My Mum has been having a bit of a de-clutter at home and she handed me this brown envelope recently.
It must be about 35 years old (how old?!) but I remember it very, very well...
Seeing it took me back to when I was around five years old and living in London. I went to a little primary school about 10 minutes walk away from home.
My teacher was called Mrs Murray, and it just so happened that Murry Mints were a popular sweet at the time.
The Murray Mints TV advert at the time had a song which went 'Murray Mints, Murray Mints, too good to hurry mints'. So, poor Mrs Murray was tortured by all the kids in the class singing this tune, but the bonus for Mrs Murray was that she was never short of a Murray Mint herself as we all used to buy her these sweets. I'm sure she was delighted. We thought we were great - how funny that our teacher is called Mrs Murray and we could sing her a song and give her Murray Mints!
Mrs Murray was lovely. She was very kind and patient and very pretty with shoulder length blond hair. Every week we had Story Hour.
Mrs Murray would sit on a large comfy chair that was in the corner of the room and whilst she was reading that week's story, she would allow one of us to brush her hair. There was always a competition amongst the girls to be able to do this and we had to take turns.
I can't imagine that happening in a class room these days!
Anyway, during this year at school there was the Smartie Pants Of The Week competition. Whatever child had done something particularly well would win a prize. I think that's how it worked. It was probably something that was introduced to make us work harder and do our homework or something.
Each week Mrs Murray would sit in her chair and we would sit on the floor around her and she would pick a child and give them the Smartie Pants Of The Week Award.
There were about 20 kids in my class, and each week someone would get the prize.
I waited and waited.
Nothing.
*hurmph* I tried hard I think. My drawings were very good and I didn't colour over the lines and I worked on my spelling and reading.
Then one week Mrs Murray had us all sitting around again and she had the brown envelope in her hand (it was always a brown envelope and always the same prize).
"I have one prize left. Who hasn't had one yet?"
I raised my hand.
And Mrs Murray, at last, handed me the Smartie Pants of the Week prize!
Well, it was all of a bit of a disappointment as you can imagine! I had been forgotten about, left out and was an after thought!
But it still didn't stop me rushing home to tell my Mum that I had won a Smartie Pants of the Week award. As soon as I got in the front door I put my prize together.
A jigsaw puzzle of....this....thing! :D
What is it?!
So, I've got my award back again. And I will keep it safe. Despite the disappointment surrounding it, I'm actually quite fond of my childhood prize :)
When I moved into my tiny flat about 7 years ago I left a large 2 bed house that was packed to the hilt with 'stuff''. I gave away practically everything I owned bar some essentials and some items that had sentimental value.
I wanted to downsize my life and my mortgage payments, and planned to get a local job and work part time. It kinda all worked out. I found a job for 4 days a week and I was able to walk to/from work! Obviously I've since moved on from that job, but I had a design for my life in mind, and that worked out and included living in a more vibrate and creative area, Moseley.
Anyway! Back to the garage.
The first item to leave was my guitar which I inherited from an ex boyfriend who was a musician. It's too cold and damp in the garage and so it went to my Mum''s house. I only ever made a half hearted attempt to play it and the first song (and only!) I learnt was Robin Trower's Bridge Of Sighs - a very basic version I hasten to add!
Guitar
Before the guitar was whisked away, a man strolled past, said hello and picked up the guitar. "Are you selling this?" I wasn't thinking of selling it. He tuned it and started to play a tune on it that he wrote. I took an Audioboo. I'm kinda glad that the guitar had been put to use in some small way before it went back into storage.
So many leaves had blown under the garage door. Mum is very handy with a broom. Go mum! ;)
Ahh Little Ted! I think I can pretty much say he is my favourite teddy bear of all time!
This is a school art project when I was about 12. It was themed around farms or the countryside. Mum has taken it home. I hope she puts in on her living room wall. It's a thing of beauty and deserves to be displayed! :D
I kept some of my old school books. This one is from when I was 4.5 years old (it said so on the cover of the book).
This was fairly creative: "I am going to the shop with my mum and me and my dad and my sister". I haven't got a sister.
Thumbing through the book, this was a story to be told time and time again. Me and my mum going to the shop. Or, my mum going to the shop and buying me sweets. Sweets! It was all about sweets!
My first album! Doris Day - 20 Golden Greats. Stop laughing! Doris is ace! I think I had good taste as a 7 year old. I remember my Dad taking me into a record shop in London.
I played that record over and over. I remember particularly loving Que Sera Sera.
When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother what will I be
Will I be pretty will I be rich
Here's what she said to me...
Flat Cat!!! I love Flat Cat! Another childhood favourite.
I'd almost forgotten I had kept some of my Ladybird books. The Three Billy Goats Gruff scared me! Sadly I couldn't find the one I read the most: Cinderella.
This is a more recent 'treasure'. A Michael Jackson alarm clock which was presented to be by Talk About Local (before I starting working there) for the best use of photos in a blog at their unconference in '09. Lovely! It's a keeper.
I found Big Ted! When I was about 5 I remember that Big Ted and Little Ted were best friends. My mum would collect me from school and on the walk home she would tell me of all the adventure that my teddy's and other toys had during the day. I loved those stories.
My first comic subscription. Play Hour. The newsagent would keep a copy aside for me and once a week (I think it was weekly) me and my Dad would go and collect it.
Age 12. I think. My drawing skills have improved. A tiny bit. A rooster wearing clothes. I'm not sure why.
By the end of the day we had cleared out a lot. A pile for the tip and a pile for charity shops.
I think my mum would have liked me to have been a bit more ruthless than I was when it came to deciding what to keep and what to throw away.
Admittedly a few items had been ruined by the years and the damp in the garage, but I just couldn't part with them. Some things had got broken (they went to the tip). I found tons of old photos (prints, before the digital age). Love letters. Cards. Ornaments. Shoes! Lots of shoes! (I did part with some).
Looking back at what I found I was surprised at how much I remembered, even from a young age. The items triggered the memories. Pretty much all of them good.
And of course it prompted me to think about where I had been, the different stages of growing up, and where I am now, and where I want to be.
I was a bit tired after all the manual labour, so when I got back home I took a lovely bath (it was very dusty in the garage) and put on my pj's and chilled out for the rest of the day. I appreciated living on my own and having my own space. I love being single and having time and space to do my own thing. I love what I do for work. I'm glad I haven't got children and feel I've retained my freedom. It's all good.
But...! There's still plenty more time to make more memories and have more adventures! I never want to become complacent in my life and work. I don't want to get too settled or waste time. I want to be able to look back and know I've tried things, scared myself sometimes, taken risks but enjoyed every minute.
In the last few weeks I feel like I've been slowing down somewhat, and of being aware that this year is coming to an end. It may be because the days are shorter, and it's just a seasonal thing. Or maybe that it's because my diary is fairly full until the New Year and I don't want to take anything else on and I also want to leave myself some breathing space.
I know I want to leave some space for my 4 day Fierce Earth Course that is coming up soon! I'm really looking forward to it and hoping to get a lot of it in a business and personal capacity. I've got a feeling some of my plans will change after that course and I definitely want to leave room in my diary to implement those changes. I also think the course will challenge me, and also inspire me. I think it's just what I need at this point.
Next weekend I shall be spending a few days in York with my mum. It's her birthday treat to me and she has a full schedule planned! Apart from spending some quality time with my mum it will be good to have a change of scene too.
Looking a little further ahead, I can't wait for 2012! I get so excited about a New Year. On New Year's eve itself I love staying in, on my own, and savouring the second that the old year goes and a new one arrives. A brand new year to fill! That's pretty exciting.
