CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE. THOSE IN GROUPS GIVE ACCESS TO LARGER GALLERIES.
Today I scanned the last of the Christmas 1985 negatives, and here present a selection.
When you lunched at Mum’s you not only fought your way through a massive roast meal, but later, you were expected to consume a plentiful afternoon tea. Jessica must have taken this photograph of Grandma, Mum, Louisa, and me seated at the table.
It looks as if Jessica swapped places with me.
Having entertained Sam with Hoopla, Dad spent some time playing with Louisa on the sofa. It looks as if there was a certain amount of competition as to who would fall asleep first. Mum will have made the knitted doll.
My father’s reward for his exertions seems to have been to have his daughter-in-law read him a story;
after which Jessica found time for contemplation.
Sam, however, continued to daydream about another game with his grandfather.
Joseph was well ahead of the current fashion for young men to wear full beards.
There were two more photos of Dad,
one of which I used as a model for a pastel portrait for my mother, the Christmas after he died. The story of how he helped me is told in ‘Would You Believe It?’.
Auntie Gwen was also the subject of a portrait. This time in pen and ink for a magazine illustration.
This is how I adapted the photograph.
This evening we dined at Daniels Fish Restaurant in Highcliffe. With her chips Jackie chose scampi; my choice was haddock. We both had mushy peas. Jackie drank coffee, and I drank tea.
