Thank goodness it's March
This week, as well as the funeral, we more or less finished sorting out Mr Robot's mum's house. She got mostly new stuff when she retired and moved from Bolton to Norfolk. We found these vases in a cupboard, and they're not her style, so going by their age they must have had some sentimental value. Sadly, we don't know their history. The two matched ones are pressed glass, probably Victorian (though I suppose they could be Edwardian, I know next to nothing about glass.) The other one is clearly deco, though I'm wondering if it's more likely to be 1920s than 1930s from the floral pattern in the top part of each face. I really like nice vases anyhow, and these must have been precious to her for her to have kept them even though they weren't her usual thing.
I've got the deco one in the fireplace right now, filled with carnations. That's a rubbish place for it, I have decided: it doesn't catch the light enough there, so all that splendid detail is lost. I shall have to look out for somewhere more appropriate for it. Somewhere where Smello Kitty won't knock it over!
In the same cupboard we found a lot of old photos. Many were from the 1970s. OH SO 70s! There were some fantastically mini skirts on display, and lots of wedding photos that were dated, but in a genuinely charming way. I like wedding photos that show their age, it's like a little piece of family time travel. And the wallpaper in some of the home shots... ay caramba.Anyway, among the photos were a couple of me and the Mr from 20 years ago. I shall spare you the one of us dressed up for Rocky Horror (besides, he'd never forgive me for sharing it even if you did) and share this one instead. Sorry the reflection of my iPhone is visible in it, I just took a quick snap. That dress was my absolute favourite. Kays Catalogue, summer 1994, matte black cotton with a lace-up back. I wore it till it wore out, which took about seven or eight years. You can't see the army surplus boots I'd pair it with. I'm wearing surprisingly little makeup in this shot; I used to wear heavy black eyeliner and black eyeshadow, and usually a red-black lipstick. (Never pure black, as that makes real teeth look hideously yellowed.)
Yup I'll second being very happy to see the back of February.
ReplyDeleteGoodness me those vases are absolute crackers aren't they? I love the deco one but that's no surprise.
Ace picture of you both even if you do look deadly serious!
We were generally quite happy, so I don't know why we look so gloomy there.
DeleteThe deco vase is lovely. I might have to embroider a matching tablecloth.
Sorting through a loved one's possessions is just the hardest thing. Twenty five years after the fact I still have a few boxes of my mother's papers that I haven't gone through-I just keep taking them with each time I move expecting to deal with it eventually.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful vases, but it is that photo you should be displaying! Have it enlarged and frame it. Poster size.
Heh, I do have a couple of university ball photos too. I don't like having my photo taken, but I accept it for my blog, and now I wish I'd allowed more to be taken earlier on. I had blue hair for about 9 months when I was 30, and NO PICTURES!
DeleteSuch pretty vases. I love glass and have a fair bit tucked safely in a display cabinet. I wish I had more room as I saw some lovely bits recently.
ReplyDeleteI like wedding photos too, particularly ones that have dated so fabulously. My mother and step fathers one is a classic 1970's snapshot!
I loved seeing that photo of you and your husband. You've been to Rocky too? I have oodles of photos I have never shared from when we used to go!
xxx
Yeah, we went to a lot of Rocky in the 1990s. Patricia Quinn has told Pete how much she admired his legs! Good times...
DeleteSorry to hear of the difficult times, love the photo. Take care x
ReplyDeleteDiolwch yn fawr, Arfon.
DeleteLovely vases especially the Art Deco one and that's a great photo of you an Mr Robot in your metal gear.
ReplyDeleteI wish we had more photos! We were so camera-shy...
DeleteAw. that's a fab photo of you in your more gothic days!
ReplyDeleteI love that '20s vase, really pretty, so yes - find a good spot for it so it can sparkle x
I don't have any of me in clubwear, sadly. One of my fave outfits was a black silk wedding-dress-style Laura Ashley number plus ankle-length veil...
DeleteLove that old photo of the pair of you! Yes, black lipstick does nothing for the teeth, recalling my Miners lipstick and flirtation with Goth back in the early 1980s! xxx
ReplyDeleteI didn't flirt with goth, it was a full-on love affair. (Still is, with the music up to about 2000.) I never did like black lips or eyes, though. Dunno why. Too much of a cliche, and not good with yellowy skin, probably.
DeleteThey are really lovely vases; vintage pressed glass seems to be disregarded these days, charity shops are always full of it, but I think you can find some pretty pieces. I'm glad you are keeping these.
ReplyDeleteGreat photo - aren't old pics hilarious and wonderful in equal measure?! xxx
I don't know why pressed glass has fallen from favour. Perhaps it's seen as cheap, though if it's good enough for Lalique, it's good enough for me. I'd have a house full of glass and crockery if I had the room. It's one of those things that we always convince ourselves we'll squeeze in somewhere.
DeleteI love old pics. Mortifying at the time, some of them, but so lovely to look back at.
I love glass, especially the soft pink Art Deco stuff, I have a small collection of pieces.
ReplyDeleteSorting out things is hard after a death, but from experience it's harder if you leave it, best done sooner rather than later. Going back to it later on makes it that much worse to confront.
Love the photo, I'm left constantly wondering how time seems to have managed to slip away so quickly from me, like my previous life was just a dream, lived by someone else, weird feeling.
Time does slip, doesn't it? Sometimes I miss those days.
DeletePete's done a fantastic job of sorting things out, I'm really proud of how he's coped. There has been so much that only he could do, it's so terribly tough.
The only think that makes me sad about old photos is when you don't have context. I inherited a lot after my dad died and me mum had to move into the home, but there are so many old photos of people and I don't have a clue who they are.
ReplyDeleteLove the Lampeter era Mim pic as well :)
A few had writing on the back, and luckily we've got plenty of people who can fill in gaps. We've asked his relatives about a few, as they were of holidays we'd never known his mum and her siblings had taken.
DeleteI have very few pics of myself from back then, so I was tickled to find the photo.
It's always nice when people have taken the trouble to write on the back!
ReplyDeleteI suspect I have a few photos of you from Lampy, if you wanted I'd be happy to dig them out scan and email them you?