Big Enough For Seven #100DaysOfOldDays

Posted on February 19, 2022 by Gloria

Day 7 #100DaysOfOldDays

This is a gorgeous photo. So much could be said about it. The cute little sailor hats, the blanket that I remember so well and the way my mam spread it out on the car for the boys to sit on. That was our picnic blanket, our beach blanket, and our throw for the couch. We had it for years.

The blue caravan on the right is the one we stayed in. It didn’t belong to us. It was borrowed from a family friend. It was quite small, but big enough for seven of us…just like the car was!

The number plate on the car—a Ford Anglia—is a number I’ve always remembered. MZJ558. Before the Anglia, we had a Morris Minor. I don’t remember that one.

I wanted Frederick O’Malley—a character in my novel—to own an Anglia, but my Dad informed me that no one had Anglias in Bailieborough in the 50’s. He said the relative of the Anglia, the Ford Prefect, was more popular in that era. So I gave Frederick the Prefect Coupe Utility model, because he needs a spacious vehicle for his regular trips to Dublin—although it is more often used by his son John.

My novel spans over three decades, and in 1976 I gave Jim Fitzpatrick an old second-hand Anglia.

A 1922 Baby Austin also features in the early years of my book and it belongs to the closeted gay character, George. He bought it at an auction; a bargain at ninety pounds!

I say it too #SoCS

Posted on February 19, 2022 by Gloria

Linda G Hill’s #SoCS Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “whatever.” Use the word “whatever” any way you’d like. Bonus points if you start your post with it. Have fun!

Whatever has become a popular word in the last…how many years? Not sure, but I don’t ever remembering using this word when I was growing up—at least not in the same context as it is often used nowadays.

I checked the actual definition with Word Hippo. Mmmm……..no wonder we didn’t use it in the 70’s and 80’s to answer our parents back.

I’ll be having a few words of a different kind with Little Miss Ten who says whateverrr in a certain tone of voice, with a very special facial expression to go with it, and her little head bobbing as if it’s on a spring!

It’s funny how the meaning of a word can change just by the tone of voice, and facial expression.

***I’m undemanding and happy and I’ll do everything for you!***

Wellman Scissors and The Pageboy #100DaysOfOldDays

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Gloria

Day 6 #100DaysOfOldDays

I was the only one in the family who got my hair cut in the hairdressers—because I was a girl. Throughout the mid to late 70’s I had the pageboy haircut. Easy to comb, wash and style. Not like the long waves I had for years before that.

The pageboy hairstyle was inspired by the medieval page boy. It was a common style in the 20’s and became popular again in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.

There are some variations to the cut but precise and even lines are essential…or it’s just not the page boy.

Which brings me to my brothers. Mam cut their hair. She gave them a shorter version of my pageboy—also known as the bowl haircut. I have to say, never did she put a bowl on their heads and cut round it.

**Terry’s First Communion** **Day**
***Let’s talk about the clothes another time.***

She had quite a good eye though. Her precise and even lines were quite good, for an amateur hairdresser. The scissors she used though; big silver industrial scissors that came from a local factory (Wellman). Everyone on our terrace had a pair. They were so versatile!

The same scissors I used to butcher my new jeans. Read about that HERE.

***The Wellman Scissors by Lucy McBreen***

26 years later #100DaysOfOldDays

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Gloria

Day 5 #100DaysOfOldDays

As I was going through old photos on my memory stick, Google photos decided it would be a good time to indulge me with a collection of memories on my phone. As I looked through the past photos I noticed similarities between these that were taken twenty six years apart.

This is me with my eldest daughter in 1987. She was about 18 months old here. — **This is me with my eldest daughter in 1987. She was eighteen months old here.**

These two photos were taken 26 years later: one is of my eldest daughter again, on a beach with her own daughter, aged two and a half (and camera shy). And the other is of me with my youngest daughter, also aged two and a half. Now Little Miss Ten.

The photos are similar but the times were quite different. At 18 I was a teenage mother. At 43 I was considered a geriatric mother—I prefer mature mother, thank you!

Parenting styles were different. I parented like my mother for my first two children. With my third child I relaxed a lot more and did things my own way.

So, did I know it all when I was 43 having my fourth child? God no. It was like starting from the beginning, but because I was more mature I tackled it from a completely different angle.

Now, we all know there are things that never change when it comes to babies: they all cry, they all need feeding, clothing, they get sick, they fall, they poop, they get nappy rash, then they have tantrums when they get on a bit. And they all need love and attention. So no matter what year it is, parenting can be hard work!

I have to say though, my first child had so much more freedom growing up than Little Miss Ten has now.