Sentimentalities part 2

At the weekend my Mum brought over for me something very special indeed. I remember this being with my Gran all of the time since I was really really tiny. She would always wear it. I don't think she ever took it off - she wore it day and night and it was something very special to her.

It's this locket.

The outside still looks exactly as I remembered it from when she would wear it all the time. It's a bit grubby and looking slightly closer at it its actually bent across the middle but I think it's perfect. I really love it and can't believe that I have actually been given it.

Inside, I remember there was always a photo of my Grandad that she would hold so close to her. From what I remember it was always a lovely photo of him standing just outside their patio door at their house in his garden which he was always so immensely proud and fond of.

When I got the locket I have to admit I was ever so slightly disappointed as you could only vaguely make out the outline of my Grandad in the photo. It had acquired so many years and years of muck and dirt which formed a layer over the picture and made it difficult to make it out too well.

I could still tell that it was him and that it was definitely the photo that I remembered as you could still make out the patio door in the background but it seemed such a shame that it looked all scratched and scraped to pieces. Realistically it's almost impossible to even see that it is my Grandad in there if you didn't know that it were.

I know that it can't be helped and I was just pleased to have the locket to be honest. I guess it is lots of years old so I can't expect it to be perfect.

Just as I had put the locket away, my hubby had an idea that it might actually not be the photo that was damaged and that it might just be covered in a layer of the years and years of dirt and grime that it has probably gathered, especially as my Gran wasn't too well for a number of years before she passed away.

He asked if I wouldn't mind and I said that as long as I had the photo above, before he did anything with it, then I was happy for him to give it a gentle go at trying to clean up the picture a little bit. He actually used just a tiny amount of my facewash to clean it on some little cotton buds. It's fairly gentle so we hoped that it wouldn't damage the photo too much. After such a gentle clean, it has turned out pretty well. I couldn't quite believe the difference it had made when I saw it.

There he is! That's my Grandad!

I am so pleased with it. You can see that there is still some dirt around the edges but I would never be too sure with something of this age if that was all that was actually holding the photo in! I daren't clean too much off it for now. Maybe I will have another go some other time if I am feeling brave.

I have thought about cleaning up the outside too. I might give it a gentle clean as we have done with the photo but I don't want to clean it properly with silver polish or anything like that and make it look too good. I love that it looks a bit battered and well loved. It really was!

I'm so pleased now as well that it can be well loved again. I know that I probably will never actually wear it but I like that I have it and can look at it whenever I want to. It's got to be better than it being stuck in a box in someones loft and never being looked at or appreciated.

Do you have any family heirlooms that you have received or that you know will be passed on to you?  I would never wish to have any of these things as I never want to think of any of my friends or relatives not being around but I do love that in this instance I really have something very special to remember my Gran and my Grandad with.

Sentimentalities part 1

Recently I have been becoming a little bit sentimental. I'm not sure what's brought it on really - perhaps I'm just getting older or I am seeing some changes in people that make me really appreciate what I have and how lucky I am, or something, I'm not sure. But anyway there have been a few things that I have wanted or got recently that I have acquired for sentimental reasons.

I think there will be a series of posts about the sentimental bits that I have acquired but here's the first instalment for you today.

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be able to take a day trip up to Yorkshire - our favourite place. I had an appointment up there mid afternoon but that gave me just enough time to pop into the best pub in the world as it opened for a drink and my lunch.

I got to see the Moors at their best with the heather out which I had never seen before. I couldn't believe how purple it was everywhere. The camera really didn't do it justice at all but it's the best that I have that I can show you.

I started off with the whole pub all to myself. Unfortunately as I made the trip on my own I was on soft drinks.

 I got my lunch - definitely the best butties in the world.

And well and truly stocked up on sweets from the shop next door before I set off back on my travels.

My appointment was in Pickering which is a small town not too far away. I got there in plenty of time and got parked up leaving me still with some time for a wander around the shops. I'm not sure what it is with this part of the world but there seems to be a good second hand book shop in almost every village and town.

I remember when I was a kid my Nan loved Rupert. She used to save me the comic strips out of the news paper every day/week until I would go in the school holidays to stay with her and we could read them together.

I know that she did have at least one of the annuals as well, I am not sure if there were more. In the little shop in Pickering I had a look through at the annuals they had. They had several different Rupert ones so I couldn't resist buying a few.

It's the one in the middle of this picture that I definitely remember Nan having and me reading with her when I was really small. I don't recognise the other two covers so I am not sure if Nan would have had these or not. I'm looking forward to having a read through these. I think it will just be a nice chill out time and it won't matter really how long I have as they are all really short stories with lots of pictures. The joys of comics! I've not really read comics much but I am looking forward to it.

While I was there I also found this series of books - His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman. I remember reading these as a young teenager and I know that the final one was the first (and if I remember correctly, the only) book that has ever made me cry at the end. I remember being in absolute floods trying to hide from my mum and dad and get through the final chapter, struggling to read it through the tears that were streaming down my face.

Again, I am looking forward to re-reading them. I guess I'll see if they still invoke the same emotional response in me at the end as they did when I was younger.

Have you ever read a book that you have been so engrossed in that you actually are brought to tears?
Do you have any memories similar to mine of your grandparents that you will treasure forever?

I want to make the most of my Nan now while she is still around and make some more of these kinds of memories with her as I guess I will have to admit at some point that she will not be around forever.
Treasure every moment that you have with your friends and relatives as you never know what time you may have. We all need to make every day count. Take care and I hope you're having a good week.