Lauren is our host for Throwback Thursday this week and she says that her theme is a rerun. However, I don’t think I did it the first time so it’s new to me.

This week’s rerun prompt is: That Was Then And This Is Now

1) When you were a kid, what were your creative outlets? As an adult, what have you created that you are most proud of?

Like most children I enjoyed messing about with paints but I was never good at art. Mum was very good at drawing and Naomi has inherited that from her but I am not artistic. I struggled with most creative hobbies as a child. I remember my frustrations in learning to knit. I didn’t really “get it” until I was in my teens. I think in those days imaginative play was my creative outlet. Later as an adult I’ve dabbled in many creative hobbies although not necessarily been good at them or even stuck with them for a long time. I used to knit jumpers for myself and family members but now prefer to knit for dolls and teddies. I’ve done cross stitch and long stich pictures. I’ve made teddy bears and I like scrapbooking. My favourite projects over the years:

• A dress I knitted for Naomi (which mum ruined the first time she washed it)
• A hat and scarf, also for Naomi,
• A sweater with a racing car pattern I knitted myself and wore for years,
• the teddy bears I made for family members,
• the scrapbook I made for David with pictures of his family, all collected in secret for a gift.

Thinking about it though the one creative hobby that I’ve done for most of my life is photography and I have boxes and books of photos and slides from the last fifty years. Not sure if that’s an achievement to be proud of or not.

2) Have you ever saved someone’s life? Did you ever witness someone’s life being saved? Did someone save your life?

No to all three.

3) Did you ever get lost as a child? How did you handle it? Do you get easily lost now?

I was temporarily misplaced as a small child when separated from my parents in a crowded place but quickly recovered. I don’t recall the incident myself. Although I roamed our suburb and adjoining ones as a child and teen. I don’t recall ever being badly lost. I could usually figure out the direction I needed to go by looking for a landmark even if I didn’t know the streets. I don’t get lost easily. I like to use maps and I have usually got a good sense of direction. I just need time to figure out my next move.

4) Did you search out presents your parents hid from you? Did you get caught? Do you hide presents from family members as an adult? Are they ever found?

I didn’t go looking for hidden presents because I always enjoyed the surprise element and the suspense of waiting till Christmas or my birthday. The only time I recall being caught with presents too early was one Christmas Eve when we lived with relatives for a few years. We kids woke up in the early hours of the morning and found our presents on the end of our beds. Of course, we wanted to see them right away but one of the adults heard us and came and told us off.

Of course I hide Naomi’s Christmas and birthday presents. I like them to be a surprise, even if she knows what she’s getting. Where is the fun waiting for days then unwrapping something when you already know exactly what is going to be in the parcel? She feels the same way as I do so I’m pretty sure she doesn’t look.

5) Do you have a special song that was sung to you by either of your parents? Did you sing to your children? (or pets) Care to share the tunes?

Not a special song but mum used to sing to us sometimes. Lullabies when we were tiny. She’d also sing old songs like “It’s a long way to Tipperary”, “Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag.” and “Underneath the Spreading Chestnut Tree”. She showed us how to do the gestures for that one and used to tell us that the King sang that song.

Naomi and I both sing to our pets sometimes. I once had a canary who I used to sing to. I’d sing the old Bob Marley song “Is this love?” We sing a song to Toby before he’s put to bed. It’s the end theme of the 1960s “Andy Pandy” children’s show but with our own words. I think Toby recognises it because sometimes he growls when we start because he knows it means bedtime, or maybe he just doesn’t like our singing.

6) What’s something you were afraid of as a child? What is something you are afraid of as an adult?

I was and still am afraid of falling.

7) What do you wish you would have learned more about in school?

Languages. I studied French and German in high school but had to give up the German when I changed schools because they didn’t teach it there. I wish I’d been able to continue with it.

8) Is there something outside of school you were so interested in you taught yourself about it as an adult?

Computers. They were barely on the radar when I was in high school. There were only mainframes and punch cards. I wasn’t interested at the time. The demonstrations we were given didn’t convince me that computers had anything to offer. It was only many years later when Windows PC’s came along that I got interested and then I started to learn, took a class and practiced all I could.

9) What made you laugh most when you were a child? What makes you laugh out loud now?

Pets, they are always funny, both then and now. Favourite comedy shows like “The Goodies” although I think I was a young adult when I first saw that show.

10) What’s something from your childhood that helped to shape your outlook on life?

Although I had a happy childhood, I think one thing that I learned was not to rely on people outside the immediate family keeping their promises. When I was growing up family members often promised to take us somewhere or do something and it didn’t happen so we became independent and made our own fun. Naomi and I started to go about on our own while still in our teens. Mum didn’t drive and she really didn’t like to go out that much, certainly not to the sort of things that we wanted to go to as teens so she let us go on our own. I think that made us feel that we could do things and go places and manage for ourselves.