I took this photograph today for my Day2Day post. This is my little jar of home. I lived in San Francisco for a few years and, although it was a marvellous adventure, there were things I missed. No, I don't mean Marmite and decent teabags, my mum snuck them over in her suitcase several times a year, along with Sudocrem, vast quantities of Cadbury's and Oxo (yes, really, Oxo!). I missed people and I missed places. For my birthday, my niece and nephew (who were about 6 and 8 at the time) walked along my favourite beach in Norfolk, a place I where I have spent a lot of time, collecting pebbles. They put them in the jar and sent them over with my mum. I cried then and the memory of it still makes me cry now.
My little jar of home lives on my kitchen windowsill and I see it often during my day. Now, having lived with it in San Francisco, it also reminds of the beach there. For a small jar, it holds a lot of memories.
rite bits - I like wrapping in tissue paper, adding thank you notes and little doodads. Even if what you buy isn't for you, it's still nice to get prettily presented parcels in the post.
The day2day theme may be ordinary beauty but I find my daughter's hand extra-ordinarily beautiful and endlessly fascinating.
Yesterday was the village carnival and we had the best day! We joined in on the Under Fives float (which won best in junior section and best overall!) with Herbert Buggles as Tigger and The Girl Wonder as a Disney princess. The carnival theme was adverts and our float was the Disneyland Paris advert. For a small village, we have a mighty fine carnival, one of the largest in Cambridgeshire. Lots of fabulous floats from the village groups and associations. The entertainment was good too, with a marching band, majorettes and a group of modern morris dancers (I think that's what they were!) who looked incredible and had me rolling on the floor when they explained that a particular dance was called The Last Hot Dog Stand in Yaxley! Their costumes have me desperate to make something in black and white.
