Wednesday 15 February 2012

Adventures and Talking

As youngsters our five grandchildren stayed with us regularly either singularly or together. We loved having them and it gave their parents a chance to have a short holiday or get some redecoration of the house done.
All of our grandchildren have treated H rather like a big playmate in the same way as our own two sons did. He is good fun with children and would help them build dens, or climb up the very large tree in our garden. They would all enjoy going off for a hike with him, carrying a packed lunch in their rucksacks, and we would both take them to a local horse riding school for a lesson or a hack which they loved. H would walk them across the Common and down in to the valley hunting for fossils, interesting stones, watching out for birds and wildflowers. Our grandson would look out for branches which he would whittle with his penknife to make into a walking stick.
One day when he was walking over the Common with three of our grandchildren, he asked them if they were afraid of anything. Our 5 year old granddaughter said she had a fear of darkness, and liked her mother to leave a small light glowing on the landing and her bedroom door ajar. Our 8 year old grandson said he was frightened that he might get bullied at school, luckily he has not. Our eldest granddaughter, 11 years old said “I think fear is often as a result of ignorance”.
Those halcyon days seem to have passed in the blink of an eye. The 5 year old has just become a teenager, our grandson is taking his GCSE exams this summer, and our eldest granddaughter is now in her 2nd term at Oxford.
A young relative of H's came to stay for a few days. She had never climbed trees or gone on “hunting hikes”, nor ridden a horse, all the things that we planned to do with her. The first morning of her stay I looked out of the bedroom window and there was H and this young girl sitting in the top of our tree carrying on an animated conversation. Ladders had been rested beside the trunk and they had a system of ropes and pulleys in place to haul up her dolls and teddy to the den at the top of the tree. He would never compromise their safety or put them in danger, that is paramount. 
She was a natural at horse riding, and returned from her hike exhausted but full of what she had seen, and continues to have an interest in fossils to this day.
Childhood passes swiftly, from my experience, good and happy memories are lasting.

24 comments:

  1. Intense colors, excellent composition, very beautiful pictures!!!
    A hug

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Antonio for your kind comment which I appreciate very much.

      Delete
  2. A lovely story Rosemary. I like those kind of grandad's.. always youthful at heart and happy. we have one too.

    It is wonderful how we can store our memories .. they are precious to us. As are our family and grandchildren.. we are blessed.



    Such lovely photos of the countryside, so rich and green.
    val

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Val. Sometimes memories can seemingly pop out from nowhere. An action, a place, a person, an incident can suddenly trigger memories tucked away that we have not thought about for years.
      Glad you enjoyed the photos.

      Delete
  3. Your story about your grandchildren is so lovely. Great memorie's will last for ever. Have a nice evening
    Marijke

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Marijke - pleased you enjoyed reading this post. Memories are important to us, and often they can help us at different points in our life. Hope you have a nice evening too.

      Delete
  4. That's a clever eldest grandaughter you have there...H sounds as if he has the magic touch with kids. It shows the most wonderful enquiring state of mind.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kate - the relationship changes as they get older as it does for parents too, but we do different things with them.

      Delete
  5. As a young girl I lived for the time I could spend playing in the forest behind our house. For me, those memories are easily brought to the front and always remembered with a smile. How wonderful that you could give your grandchildren such magical memories of their time with you and the great outdoors.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is something magical about spending time out of doors with young children exploring the surroundings and discovering new things of interest.

      Delete
  6. I agree, Rosemary. These are the sorts of happy memories that can only enrich our lives.

    What a nice post. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Yvette - thank you, I am pleased you liked the post. Happy memories do enrich our lives and hopefully make us more grounded as grown ups.

      Delete
  7. Hello, Rosemary,

    H sounds like a wonderful granddad, and it appears he gifts children by letting them have an adult conversation with an adult, something children really value. My maternal grandfather never talked down to me, and I remember that in turn, I was much more comfortable asking sincere questions. And family ties aside, that's something we do with friends.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Mark - yes, it is really a deprivation when children miss out on these interactions.

      Delete
  8. Fabulosa composición en estas imágenes.
    Saludos desde
    Creatividad e imaginación fotos de José Ramón

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Estimado José - muchas gracias por tu amable comentario.

      Delete
  9. What fabulous times H has given to all these youngsters! I bet they all reflect on those times with an enormous feeling of happiness!
    x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We saw H's relative in Farnham at the weekend, a place I know you are well acquainted with. Her grandmother said that she often talks about her visits with us.

      Delete
  10. I have a feeling that my R and your H have a lot in common!
    A wonderful talent to have ; )

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Demie - Our children are all very fortunate.

      Delete
  11. Wonderful memories! I think I like your H! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Lise - thank you very much for your visit - yes, I think that the grandchildren would agree with you, they all adore him. I shall pop over later and see you.

      Delete
  12. Thank you for looking at my blog! I found yours yesterday and enjoyed your posts about the Compton Chapel (we visited last year) and Oxford so much that I joined up to see your future posts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Nilly - so pleased that you enjoyed those posts - hopefully you will find some more of interest in the future. Thank you for becoming a follower, look forward to hearing more from you. Enjoy your weekend.

      Delete

❖PLEASE NOTE❖ Comments made by those who hide their identity will be deleted


“You can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you - you have to go to them sometimes”

― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh