Lorna on a stony beach - Southsea 1953

1950s: Proves I had a primitive camera

I am making slow progress with sorting out pictures partly because I have been out a lot in the good (and recently indifferent) weather. I have somewhat overdone the going out and rushing about, and have felt mildly washed out for a couple of days.

 And I went to bed too late on Friday - I was captivated by the weird (maybe because it was weird and rather fun) Olympic opening ceremony! And rather better misuses of history than a socialist / feminist might expect.

This week the Plan is to do indoor things and go the gym in preparation for the sailing club regatta next week. Nous voyons - - .

Me, my doll (Louise) and my mother on a beach - probably  Bournmouth - c.1946

1940's; a beach. I spent a lot of my childhood (when not being educated or otherwise transformed into an adult) on beaches. We moved to Southsea, which had a gravel beach like those in Suffolk. And I used to walk along the sea wall there just as I do here. And we went on holiday to various beaches in Devon and Cornwall, where we ran around in the sea and appreciated the sun (which always shone of course.)

I have done holiday stuff in sunshine this week. Two days on the beach and two days with boats. I sailed the dinghy for about an hour yesterday in modest wind. It feels safe to launch and play here without safety cover, a thing I would not have done on the North sea. I even managed to launch and recover without help through taking things very slowly.  I suppose I am getting used to the ramp although I do not launch and recover with much panache (yet). It has the advantage of a shorter distance to get the boat out of the water.

Felixstowe beach looking towards the Deben entrance. This is how summer should be - -

Summer - and two days on local beaches - Bawdsey and Felixstowe. Bawdsey was refreshingly cool as there was a sea breeze. Very little wind at Felixstowe and I walked from the here round to Felixstowe Ferry.

Today - heading off to Lookfar to sit in the sun yet again. The tides are wrong to get out on the river for long.

In a Laser with a radial sail, Tynemouth c. 2000. This picture was taken when it was deemed to windy to race.

2000s sailing: I still do 'sport' in some sense. This is the best action picture I have but since about 1982 until today I have enjoyed sailing and racing.

Yesterday I took out the Streaker in fairly windy conditions - mostly upwind so not much planing. In the river it is hard to just go for a good blast because there are moorings, cruisers motoring (who do not obey the collision regulations) and boats moored; there are also mud banks to go aground on.  So you cannot just set off in a straight line as I did in the picture. I also find the streaker does not plane as well as the Laser - but I think this is partly that I am not quite 'at one' with the boat yet. And also that the new hulls (mine is quite old) get on the plane earlier.

I have entered the Regatta in two weeks - I hope to do what I did last year - and sail the first race and then start the second but only finish if I am feeling well. The second start means I get a result for the race as well as practice starting.

You can gather from this that the 'holiday' from the chemotherapy is giving me back a bit of physical energy (before I run out of energy in the middle of the afternoon!). And I hope that I will also get back a bit of confidence. Being ill is a downer - not only through the physical effects of illness but through zapping the confidence to 'do' stuff. As I resolved some time ago - I am not planning to worry about it all going wrong - although obviously I do.

Today - the sun - intending to gross out in it on the beach - probably at Bawdsey.

Tennis team - c1957.  I am 3rd from the left and was captain. I played doubles with the girl to the left and spent a lot of time with her - and I have no idea where she went after we left school.

Hockey team - c1957. I am 2nd from the right holding a stick. I played in goal and was vice-captain.

1950s: at school: shows there was some sport - but not enough for me. And we do not look like ladies. We were allowed to play hockey against a boys' team at weekends as long as we did not 'fraternise'. (Not much chance of that dressed as we were - it must have terrified them. But I remember it as good fun and rather jolly.)

I also played badminton in the winter and in summer I went to the tennis club most nights so it is hardly surprising that I did not do a lot of homework; I even played in a tournament during A Levels - a different world.

I still sort-of do sport, having discovered dinghy racing in the 1980s - and I have been a frequent user  of various sailing clubs - in St Andrews, Tynemouth and now the Deben.I often go to the sailing club now - but not to the detriment of doing my homework! How strange and similar - I suppose going to the gym four times a week is part of a similar desire to be active, although it is not competative.

Lorna - September 1953. Setting off for my first day at girls grammer school. Note the weird uniform and shoes.

1950s: In Southsea: This is displaying a life-changing turn in my life. Going to grammar school in the 1950s opened doors that I did not appreciate at the time and that I took only after many hesitations, stops and starts. And perhaps it marked the end of a childhood in which I ran free and wore shorts or pretty dresses - in contrast to school uniform.

I look pretty pleased here but I was not happy at school, although looking back there were some good things (like the arguments we had about politics and radio programmes at lunchtime, where we sat in a dining room and served ourselves from serving dishes.)  I did not fit in to the school ethos - I did not want to conform and  so just seemed naughty and awkward. There was too much fuss about being 'ladylike', learning languages and wearing school uniform alongside too few facilities for games.

