As said, I am doing this in two parts so I can show you some photos of my/our beautiful daughter of who I was, and still am, so proud. Some photos I have a date for, but others not, but I will try to show them in chronological order as much as possible. Please forgive me my self-indulgence in showing these pictures but I so enjoy going back and remembering Much of life at that time was just so good.
Again I must apologise for the quality of the photographs. Do remember a Kodak box brownie was the only camera I had and the originals are really quite small (and rather old now).
This photo was taken in the back garden of Fitzgerald Street (you can see the outdoor laundry (wash- house) on the left of photo. Karen once again with her beloved grandmother:
This next one unfortunately is the only one I have with her other grandma, at least when Karen was young. It was taken one Sunday morning in Grace's back garden at 556 Fitzgerald Street (yes, she lived just up the road from us at that time and not all that far away when we moved to Walcott Street, still within walking distance.)
The next photo was taken just for the fun of it. Mum always said when I was a baby I sat up very straight so she took a photo of me with a saucepan lid on my head to prove it. I, of course, had to do the same thing but Karen seemed to think it quite hilarious and even though she was laughing the lid stayed put.
This next is one of my favourites and I hope my daughter will forgive me for showing it here. Mum had also taken one of me in this position, so a repeat performance in the next generation was a necessity.
Moving on a few months and we are now living in Walcott Street and it is March, 1957 and Karen is 20 months old. She now has pretty fair hair and a lovely smile. (You can see by the surrounds that it was indeed a very old house).
This next photo just had to be taken. Although it was April (1957) it had been a dreadfully hot day (thus just the shorts and slippers). I had been busy somewhere in the house and when I came down to the kitchen there was Karen sitting on the lino flooring playing with a lipstick of mine (which was very soft because of the heat) and a salt shaker. She had mixed the two together on the floor and then applied the mixture to her face. I had no other choice than to grab the camera before the cleaning up process began. I couldn't help but laugh. You can't be cross at times like this can you? As you can see she is still holding both the lipstick and the salt shaker.
This is May, 1957 (22 months). Just out of bed and still clutching her much loved teddy. The weather had cooled down dramatically since the hot spell we'd had in early April. Those pyjama pants don't look too secure do they? I know Karen herself really loves this photo.
In July, 1957 Karen turned two and about that time we were visiting my friend Wilma who lived in South Perth. Karen is cuddling their cat and he would than have been about 21 years old. It had been Wilma's husband Jim's cat when he was a child and he had bought the cat with him when she and Jim were married.
We had chooks (hens) in the rear section of our back garden and Karen used to enjoy helping feed them. This was August 1957 and she was 25 months old. Not sure why this one didn't come out clearly but I had to include it as it's all part of Karen growing up.
November, 1957 .. 28 months. Sitting on one of the benches in the back garden at Walcott Street.
New Year's Eve 1957. Karen in her bathers after going for a swim. This is was 3 months after her brother Steven was born. I think this would be down at the Swan River where we would quite often go for a swim and a picnic. The river was much cleaner in those days than it is now.
Once again with her Grandma Win in January, 1958 when she was 2 years and 6 months.
March, 1958 (2 years 8 months) with our pet sheep. Karen's hair by then was quite curly and she really was a delightful little girl and quite well behaved as well.
Please do forgive me for showing so many photos and for bearing with me in splitting this episode into two parts. Even though I did include photos of Karen with Steven in part 18a, and include her in the story I felt the previous part belonged more to Steven as after all it was the year of his birth.
