Saturday, November 1, 2008

Generations of books

The little one was my great-great-grandmother's recipe book. The recipe for shortcrust pastry begins "Take 6 lbs butter... " and for mead "Milk your cow into the bowl of honey..."
The big book was my grandfather's album of the occupation of Mashonaland (Rhodesia), for which he and FC Selous were the Intelligence Officers. Both give me a curious feeling of how very short - or long - a generation can be.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Beautiful composition! Love the colours. Nice work!

Ilse said...

This is such a lovely & touching photo! You must cherish this book. I love calling for 6 pounds of butter. Imagine trying to cut that into the flour? What a work. Maybe you could share some of the simpler receipes with us? You village looks like a very beautiful place. Lucky you.

Stefan Jansson said...

Great that you still have these old family books. I'm guessing you don't own a cow!

Beth said...

It's so cool that you have such pieces of family history like that. Definitely things to treasure! Yours is my favorite of all the books around the world photos today! Such a personal touch.

Jilly said...

What a precious book. So wonderful to see it and read your commentary. Love this.

Diederick Wijmans said...

That is very nice to share with us!!I have a same sort of handwritten receipe book of my great- grandmother stating things like: "Take 12 eggs..". Her fingerprints are still on various pages. Lovely memories.

Webradio said...

This book is very old !
I buy it Shelagh... Smile for You...

kuanyin333 said...

Great composition and lighting and subject matter. A treasured book is a great idea.

Anonymous said...

Great artful choice for this theme day Shelagh, the only thing I'd say is missing is your book to complete the picture! Cheers!

Saretta said...

I love old books...fascinating!