January Over

 January and February are always the hardest months of the year to get through. Let alone with all that is going on in the world. I have been feeling tired, miserable and a little ill this week, but this weekend I have begun to feel slightly better. I have started taking vitamin D so wonder if it is having an effect. I had to do one of those lateral flow tests this week, which have just become available at school. You don't have to do them, and I was undecided, but then I got a rash on my arm, and Andy told me that can be a covid symptom. I rang the NHS testing line but you can't book a test if you don't have one of the three main symptoms, so they advised that I use a lateral flow test from school. I haven't had any  kind of test so far, but have often thought it looks unpleasant having the swab in your throat and nose. It is! I didn't have a mirror, but managed to swab my tonsils without touching the inside of my mouth. It made me gag, so then I did the nostril, which made me sneeze. After that it was a relaxing half hour sitting in the medical room at school to see whether I could go on to work that day or go home and book a proper test. It came out negative so that was a relief. You have to report your result to the NHS which turned out to be a bit of a long winded process. Then they helpfully emailed and texted me to let me know the result which I had just let them know. Now I have to do them twice a week. 

Last week, in an effort to cheer myself up, I decided to buy a slide projector, as I have lots of Mum's slides. I looked at many on eBay, and, although I wanted one of those carousel ones, I thought they have more parts that could go wrong, so I went for one that has a sliding section which holds two slides. It is an old one, probably from the sixties or seventies, but works ok. It has a noisy whirring fan, and gets hot very quickly, but I have managed to look at quite a few slides so far. I also got a slide viewer which is new-just a magnifier with a light, so I can look at more in there. The projector is more fun though. Here are a few of my finds so far...

My brother in an unknown location. 

A pink sheet against a blue sky. Not sure where it was taken or who took it but I appreciate their choice of subject. 

The Wendy house my Dad built for us when we were little. Had to look up why it was called that-it never occurred to me to wonder before. -"Wendy was injured soon after her arrival in Never-land so Peter Pan and the lost boys built a small house around her where she had fallen. Thus we are given the phrase “Wendy House”. J M Barrie himself designed the first Wendy House for the first production of the play in 1904." Source here.

Me and my dog Tramp. I found him as a stray living in our garden when I was three. You might not choose to call a dog Tramp now, but it was the sixties. He was a lovely dog. he was a mix of something and Papillon, and was a reddish brown. Mum and Dad thought he was a fox at first. 

Nana in suburban scene. (My Mum's Mum.)

I don't know who these people are, but I love the ghost child on the right of what must be a double exposure. 

The cottage we used to live in, on a snowy day. 

A trip to London of which I have no memory. We were all dressed in red and are feeding the pigeons in Trafalgar Square. 

I love these pictures. 

Nana again, with my sister Jane in purple and me behind. This is probably on Sheppey. 

I don't know who this lady in the snow with her little poodle is, but I like the photo. That's a lot of snow!

Me, Mum and Tramp on a walk. It might be on a holiday that we went on after my Mum and Dad got divorced. It was in Norfolk. It is a happy photo anyway, taken by my brother I think, and according to the name on the slide box.