More 1974-87

Tá an grían [The sun is] ag taitneamh [shining], tá se te [it is hot], Lá breá [a fine day] atá ann [is here] inniú [today].
It's such a nice day that I am loath to stay indoors at the computer. However, I am 'chuffed' with myself that I spent two hours this morning working on making compost (that is sorting out the material that has been composting away without attention for the past year or so.

GREEN CROSS
My nephew made this for me in school c.1984.
BLUE COPY-BOOK
Originally belonged to my younger son in 1978 Explorer group, later used to teach English to Vietnamese family 1984
ENVELOPE
Writing outside possibly refers to electricity units - though not sure. Inside is a newspaper clipping of Memorial notice for Kathleen Clynes.
MACRAMÉ
Work done by my sister to form a flower-pot holder. Used in front porch at one time.
RED PURSE
Not sure who this belonged to. It has two small loops where a neck-string might have been attached.
NOTICE
This blank notice is from Virtue and Company. I think they were the people who published the Family Bible. But why they would want the students names, I am not at all clear.

 VORWERK
Everything in this imaage relates to the best vacuum-cleaner I ever had. As you can see by the receipt, it only cost £52 back in 1974. I'm not sure how long we had it - I have an idea it was eventually stolen, and never replaced.
What I liked most about it was the light weight - it was so light that I called it my 'mechanical sweeping brush. There was a ring on the top of the handle so it could be hung up, ready to use again at a moment's notice. Now nearly forty years later, I have a state of the art Dyson with allergy and pet-hair modifications - but it is so heavy that I have to get my husband to help me hold it while I clean the stairs.
I have found the Vorwerk website and a lot of different items are for sale. But you have to be a registered member to log in and see the prices. Its a long way from Mr Kubiac who knocked on our door, showed us how the machine worked, took our deposit of £7 and we had to find the balance of £45 by a month later.

I think all the items in this image came from the file I kept (and still keep) with manuals and receipts and guarantees for different appliances as we buy them
 HAIR-DRYER
 This leaflet gives detailed instructions on electrical safety, but no help at all on how to make your hair more beautiful. I gave up using a hair-dryer years ago and towel my hair dry nowadays. Probably at the time I bought that drier, not only did I have two daughters whose hair needed attention, but my own hair might still have been dyed, and therefore been getting extra care.
 MICROWAVE
 The Power City receipt is dated 1987, so I doubt if this is the first microwave we bought.
HAIRDRESSER
On the back of this appointment card is the name and address of someone in Santry. I suppose I could have just dropped in to get my hair done in the Abbey Street salon - but I have no recollection of it, nor of who the person on the back of the card might have been.
FOOD-MIXER
Even though this was a grand little food-mixer, it didn't work miracles, and my limited culinary skills, never up to much, have declined over the years.
RESTAURANT
I have a very vague memory of being in this restaurant, but no idea who I might have been with or what I might have been celebrating.
ELECTRIC SERVICE
I wonder did ROYCO ever do any electrical repairs for me - or did I just have their card on spec.

LABEL
The label off the fireside rug shows it as washable - the size 27 x 45 might mean that it was a bathroom rug.
TIMER GUARANTEE
This little document has no information, even though there is space to record when where and who bought it the little timer
TV RECEIPT
If this is dated 1982, I think this is the TV that we used with the original DRAGON 32 computer which we bought that year.

Interesting to see several different documents from clocks - my father used to call my childhood home 'CLOCK-STOPIA' because there were so many stopped clocks in it. I am thinking that he could have passed it on to me! Here is the SOLMARK cordless battery wall clock. Also a METAMEC depedable clock and a guarantee for a WESTCLOX stamped by Roches Stores Nov 19 1983.
WALKMAN
In 1987 I paid £40 pounds for a sanyo W/MAN (walkman) Almost certainly this was bought for me to record lectures at Saor Ollscoil which I was attending at that time.
MONSANTO
I have no idea what the label from the acrylic garment came from. However, what does surprise me is the name MONSANTO. This is the name of a multinational company which currently deal in genetically modified seeds. If I had know about this at the time of the label, I probably wouldn't have bought the product!
DRYER
No 77 TIDYDRY guarantee is date June 1970. This is only about two months after we moved into our 'new house' in Tallaght. At first I thought this might have been a cobinet dryer like the one that I got for my mother shortly after I went to London. But then I looked it up on Google - ah the wonders of the internet. Turns out it was the great clothesline that I used for years. IT had five lines and could expand to fit the space available to accommodate it. It seems that it might still be possible to buy on here at this website