Happy Birthday. 8 May I interviewed this beautiful woman a couple of years ago for an entry in the souvenir programme of the polish Jubilee Ball. As it is her birthday today I thought I would share the article with you. She was such a delight to talk to, as she gave me tea in […]Read Post ›
I just found this rather interesting (to me, at least) photograph. Taken in Egerton Court about 1966, from the left are my Aunt Alice, my mother Grazyna, her mother in law, Pani Seydlitzowa, as I called her, and Dr Ewa Janaszewska, a kidney specialist from Poland. More about her another time. Pani Seydlitzowa, as you […]Read Post ›
Clearing out. Two words I hate. Clearing out is so hard to do. But it has to be done. One thing at a time. Now I’m not going to write about every object consigned to the recycling bin. Most actually produce no memories. They are easily discarded. But The Woman in Black is a play […]Read Post ›
It is exactly six years since Sharon went to meet her maker. Not an expression I would normally use, but her faith was her driving force. Everything she did was for the gleaner glory of God – very unusual in this day and age – but she sowed love everywhere. Fiercely intelligent, ferociously clever, her […]Read Post ›
For M and A KE Thank you What a city. What a weekend. I had never been to Amsterdam before. Look out for the windmills. Look at the tulips. Anne Frank. Van Gogh. Vermeer. Rembrandt. Well, it was wonderful. But nothing like that at all. We arrived Thursday afternoon and went by taxi from the […]Read Post ›
I went for a walk today. Not just any old walk but the beginning of a 100 mile walk. I have to complete it by the end of March. 31 days. Not too bad. I walk quite slowly. My legs aren’t very long. It should be quite manageable. Yesterday I walked 3.9 miles with no […]Read Post ›
May 5th 1979, I am at my mother’s flat in Elm Park Gardens, getting myself ready for my wedding. The flat is teeming with people. My mother, my stepfather, a friend who is sewing me into my headdress – we thought it would be so easy – my father who is wearing two vests very […]Read Post ›
Today would have been her 93rd birthday. In this photo, taken on her little sister’s fiftieth, she was fifty six. That smile remained with her to the end. I can’t remember the actual sound of her laugh, I’ve just realised, but the smile is unforgettable. And she smiled a lot. That radiant lipstick. Dior no […]Read Post ›
Robert Edward Gordon; my godfather. Of course he wasn’t born Robert Edward Gordon 104 years ago today. He was born Zbigniew Szczepański, in Poznań, I believe, 6 days after Poland regained her independence after 123 years of partition. I imagine his mother must have been thrilled to give birth to her first and I believe […]Read Post ›
Life Through Basia's Eyes 