Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Mother

Decided to scan one of the thousands of old family photos last night. I'm not being very active at the moment, giving the 16 stitches across my back a chance to heal, so I have a little more time on my hands, which actually feels really nice. Also, it's -20C (windchill -28C) this morning, 28 February 2014. The forecast for tonight is -33C (windchill -41C)!! Tomorrow, Saturday, should start off at -32C (windchill -40C), but should soar to a balmy -25C in the afternoon - yeah, right! The next few days will continue cold, but by Tuesday, there should be a little improvement - and then the snow returns, ha. It did snow a little last night. Don't think I'll be going out anywhere for the next few days, which at least will allow my stitches to heal more before I have to stretch to remove the snow from my car. Anyway, this is a photo of my Mother, Vera Kathleen Bassindale, taken by my Father on one of their endless cycling outings. Both my parents were very keen cyclists and loved being in the outdoors. My Mother shared her love of wildflowers with me and my Dad always had his camera with him, to capture the beautiful scenery, his family - and his great love of steam engines as they chugged through the countryside. I believe he had a pretty much complete photographic record of every engine in the UK (certainly England) and many from Europe. Various enthusiasts now have most of his train and traction engine photos, thanks to my amazing friends in England, who spent so much time seeing to this after my Brother died. My son inherited our parents' love of cycling : ) I seem to have inherited both passions, for which I am truly grateful. My Mother died in December 1998 and my Father had died many years before that, in 1976. Sadly, our main communication for decades was by letter, as I got married at 22 (far too young!) and moved overseas, usually across the other side of the world. Missed out on family talks and sharing of my parents' lives. Very sad, but it happens to many people when family members move away.

I just had a sudden urge to scan one of my old family photos last night and chose this one, taken many decades ago by my Father, of my Mother and little me : ) I'm not sure, but it looks like I may have been sitting in the child's seat on the back of my Father's bike. I only remember seeing photos of me on my Father's bike, and I don't know if those old seats were movable to a different bike. So often at weekends, my parents and I would bike into the countryside around Birmingham, England, and my Mother would look for wildflowers, which she loved, and my Father would be taking photos - photography was a passion for him. I seem to have inherited both passions, for which I am truly grateful : ) My Mother died in December 1998 and my Father had died many years before that, in 1976. Sadly, our main communication for decades was by letter, as I got married at 22 (far too young!) and moved overseas, usually across the other side of the world. Missed out on family talks and sharing of my parents' lives. Very sad, but it happens to many people when family members move away. Oh, by the way, those curls were the curse of my life, ha, ha - just hated them!

Finally scanned another old photo last night - of my parents with one of their bikes. They loved cycling, before they had my Brother and me, and for years afterwards. I have very happy memories of going off for bike rides at the weekends, into the countryside around Birmingham, England. There, my Mother showed me all the wildflowers, that she loved so much, and my Father would be taking photos, which was his passion : ) They also belonged to the Solihull Cycling Club.

My parents, Vera Kathleen Bassindale (nee Neal, 1914-1998) and Tom Carden Bassindale (1907-1976), were married on 4 June 1938 at St. John's Church, Polegate, Sussex, England.

This photo did not scan well, to put it mildly - will have to see if taking a photo of this old photo of my parents works better! This was one of many photos that were in an album that had been given to my father by the company from which he was retiring. One of the many albums that were shipped over to me two or three months ago. My father was Tom Carden Bassindale (1907-1976) and my mother was Vera Kathleen Bassindale (nee Neal).