I have been deep, deep, deep in cleaning mode. I’ve finally fully tackled our heebie-jeebies-inducing utility room and I’m almost done with the rest of the basement. The next step is going through the monstrosity that I call my fabric stash. It’s grown quite a lot in the last couple of years, and I’ve hauled most of the bins upstairs to go through them and mercilessly purge.
The Marie Kondo method is firmly entrenched, and I’ve been asking myself “Does this spark joy?” in rapid fire. I was very good about leaving the photos toward the end of the basement cleaning because once I start going through them, I’m a lost cause.
That photo up there is from one of the around-the-globe trips my parents liked to take us kids on. I was about 4 and my brother was 3. Check out how I’m sporting and thoroughly rocking the knee-high socks. My mom made everything we’re wearing, except for the socks and shoes.
I love how faded and oxidized the photo is. She had scrawled “Toledo” in Japanese on the back and I remember how my mom always had a small 35mm film camera with her (Olympus brand maybe? I’ll have to ask her – unlike me she has recall powers akin to a Clark’s Nutcracker). “Kochi mité! Kochi!” Look this way! This way! My brother usually ignored her, but I obliged. We don’t seem to be pleased that we’re in spectacular Spain.
I also found one of my favorite photos of K when she was about 2:
She only had about 8 teeth at this time, and now she looks so grown-up and different and just lost three baby teeth in quick succession so she only has three more to go. The tidal wave of time is really hitting me.
Note: I did not make any of these clothes. Back then, I could barely thread my sewing machine.
And she was about the same age here:
One of the few photos we have together since I’m always the one snapping the pix. We went to a photo booth at the Seattle Center and we never quite figured out where to look. Ah, memories. Before I knew it, hours had passed while I perused photos and no sewing was done. Perhaps I’ll get around to the Hampshire Trousers this week!
P.S. Speaking of cleaning, I’m going to attempt some organizing and sprucing up of this little blog over the next few weeks so things may start to look funky and postings may get a little sporadic as I wrestle with WordPress. Fingers crossed that I don’t do any permanent damage!!
Oh yes!!! You are all a bunch of cuties. I am sure you liked Spain. The sun was probably in your eyes.
Haha! I think my brother and I were pretty cranky on that trip. Our parents made us carry our own backpacks throughout Europe! 🙂
OMG, that first photo of K – what a beautiful little child! All those photos are precious and I can see why you were lost in memories!
Thank you, Melissa! People used to stop me all the time to coo at her when I walked around carrying K. There was something about her that was/is very magnetic, I believe. I’m utterly biased, of course 😉
K’s little face makes my heart melt!
I sorted my photos this year and it was very, very cathartic. I took them all out of the ratty old albums and mismatched envelopes (and committed the sacrilege of throwing some out) and then organized them by date into matching cases. It felt WONDERFUL. A year after starting this process, I’m down to two boxes of mementos and odds and ends now – really dragging my feet on those.
You should have a fabric sale!! You know I’d stock up!
So impressive, Morgan! I can’t bear to part with any of K’s drawings and schoolwork and have way too many containers of them! I’ve been slowly working on purging the house for at least a year now, but the mementos are the toughest. And come on over once I’ve gone through my stash. You can have a field day!!
oh! K’s cuteness is killing me! those eyes and spunky pony tails:)
<3 She's still a cutie, but definitely looks more like a young lady, these days :-). Thank you, Lucinda!