The Family Album

I've not added many photos to the Flickr account over the last few days as I've been scanning mainly family type photos.

Such as this one which was taken on my daughter Gill's 18th birthday back in 1995. I've had the film scanner for ages but of course every time Windows decides to upgrade (to be more honest, it's every time I buy a new computer so around once every 5 years or so...) the thing stops working and I have to download new software and drivers.

These just keep getting better and better though and I see photos in a state of pristine sharpness and colour (though not unfortunately cleanliness) than I've ever seen them before.

This always leaves me in a kind of quandary of whether to carry on scanning stuff that I've never scanned, or should I go back and do all the cruddy stuff again?

This one is of a line dancing event at Thornton Windmill and Craft Village that Gill helped to organise as part of her HND course at Blackpool College in 1997.

The only problems with scanning slides and negatives is that they are:

1. inevitably dusty and dirty, even having been kept in proper storage sheets


2. hardly ever dated, leaving me wondering how old people look...


3. time consuming! Editing out the worst of the dust spots in Paint Shop Pro is laborious and a hair on a negative leaves a huge white worm trailing over the photo!

It's worth doing however. It would certainly have helped if I (and my parents and grandparents before me) had written names and dates on the backs of their photos. Make sure you label yours. Or when you get a bit ancient you'll be wondering "Darn it... what was she called...?"

Garden Party

Sounds like a Rick Nelson song...

No, what I really mean was that we've done a garden party this afternoon and early evening for our good friends Chris and Brian Chappell.

I call it a garden, but it's really more like a wonderland of terraces, fish pond, lawns, pathways and chicken coops. We had a bit of competition from the rooster but everyone seemed to have a good time!

There was a lone line dancer... David wondered whether that made her a "dot" dancer...???

Thanks Chris and Brian for your wonderful hospitality as always (did I mention the food?) I will now be on a diet for the forseeable future! And not before time...

Bob's in France on holiday - you're missing out, mate!