Old slides.......

I have NO idea where the past 2 days have disappeared to. Well, I do really - I have been obsessed with a little piece of electronic wizardry Ros brought me, actually. A slide to pc scanner. She bought it, and then discovered that the one she got only worked with Vista or XP systems, so she couldn't use it, and so she very kindly offered it to me. OH YES PLEASE!!!

In the interests of my on-going (feeble) attempts at de-cluttering, the mountains of boxes of slides are up there near the top of the "what the heck do I do with all of these things" list. So, while the boys slept yesterday morning, I opened the box, read the instructions (I am a woman - we believe in instructions sheets) and off I went.

I am still going.

But.....

I have discovered that, when Andrew was born and we were ready to leave the nursing home, I just got into the front seat of the car, and the nun passed my baby to me, and we drove home with him in my arms. There were no car seats in those days. But it was a Sunday, and the shops didn't open back then. There were few cars on the road. Whatever. It was how things were done back then. And I was wearing heels. What was I thinking?? I was just 22 of course.

I also remember that, at that moment, I had never:

1. changed his nappy
2. given him a bath
3. done anything except feed him

It is a miracle either or both of us survived.

And I also discovered that my father's obsession with photography was restricted to overseas holidays. There are thousands of scenic slides yet to be waded through, looking for the one or two with a human in them to keep, but in the same box as my wedding photos, there are 3 slides of me on the float at the university Rag procession 4 years prior to The Wedding. He did not take many family snaps, apparently. I think he may have taken to digital photography with a vengeance, though, had he lived a little longer. Unfortunately, not while I was growing up. 

But when I went through the wedding ones, I found some beautiful photos I don't remember ever seeing before.

 We looked so young......Who am I trying to kid - I was young. Just 21. Geoff had just turned 33, but he looked so young too........

 And oh, I cannot tell you how hot it was that day. Blisteringly hot.

 Sigh.

Nostalgia is good.

And here is the one of me on the float. It was the YMCA one, and it was something to do with Those Magnificent men in their Flying Machines. I almost didn't recognise my 17 year old self.

AND LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT WAIST!!!!! 

I will add more photos once I have edited them, and flipped them and cropped them and generally made them presentable. But the bulk I have been through, belong to Geoff. Boxes and boxes of slides, labelled Hong Kong,. Singapore, Retainer, Seychelles, Australia, Kenya, Tsavo National Park, more Hong Kong, more Seychelles, Jamaica, Bahamas, Borneo, Philippines..........

The man went everywhere. And those are just a few of the boxes. Unfortunately, out of all those mountains photos, the sum total of photos of him comes to 17. He never did see the need for, or master the art of, taking a photo of himself in all those places. These photos were all taken long before I knew him. When I started high school, he was sailing the seven seas, discovering new places and learning new customs, and lying on the beach in the Seychelles. Or having a BBQ on the coast of north Borneo. The great thing is that the photos are all of him at a similar age to my children right now. The earliest one is of him at 24, and David is 22. But the kids can see their Dad in his early 20s. 

There is hardly a place he had not been to, either in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, or in the Safmarine/Maersk days. So when he came home on holiday, he thoroughly enjoyed staying at home, completely forgetting that I had been at home for the previous 9 months, and would have LOVED a holiday away now and then. Ah well - we did get to travel with him, of course. But I am talking about the family on holiday. All together. That didn't happen many times, but when it did, it was really great.

So, I had better get back to the little scanner thingy. It also has an attachment for negatives too. I may be here for the foreseeable future............