Time to get tough.

A few weeks ago, Ken's sister said to us "We have to get real about Mum's place". The house has been unoccupied since December, and apart from Ken's nephews going over once and cutting grass and shrubs, nothing has been done at all. Ken and L. have been reluctant to start emptying the house of everything while their Mum is still alive, but they are going to have to sell it soon, so they knew they had to make a start. We spent Saturday afternoon over there. Ken wandered around picking things up and putting them down again, but he wasn't feeling well, so he spent the rest of the time lying down. L. didn't know where to start, so I gently suggested going through the drawers and cupboards in the kitchen. I pulled everything out, and she spent a bit of time reminiscing over various items, while I waited patiently. We eventually filled three rubbish bags and two boxes of stuff to be thrown out, and I brought home a heap of linens to wash and iron. (Photos on my other blog - Patra's Place)

We moved on to the dining room and removed everything from the cabinets in there. There were bundles of old cards and photos among the bits and pieces, and L. kept asking me if I wanted any of the cards. I said no, I'd recently had a huge clean out of my own cards and letters, and didn't want to start another collection of cards that meant nothing to me, and Ken agreed. We did find a couple of little treasures which I snapped up and brought home. While she hoarded a lot of stuff that means nothing to anyone else, she also kept mementoes of her two children, such as these items:
A tiny picture that Ken had painted when he was about five.

His 'baby weight card' - does anyone remember these? This one is from 1943.

Photo of the MOTH when he was four months old.