Launching off the East Sands - St Andrews, 1989. Good fun

This is how sailing should be - we were taught how to get over the surf - which was necessary there. A big contrast to launching down a ramp into a river.
This is not my boat - but I did launch there a lot in an OK and later in a Laser.

I have bought a photo scanner for doing the best bits from masses of old pictures. It also does slides and negatives.

I am 70. I bought a badge and scanned it at a wonky angle for better effect.

I was looking for one that said 'I am 70' but they don't seem to have them in Ipswich or Woodbridge - they don't even have them for children. Maybe they are not in the best of  taste. Anyway - I will wear it sometimes as some sort of gesture of survival.

I visited the consultant yesterday - no long waits nor any boredom. The conclusion - the blood tests still show some effect of toxicity but nothing to get excited about. There is no sign of the cancer doing anything nasty - or indeed anything at all. So the Plan is to keep off the killer-chemicals and keep an eye on how I am and feel. So no side effects for a while - yippee.

I am going to try not to worry about it all as there is nothing I can do except eat vegetables and generally live a healthy life. Oh - and make sure I do not ignore symptoms that I ought not to ignore.

So am also finding a few brain-things to do - from geology to figuring out how to upgrade the U3A website - interspersed with scanning my photos - hard work and needs a new scanner.

Lorna and brother - Roger - in the rock gardens, Southsea. About 1948

1940s: Roger was born in November 1947. I am not sure that this does either of us justice, but notice my dress. My mother was a dressmaker (so also 'good with her hands'). The smocking was all hand done, from gathering the material to doing the embroidery. I did learn how to make clothes and do embroidery from her - but rarely make such things now. But when I do make something, I get huge pleasure from it.
I also remember the shoes and the rock gardens.

Tower Bridge preparing to open. The olympic rings have already been lifted up to the pedestrian bridge.

 I think I have seen it open once before - not impressive as I lived down the road for a year or so from 1971. It had already opened 15 times today.

A large, well used barge comes upstream.

The bridge opens.

The barge goes through in a stately manner.

Seen today as Aidan and I had lunch by the river. We also noted that it could not go much further as London Bridge does not lift.

I walked back to Aldgate underground and I was able to walk a lot faster and further than previously due to lack of side effects and an increase in fitness.

On a beach - perhaps Bournmouth - with a boat.

1940s: I had to include this as it illustrates two of my life-passions - beaches and sailing (although I did not do sailing until I was about 40.). I think my father  made the boat - note the aluminium wheels - he often used aluminium for the things he made.

Me with Sid and a wonderful car.

1940s: He normally had a car around - usually a pre-war one which he spent a lot of time fettling. He also made a lot of things and was, as he used to say 'good with his hands' - a trait which my brother and I have inherited. I wish he had taught me about the inner workings of cars - but he probably thought it was not something girls did.

Me with Uncle John in my grandmother's garden

1940s: John is my mother's youngest brother - he now livies in Shrewsbury.

My father - Sid - with me. He was about 43 in the photos

1940s: I have one of him with me as a baby - but I have yet to find it.

I am planning to enter a few from each decade. I have spent a long time trying to sort out piles of old photos. It is surprisingly depressing, perhaps making one aware of lost opportunies - things not said -  teenage rebellions and the like.

In my grandmother's garden in London.

Joan Scammell with baby Lorna - 1942

C'est moi.
I am 70 today. Joan - my mother - was about 25 in the picture.

I do not normally acknowledge my birthday - the last time was when I was 60 and was taken up in the London Eye by my children for a fun experience. Today - I was intendimg to take a short trip out on the river - but - heavy rain and a bad forecast. So I am doing indoor things and hoping to go on the river tomorrow.

Toppers and streakers at a recent open meeting

This illustrates why the Deben Yacht Club is going to build a new ramp over the mud in September. There is no room to launch and recover more than a few boats at a time. I am not very good at getting it right and slipped off into the mud too often last year.

I had the streaker out a couple of weeks ago - and someone kindly caught me as I paddled in (no wind for once) or I would have been in the mud again. Since then we have had very strong and gusty winds and I have not been out. Nor have I been out in Lookfar.

I have been to the gym and my muscles are starting to get stronger and I am working them up to the next weight level - but still less than this time last year.

Rhoda and I at Aldbrough on Friday last.

Rhoda and Doug have now gone home. The weather was cold and horrible for most of the time but the sun flashed out for us to eat fish and chips on the beach. I managed to walk round the town and along the beach - so my range is improving. I even avoided the (very nice) shops in Aldburgh - perhaps I was too tired by I got to them.