I don’t know who took this photo, but it is one of my favourite ones of my father. He stayed in Italy after the war, and started attending Rome University , but soon realised that there would be more opportunities in England for Poles like him, who had been deported to Siberia, then managed to […]Read Post ›
The beginning of our next little adventure. I’ve been several times before, the first time 60 years ago when I was almost twelve. My father had taken me very unwillingly (I was unwilling – I’m not sure about my dad) on holiday to Lido Di Jesolo, a popular holiday resort near Venice, with the regulation sandy […]Read Post ›
I love Mother’s Day, always have done, ever since I was a child and taken to buy flowers for my mother. My stepfather would take me to Alice’s Flowers in South Kensington Arcade and we would usually buy a tiny bunch of violets or perhaps mimosa. I don’t remember seeing either of those in florists’ nowadays. My […]Read Post ›
What is this ugly thing? You may well ask; I had to ask myself the same thing when I found it last week. But then I saw Mrs Washington’s handwriting, and it all came back to me. Mrs W, from Marlborough School, my teacher for the whole four years, was very ken=en on handicrafts. She […]Read Post ›
Two almost identical Bears.one is about 25 years older than the other, I believe, but both have a very special place in my heart. For many years the younger one and I were inseparable. Everywhere I went, Miś came too. Especially at night time, of course. When I was very small, my father was still […]Read Post ›
Wszystkiego najlepszego w dniu imienin wszystkim Krystynom! Happy namesday to all Christines. Unfortunately my mother in law is no longer with us, but I found her collection of identity card photos and chose these to show you how beautiful she was. 13th March 2020 we had just wished her a happy namesday in her care […]Read Post ›
Alice is about 20 in this picture. My mum is 27 so I must be about 3 1955 or 6. Holland Park. I would be lying if I said I actually remember this picture being taken, but I am almost sure my father took it. There is a whole series of them somewhere. But as […]Read Post ›
Looking just now for some papers about St Augustine’s I came across this intriguing envelope My father was always very careful to date everything, and so he wrote Basia’s performance in the Albert Hall. 18 March 1961. I was very curious about this envelope, so hurriedly opened it to find this souvenir programme. Yes, almost […]Read Post ›
(Footnote to First Night at St Augustine’s) When I went to Saint Augustine’s, it was a weekly boarding school. My father had wanted me to go to a catholic one and he searched high and low for one that was within a reasonable distance of where he lived, and which was cheap. It was a […]Read Post ›
I have a feeling I have written about this before, but I can’t find it and I don’t know how to use the searches, so here we go again. I wonder how similar this account will be, if I ever find the first one! Now this is a memory that seems to have stayed with […]Read Post ›
Life Through Basia's Eyes 