Location Relocation

Yesterday was the final, final end to our Christmas and New Year celebrations and this is the last blog from 'At the Oaks' for some time. But, do not despair dear reader, your next item of literary merit will be available on http://wearekiwisnow.blogspot.com/


Firstly, comments on the dance. It was well attended and very enjoyable. We do need to congratulate Alan and Irene Bexton for all their efforts in this, and on the state of the dance floor, which was like a mirror.

Alan on the right running the raffle

 The only hiccup was the fact that David wore the same bow tie as me.

Identical Bow Ties

I don't think Irene and I have ever celebrated New Years Eve like this other than in 2000 when we saw the millennium in from a hill overlooking Nottingham. Back then the mobile phone network could not handle the traffic. I think it did this year. (There was a missed text from Joni when I found my phone.)


On my 'skip run' I came across the following headline 'DRUNKEN DOG OWNER BANNED'. Please let me know where the pause should be. It could be after 'dog' or 'owner'.

Julia and Joe

For the past few days we have enjoyed having Joe and Julia with us. They arrived late on Thursday. Joni and Fiona joined us and after our evening meal we all played the fantastic 'Small World' game. After our introduction to what seemed to be a complicated game, it turned out to be good fun for us all. On the following day Joe's friend Alex called over and the three of them went off to Dale Abbey.


I am glad that it was one of the better days. I had the task of taking the car for its service and MOT which meant walking into town and back. I carefully planned that I would call into the post office at the right time to pick up our dollars, having ordered them two days earlier. Bad idea. After waiting outside for 8 minutes the door opened, but not to me. 'Five minutes more' I was told. Just before 5 past came the 'f' word behind me. I gave in and entered. Now came another 5 minute wait, then off to the 'Bureau de Change' I did go. The debit card did not work, the credit card did not work, and getting cash from their cash point did not work. So back towards the bank and a measure of success. Now with sufficient funds I purchased my Singapore and New Zealand dollars. A fat wad of notes was  instantly transformed to a few bits of paper.


On Friday evening, after another lovely meal, out came 'Chart Busters'. My sister bought us this game in 1970. It has been used since then by successive groups of children and young people. It now consists of a battered board, the box lid (kept because it has the instructions) and a Tupper ware box containing some more battered cards, one of which is actually now in two pieces, and some playing pieces, some of which are the original ones. (This game can now fetch as much as £80 on e-bay.) We actually managed to complete the game by ten o'clock and I have vowed to rebuild the game later in the year.


Joe and Julia returned to Brighton on Saturday afternoon. We hope the bridge removal on the M1 did not delay them too much.

Fiona and Joni left at about the same time. This left Irene and me with the task of moving excess stuff from our bedroom back to Joe's bedroom, have tea, play 'Upwords', watch some TV and then to bed.

ASIDE
During Saturday afternoon I completed the task of digitizing about 850 negatives from 1967. A few were colour ones. I was very surprised and well pleased by the way that the scanner handled the task. With a little tweaking in 'Photoshop' the image quality is almost as good as some digital photographs taken today. This is the first time the negatives have seen the light of day in over 40 years. Not only are they a good record of aspects of the 60's including London, hovercraft experiments, college and family life, but I can see in them the kind of eye that I have for photographic composition.

Christmas in London

The author enjoying college life. Eat your heart out Sir Cliff.

Hovercraft Rally at Sutton-in-Ashfield

My Dad, my Sister Anne and my Mum

After writing the above aside it dawned on me that the negatives were a very significant aside. There is a good chance that more pre 1967 negatives will turn up, but it is less likely that many post 1967 ones do.


The negatives of 1967 chart my last full year of bachelorhood. At the very end of the year, in my effort to find a partner for the college Christmas dance, (my usual partner having failed to comply with my invitation) I entered the room of a friend and standing quietly in the darker part of the room was this drop-dead gorgeous young lady. For some reason she had never appeared on any college social scene. She accepted my invitation. And, as they say, the rest is history. By August 1968 we were married, and this history continues joyfully into today.


As for the photography; it took a back seat and re-emerged as colour slides from August 1968 and through the 70s when I turned to prints until the noughties.


RETURN TO MAIN BLOG
This afternoon we made our last visit to the allotment and now comes the task of getting ready to travel. 

See you from the other side of the world.