Her indoors

We have transversed the globe again this Christmas and are once more back in England.  Most of the time since arriving five days ago has been spent holed up in Brother in law's charming sixteenth century farmhouse in front of the fire feeling sapped by the jetlag fairy and boozing.  It could be worse.

For the majority of our stay I have parked my arse on the sofa and watched telly.  The weather has been shite (apart from today, Christmas Day, which has been glorious) and I have been reminded what an enormous part of life, television is in this country.  In another life I worked in the BBC tv scheduling office, which was the closest I think I ever got to doing something that made a difference to people's lives.  Like it or loathe it, the opiate of the masses really does shape one's day when your stuck indoors.

And yes, there's a lot of dross dribbling down that tube, but at least there's more choice now, and you can usually find something of interest to view.  I can watch stupid amounts of home restoration programmes, and then some more.  The weird thing is the kids don't seem to watch it so, much now, since the almighty Minecraft entered our world.  My daughter can play Minecraft without drawing breath for days on end.  My dreadful parenting lets her, and I'm filled with mild shame, constantly.   In fact the only potential competition has come from playing with a megaphone.  Even less appealing. Thankfully some sunshine today has meant we could drag them out for a walk, with obligatory moaning, of course.

Anyway, as much as I love a hunker down, I'm reminded why we live in the Southern Hemisphere where you can get out and about and fill your world with more than the small screen can offer.   Is that the time?  Pass the remote, it's the Downton Christmas special in five...

More Ephemera

The debris of everyday life is a fascinating insight into lives past lived, well I think it is.  When the old back came off the house last month, I was out there sifting through the sand and leaves and came across lots of bits of cardboard and paper; packaging and ephemera that has been preserved under our floorboards for decades.  The house was built in 1917 and there's stuff here from the thirties onwards. 

I've already done this with all the old china and glass, which I posted about here.  The flower concept, which I shamelessly copied from someone else turned out rather well, so thinking I was on to something, decided to do same with the bits of grubby paper.  I sat with a paintbrush carefully removing all the dust, trying not to rip the delicate fibres.  I felt like a archeologist and and loved every moment of it.  

It's not a perfect symmetrical flower cause I didn't have the same sized pieces, but hey, it's art, who cares.  The centre piece is, we reckon, an old car tail-light.

Sorry, I forgot to take photos before I put it in the frame, so there is some glass reflection here.

Fags, sweets, tea, shoe cleaner, lottery tickets, soap, starch, sewing thread, cigarette swap cards, cough syrup, stock cubes... to name a few.  These were the things of daily life.

I love looking at the old fonts and packaging design. 

I wonder what will be preserved from our lives today.  Will the fact that we have digital records of absolutely everything mean that nothing is forgotten, special or cherished and kept?