Re: Our Ancestors #4

[deeiluka]

Loved your Emma photo so much Paula that I had to try my first posting on here. This is "The Jalopy"- a vehicle my father put together from lots of odds and ends just after WW2. We were off on a crabbing picnic here in South Australia with lots of family. I'm the little girl smiling right at the back ....deeiluka

Hope it works!

[PaulaToo]

Looks like a bumpy ride, dee, but fun.

[deeiluka]

It was a rather bumpy ride, Paula, and very cold at times too. My father put together the jalopy to help him cart sand and building materials to build our house, which he did with the help of friends. I can remember him mixing up the sand and cinders to make bricks in the back garden every night when he came home from work. While he built the house, we lived in the shed he had built first - my parents, me and my baby brother. ....deeiluka

[Emmeline]

Hello deeiluka - what a wonderful photo to post on your first thread - a warm welcome to Rootschat.

I tried to pick who might be related to whom - was the small boy in beret your brother ?

Your story of living in the shed reminded me that when we arrived in NZ we lived in a bach (batch) for quite a while - a small shed-like construction - outside toilet etc. until ma & pa could afford a house to be built on the site.
My mother always said she enjoyed her time - making do - in the bach.

Look forward to more photos.......

[Tony Payne]

A wonderful picture deeiluka - must bring back treasured memories - nice to have you with us on Rootschat.

[deeiluka]

Thankyou Emmeline and Tony. Our old photos do bring back treasured memories, don't they? I remember that picnic quite clearly -wading through shallow water looking for blue swimmer crabs - a little afraid of getting bitten by one. We had an old baby's bath with us that floated on top of the water . That was to put the crabs in. At the end of the day, before we returned home, a fire was lit on the beach, a drum filled with water, and the crabs cooked over the fire.

Yes, the little boy in the beret is my brother, Emmeline. The men you can see are three of my uncles, and between them at the back and wearing a headscarf is my mother.....deeiluka

[Emmeline]

Happy days deeiluka and great memories. The small boy and you were so alike I thought he must  be your brother !

Looking  forward to more of your photos and stories.......

[deeiluka]

Here's another photo. (I hope). It is not of an ancestor, but I have been asked to post it. It is of my cot cover when I was a baby - a long time ago - and I think I can blame the person who came up with idea for my present day family history addiction. 

The cot cover is embroidered with pictures of nursery rhyme characters - each one done by a member of my family - and each with the name of the person who did it embroidered underneath. (It is hard to imagine my many uncles doing their bit, but I have been assured they did.) So in a way, it is a kind of a family tree - with my parents, their siblings and partners , grandparents and some great grandparents and grand uncles and aunts' names on it. ....deeiluka

[sula_nebouxii]

Deeiluka, welcome to Rootschat   

You're so lucky to have such an unusual family tree - what a brilliant idea!

I don't find it too hard to imagine your uncles contributing  ...  my dad and uncle were great with all kinds of sewing and needlework ... their mum was a dressmaker, and they used to help out.  Dad was also the one who did all the fiddly ironing, especially my clothes when I was off for a job interview!

Sula