Sepia Saturday 485: A tisket A tasket
It has been a ridiculously long time since I blogged. All work and no play makes Alex a very dull girl indeed. And I do miss blogging. Particularly Sepia Saturday. So here goes. A short post about a basket.
I picked up the nearest old photo album I could find and found this on about the third page.
Dated August 1950, my mother would have been 14 years old - a couple of months shy of 15. The photo would have been taken by her BFF Val. And I love this photo because it is of my mother painting and she was very good at drawing and painting. See previous post here.
So there you are. You can carry a sketch pad and paintbrushes with you in a basket. And there I was thinking it would be food. Well, there was probably food too. Starving artists notwithstanding.
And I am completely fascinated by what she is wearing. My mother always loved a good kilt. Scottish heritage and all that. For more about Scottish ancestors go here.
Being a knitter I am particularly intrigued with the jumper or sweater as they call them overseas. The photos are very old and not so clear with the lighting. This photo gives you some idea of the detail.
I've enlarged it as much as I can so its a bit blurry. Cute huh? It would be great to find a clearer photo or pattern of the original. I wonder if it was knit for her, by her or a bought one. I found a great website with vintage patterns on it. Oh and here is another.
Here's a photo of Barbara and Val together back at Barbara's family's flat in Summer Hill.
Whenever you say basket I'm reminded of the old rhyme "A tisket a tasket". I did not know it was made into a song by Ella Fitzgerald in 1938.
Here's the rhyme (according to Wikipedia - of American origin apparently which is probably why I can't find it any of my nursery rhyme books which had a very English focus) :
A-tisket a-tasket
A green and yellow basket
I wrote a letter to my mom
And on the way I dropped it,
I dropped it, I dropped it,
And on the way I dropped it.
A little boy he picked it up
And put it in his pocket
And here's Ella
And here's a blog with a story about Ella and A Tisket A Tasket.
So - happy weekend to you. I hope you aren't feeling dull and dreary but that you have a basket full of something: memories, knitting, pencils and paper or at the very least some scrummy food. For more basket cases - er...stories about baskets go here....
Comments
http://digital.sl.nsw.gov.au/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=FL1660807&embedded=true&toolbar=false
La Nightingail - I think knitting jumpers has to be one of my greatest achievements - probably only 2 or 3 all up but still a mammoth effort on my part :)
Charlotte - that photo is wonderful - in particular the very tall top hat and how lovely to have a family connection to it.
Molly - Yes I think it was a winter holiday sweater - 1st September is the first day of Spring for us so it would have been the end of winter when that photo was taken
Geniejen - I am very lucky indeed that she loved photography as much as she did
Mike - I completely agree - it is the way she sang the song. She told a story and I was captivated.
Regards, David Bell
THE OLD HOUSE IN PARK-STREET
FAREWELL TO -
Farewell I farewell! how long the fond heart lingers,
When doomed to sigh a final “Fare thee well;”
As doth the harp’s last tones when fairy fingers
Have ceased the strain that bound us in its spell.
Farewell! farewell!!
No tongue can tell
The fond heart's feelings doomed to sigh a lost farewell.
Yet there is One, the fairest of the fair,
On whom my heart and tongue could linger long;
Whose bright blue eyes and rich luxuriant hair
Would grace the theme of romance or of song-
Whose own may tell
The feelings of the heart that sighs this last farewell.
Farewell, fond youths, whose wit and artless wiles
Full many an eve have cheered our festive hearth;
And maidens fair, whose happy, happy smiles
Have beamed the brighter at their harmless mirth.
Who sigh, “Farewell!!”
Doth hope those smiles shall beam so long as ye shall dwell,
Farewell, fair Manly, and thy Fairy Bower,
Where oft we've roamed in goodly company;
Farewell those gorgeous scenes from Camara Tower,
Or, o'er the placid bay or restless sea.
Farewell, the Phantom, never, never more,
With happy heart shall I patrol thy deck,
And view the landscape, grand on either shore,
In blissful ignorance of the coming wreck.
Why longer dwell
On themes that break the heart that sighs to them-
Farewell.
David Wiley - The Sydney Morning Herald 25 Nov 1861
I'd love to know more about your x3 Great Grandfather. In 1861 he wrote this wonderful farewell to Manly and I'm curious as to why he was saying such a heart felt farewell to Manly.
Regards,
David
THE OLD HOUSE IN PARK-STREET
FAREWELL TO -
Farewell I farewell! how long the fond heart lingers,
When doomed to sigh a final “Fare thee well;”
As doth the harp’s last tones when fairy fingers
Have ceased the strain that bound us in its spell.
Farewell! farewell!!
No tongue can tell
The fond heart's feelings doomed to sigh a lost farewell.
Yet there is One, the fairest of the fair,
On whom my heart and tongue could linger long;
Whose bright blue eyes and rich luxuriant hair
Would grace the theme of romance or of song-
Whose own may tell
The feelings of the heart that sighs this last farewell.
Farewell, fond youths, whose wit and artless wiles
Full many an eve have cheered our festive hearth;
And maidens fair, whose happy, happy smiles
Have beamed the brighter at their harmless mirth.
Who sigh, “Farewell!!”
Doth hope those smiles shall beam so long as ye shall dwell,
Farewell, fair Manly, and thy Fairy Bower,
Where oft we've roamed in goodly company;
Farewell those gorgeous scenes from Camara Tower,
Or, o'er the placid bay or restless sea.
Farewell, the Phantom, never, never more,
With happy heart shall I patrol thy deck,
And view the landscape, grand on either shore,
In blissful ignorance of the coming wreck.
Why longer dwell
On themes that break the heart that sighs to them-
Farewell.
David Wiley
The Sydney Morning Herald 25 Nov 1861