendent with sparklers.

It was SO incredible I just had to share a few pics of it. The lady who made it is a friend of my daughter and it was a work of art and a shame to destroy with a large chefs knife. :lol:

5710
5711
5712


:gg:
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Re: My latest Nikon

Post by Kiya »

Grandad a huge HAPPY belated Birthday

Your cake is amazing & so apt for you :) as you say "what a shame to cut into it" at least you have the photos of it to keep & also of your lovely looking family :)

Happy Birthday Grandad

:hb2: :cake2: :hb2:
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Re: My latest Nikon

Post by Ruby Slippers »

I echo everything Kiya has said, Grandad! :up
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Re: My latest Nikon

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

WOW - super nice birthday cake and

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - the BIG EIGHT O ;)



:hb2: :hb2: :hb2:
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Re: My latest Nikon

Post by Horus »

Wow, Grandad what a great surprise and I must say what a fabulous new camera ;)
And of course a belated :hb2: :cake2: :cake: and congratulations on reaching such a great landmark.
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Re: My latest Nikon

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

Since you were at a seafood restaurant - what was the MAIN course? :eat :eat
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Re: My latest Nikon

Post by Grandad »

Thanks everyone for your good wishes. :up
I don't bother much about birthdays normally, just a number, but the family forced it on me and I couldn't show you the cake without giving the game away. :lol:

LLL, the restaurant is owned by a local fish company and everything is fresh caught. I can't remember all the menu items but there were Baked whole crusted sea bass, Sea trout fillets, Fish curry, Fish pie, Moules, Seafood platter, Lobster etc etc...all served as appropriate with local veg or rice or fries, sauces etc. It is a very highly regarded place but not silly London prices.

Louis said he didn't want a starter because he would not be able to eat all his main course so he sat through the starter course then saw off an adult main course portion of Moules marinière with a side order of fries. He does love his mussels. :lol:
:gg:
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Re: My latest Nikon

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

My kind of restaurant! :eat That is a menu to die for!

Hard to keep a biggie like an EIGHT O a secret.

What is your earliest memory Grandad? What do you remember as a young child that is so different from today?
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Re: My latest Nikon

Post by Kiya »

Grandad sounds like an enjoyable had by all & the food ;) :)
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Re: My latest Nikon

Post by Grandad »

Well, LLL, when I was born my parents lived in a flat (half a house) and very soon we moved to this little cottage in this lane.
5720 5719

Number 5 with the black door in the pano. It was a very small lane with an infants school at the end, just opposite the chapel that can be seen to the left in the pano.

Opposite number 5 there was, and still is (red brick house in second picture), a nice double fronted house that was owned by a Mr and Mrs Chittenden, an elderly couple who were my god parents. Even when only about three it was quite safe for me to go across the lane to see them and they made a big fuss of me because, I believe, they had no children of their own. If memory serves me right, Mr Chittenden played the violin.

That is my earliest memory but soon after, when I started infants school in the lane at four years, I remember that we used to have a little rest period when we would take our own mat to lay on for a while. Mine had a blue bell embroidered into it for recognition.

By the outbreak of WWII, by which time I had a brother aged two, and at around that time we moved across town to a slightly larger cottage where we lived until after the end of WWII. This is it, number 23, and right next door in the bay windowed house lived the local doctor.
5718

He had the only car in the road, a big 1939 Austen 16, in which he carried my mother brother and me to hospital when my brother and I had tonsils removed. (Both on the same surgery trolley, one up, one down.)

My father was in the army and, I come back to your question LLL about ‘differences’. In anticipation that last Saturday the family may want to hear ‘some pearls of wisdom’ from the old man, I went prepared with some copies of this picture to illustrate exactly what you have asked.
4126

This was May 1940, my father was on leave before being posted to North Africa, or Europe, I don’t know for certain. I am 5 and a half and my brother three. Nine months later in February 1941 my sister was born so the date speaks for itself. When my sister was born, my mother stayed for her confinement with an aunt across town. It was arranged that I would stay with my grandma (granddad was dead). I was 6 and a quarter years old, my school was about a mile across town from my grandmas and I used to walk alone to and from school carrying my satchel. This was entirely normal to let small children find their way to school, usually in a small group, and not a reflection of neglect. It was perfectly normal.

To me THAT is the biggest difference that I remember from my days as a small child and the way that children are over protected these days. It is true that there are more hazards today. In my day there was a mix of much fewer motor vehicles and some horse drawn carts but I do still believe that children are denied the opportunity to grow up and learn to be responsible from an early age.

