All Dressed Up

Here is a photo of my father, David Barton, with his brother John (on the left). They are all dressed up for some occasion but I have not quite figured out which one. My first thought was that it was the day of their sisters’ wedding. That would have made Uncle John almost 11 years old and my father almost 14 years in June 1949 when that wedding took place. Do they look that young in the photo below? I’m not sure. The other occasion that comes to mind is my Aunt Marion and Uncle Jim's wedding in 1953.

I’ve asked a couple of relatives if they have any photos of either day with them in it but nobody has seems to have any. For now, my best guess my Aunt Beth and Uncle Dean's wedding on June 18, 1949 at Carrville United Church.

Like a lot of small community churches, membership declined drastically over the years and it was no longer sustainable. The building itself was sold and is now a Jewish community centre.

Birthday Celebration

Here is a photo of a family celebration for my first birthday. I assume my mother took the picture since she is not in it and I’m sure she would have been there. *smile* The party would have been in October 1957. I love looking at these old photos.

From left to right…Ida Amelia (White) Ash (my maternal great grandmother), Myra (Middleton) Barton (my paternal grandmother), Marion (Middleton) Ash (my aunt), David Barton (my father) holding me, John Barton (my uncle, my fathers’ brother), Jim Ash (my uncle, my mothers’ brother) holding my cousin Donna, Jack Barton (my paternal grandfather) and in the forefront is Bob Ash (my cousin, son of Marion and Jim). At first, I was not sure where this photo was taken until a couple of relatives told me that it was my paternal grandparents' house. Of course it was, my parents and I lived there until we moved into our new house in Richmond Hill in 1958.

Old Family Photographs

I am currently going through some old family photographs and plan to document what I know or remember with each one. I hope I don’t bore you with my ramblings. Here is a photo of my paternal grandmother, Myra (Middleton) Barton with my father, David Barton, when he was very young.

My father must have been two or three years old at most, and he was born in 1935, which means the photo is from 1937-1938. I’m guessing here since there is no information on the back of the photo. See the cheeky expression on his face? And look at that head of curly hair! I always wondered where my eldest son got his curly locks as a young child. Now I know for sure.

That image of my grandmother is as I remember her. She was always wearing what she called a house dress. They typically were a shift style dress (like the pattern above) with buttons down the front. They were always floral designs. She did have a sewing machine, I wonder if she made them herself? I really don't know. It wasn’t until much later in her life that I ever saw her wearing slacks. I want to find a place that can clear up the graininess, bring it into sharper focus and enlarge both photos here.

Making a New Journal

I purchased this book at Dollarama some time ago for $3.00. It’s part of an urban fantasy series for ages 10-13 year olds but none of that really mattered to me because I planned to deconstruct it, alter the cover with fabric and turn it into a junk journal. It’s a nice small size, 7 ½ inches by 5 inches with a 1 inch spine. I wish now that I had purchased more of them at the time, but hindsight is always 20/20, isn’t it?

First task was to remove the text block, then cut out any images I might want to use and harvest words or phrases I can utilize for later projects. Next, I had to choose the fabric I wanted to use from my stash. I cut a piece the size I needed and ironed on the thin interfacing to the back to give it strength and also prevent the glue I would use to from seeping through.

Then, the tedious task of gluing it onto the book cover, starting with the spine, began. I used 3-in-1 glue which is good on multiple materials. Slowly I moved from the spine, across the front and back smoothing out any bumps with the bone folder for a smooth even finish. I had to wait for it to dry before mitering the corners and folding the fabric to the inside of the book and gluing it down. Once again I used the bone folder to smooth it down evenly.

Book corners were added for decoration and also to protect the corners from wear and tear. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Now to choose the papers I want to use and get them ready to sew into the inner spine that will be glued into the book cover. Stay tuned for my progress.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

I thought I would try again this weekend to coffee dye some copy paper for upcoming journals. I was not going to do it outside this time. Aside from being way too hot, I did not want papers blowing all over the place as they were drying again.

I began on Friday evening, two pages at a time since that is all my indoor drying rack will hold. Rather than hanging over them begging them to dry quickly, I just walked away and did other things. The next time I was in the kitchen I would turn them over and head off to other tasks in the house.

The progress was slow but steady. By Saturday evening, I had lots of pages coffee dyed and ready to go into the book press to flatten them. I continued to coffee dye on Sunday and have managed another stack of papers ready to put in the book press.

When not stressing about getting ALL the paper coffee dyed NOW, I have come to appreciate the saying ‘slow and steady wins the race’. I accomplished more than I expected. I won the race.