I have lots of memories of the war years but you will have to buy a copy of my memoirs….
;) :lol:
:gg:
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Re: My latest Nikon

Post by Horus »

Nothing wrong with your memory mate ;) and I can also remember the little mats we used to have at school for a short kip, :zz I could do with one of those for when I go shopping :lol: :lol:
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Re: My latest Nikon

Post by Grandad »

:urm: :ni: What did you say your name was :?: :lol: :lol:

It is strange H how some distant memories come flooding back after being triggered by something. And then, as we have said before, you can go into a room for some reason and forget why when you get there. :lol:
:gg:
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Re: My latest Nikon

Post by Kiya »

Awe Grandad quaint little cottages you lived in.........not sure on the red brick though ;)

Love the b/w family photo :) ....oh memories memories how they come flooding back at times :)
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Re: My latest Nikon

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

Always very interesting what we remember from "way back when" and quite fascinating to be able to compare what was back then to what is now. Just think about all the times we have lived through and all the extreme changes that have happened since you were a child.

I really do believe that those of us who have lived in the past 75 or so years have gone through some of the most dramatic and rapid changes since the dawn of man particularly in our countries. Talk about being able to accept change and adapt - we're champions.

I too can remember walking great distances without adult supervision. I left the house in the morning and returned in the evening and 99% of the time nobody asked me where I'd been. It was assumed I was just out playing and I was. As I got older chores took over but I was relatively young when I had way more freedom than much older children do today.

My grandsons have no freedom. They'll be 5 end January and they cannot just wander outside whenever they feel like it. My daughter would be frantic if they did. I can tell they're not nearly as mature as I was but ? Seems to be the way of the world nowadays.

Can I ask Grandad - did your mom make all your clothes when you were a child, were they hand me downs (all of mine were) or were they purchased from a store?
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Re: My latest Nikon

Post by Horus »

If Grandad was anything like the rest of us the 'hand me downs' were always a favourite. I had an older brother so I got a lot of his stuff, thank goodness that my sister was younger than me! :lol:
Most new clothes as I remember seemed to have some special occasion attached to them such as Christmas or Easter or a birthday.
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Re: My latest Nikon

Post by Grandad »

You have a very inquiring mind LLL. ;)
My mother was not very adept at needlework but there was quite a lot of knitting went on. Mainly jumpers and little knitted suits like the one my small brother is wearing.
One thing that my mother was good at was shoe repair. My father was a competent ‘snob’, that is a shoe repairer. There were iron lasts in the shed together with the necessary hand tools and brads to sole and heel shoes. Looking ahead, my father had left pre-cut sole and heel pieces for our shoes. On more than one occasion I can remember my mother sitting on the kitchen floor with a last in a wooden holder between her knees repairing our shoes. She was actually very good at it but I am sure my father had trained her well.. :lol:
:gg:
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Re: My latest Nikon

Post by Horus »

I well remember those cast iron cobblers last's as my dad had one, it could stand up on it's own like a small anvil and had an 'L' shape whichever way you looked at it due to seeing a couple of metal feet on each side.
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Re: My latest Nikon

Post by Grandad »

I have one of those H and use it occasionally as an anvil. My dad had a range of single lasts which used to fit into the top of a round timber holder about 18" tall with a metal band around the top to prevent splitting and a rectangular hole into which the last you were using would fit.
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We had two steps up from the Kitchen to the back sitting room and my mum would sit on the steps with the wooden holder between her legs for support. (She was late twenties) How many young mums would do that now? :lol:
:gg:
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Re: My latest Nikon

Post by Horus »

Grandad, if you mentioned 'last' to most young people they would think it was a guy named James who had an orchestra :lol: :lol:
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Re: My latest Nikon

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

I think shoe repair these days has largely gone away. We might have 1 shop where I live now that does repair. As a kid most of my shoes were hand me downs (ALL my clothes were) as my father and mother were both the youngest in their families so all the clothes & shoes from all the cousins were funneled to me. Not too sure where my stuff went after me as I was pretty much end of the line.

I used to like getting cleats hammered into my shoes. Quite liked the clicking sound they made when I walked. Wore quite a few out and my dad would hammer in more.

My Grannie and Mom both knit. Sweaters and hats and scarfs galore and most appeared at Christmas as presents. My mother sewed and made me skirts and dresses throughout the year. Now clothes are purchased, worn and discarded. I think some handing down of clothes happens but not much. Not like in my day. It was quite a rare treat to get something new and be the first to wear it.

I also remember all the angst that went with trying to find hats. The Sunday going to church type hat. I remember lots of shopping trips with my Mom and Grannie to look for hats. I never liked wearing formal hats with flowers and feathers like the Queen wears today but back then having a hat to go with whatever outfit was pretty important and I recall lots of shopping time spending searching out hats - box, pill - don't remember the other styles but there were plenty. Doubt we even have a millinery store here now at all.

My father always wore a peak cap. Suited him and he was never seen without it.
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