Its a while now since I felt 100% - my fault as its a family failing, hoping that if you ignore something it will go away!

Well the doctors seem pleased with me, including the dietician I was forced to see as I had lost so much weight. Now I am at my optimum weight for height and have not been so slim since the 1960s or even earlier Being unwell seems to have gone to my head as I now feel I can wear clothes I had not thought I could because of my 'ample' figure.

Bring on the miniskirt! When I last wore one, tights had barely arrived in St Andrews where I studied Modern History so heaven only knows what we looked like! I remember buying tights with integral pants at Woolworths!

In those days fashion seemed to change so quickly, almost day by day, and even in the frozen north, we kept up especially by making our own clothes. 

Here are some students on the traditional 'pier walk', you can see why a warm undergraduate gown was a necessity.

I had had a good training from my mother in basic dressmaking and continued at University where my halls of residence even had a sewing machine which could be used by the residents. 

That's my residence, the red building to the right of the Old Course Clubhouse,  now converted to expensive apartments.

In the summer of 1967, the machine seemed to reside on the top floor where a number of us took advantage of it. In those days material and patterns seemed to be cheap, certainly cheaper than shop-bought clothes. Chain stores such as Primark certainly would have been popular as then there only seemed to be C&A selling bargain clothes. I remember buying fabrics in the Fairfield Drapery Stores - a really old-fashioned drapers shop. The fabric department was in a large hall at the rear of the building, lit by attic windows - just right. Today the store in Market Street, St Andrews has found a new use as the local Tourist Information Centre.

We lived near Paisley in those days, close to the Viyella mill where they sold off that fabulous material in bright plain colours, tartans and the eponymous Paisley pattern - just right for short empire line dresses for the dour Scottish winters. The mills on the River Cart had been founded by James Coats as thread mills and were later taken over for other uses. I remember going there with my mother for textile bargains. 

My mother always had a large stash of material and also yarn, both of which I have inherited and some of that material must date back to her 'Paisley days' which is close to 50 years ago - shows how it doesn't date and how well it can last.

So I am now in the process of finding my old paper patterns to use up some of that stash - so here comes more mini dresses and perhaps a couple of 1970s long pinafore dresses, complete with frills as the bottom.

James Whamond, 1790 - 1839

James Whamond is my husband's three times great grandfather and he fought at the Battle of Waterloo! That's why we applied for the replica medal in his memory. Apparently the medal was not issued until the 1840s by which time he had died. 

He enlisted as an 18 year old in Stirling and joined Wellington's army fighting in the Spanish Peninsula. He fought all the way through that campaign  and back into France where he also fought in the Battle of Toulouse. 

Napoleon's lat stand was at Waterloo and James Whamond was there too as a Corporal in Captain McNair's Company in the 52nd Regiment of Foot. He remained the army and saw further service in Ireland and Canada until he retired in 1830 after 14 years as a sergeant. Below is a picture of the 52nd at Waterloo.

Last Charge of the 52nd Regiment of Foot, Waterloo; print after an original painting by Laslett J. Pott.

All this is remarkable  enough but what I find really exciting is that on all these adventures he found a French wife and had a family which went round the world with him! His first child, John, was born in France before the couple came home and were married in 1819 in Weedon Bec. 

Weedon was an ordnance depot on the Grand Union Canal and was also where the Royal Family would have been evacuated to as a place of safety had Napoleon's Army invaded. 

Their second child was born in Derby, another garrison town, while number three was born in Clonmell in Ireland. Two further children were born in Halifax in Canada and the last four in Kirriemuir in Scotland.

Kirriemuir was a linen weaving town in Angus close to Tannadice where the Whamond family came from. After such a long military career, James came home with French wife and family but sadly died in 1839 leaving Marie Francoise a widow. How a French woman managed to make a like in rural Scotland is a mystery!

But her story does not end there. Her children spread far and wide. This was a difficult time in the linen weaving industry in Kirriemuir and all left to better themelves. Diligent searching in the censuses found Marie in Longforgan in Perthshire in 1861 with eldest son John's family, and in Glasgow in 1871 with her daughter, Janet McCusker. 

Finally she died in 1874 and was buried in Liverpool. By this time her son John had moved to Liverpool, where a number of Whamond's lived. Her final resting place is in Toxteth Park Cemetery on Smithdown Road. Sadly there is no memorial stone to such a remarkable woman.

What a couple, what lives - another reason I love Liverpool.

Sweet Peas

Sadly my Aunt Marion died just after Christmas. BUT her lovely daughter-in-law, Rita, gave all those at the funeral a goodie bag of things which would remind us all of Marion which included a packet of sweet pea seeds. 

She was always fond of her garden and her favourite flower was the sweet pea. A long time ago I was a bridesmaid, with my cousin, for her when she married my Uncle Alan and of course we had posies of sweet peas while our dresses were in a lovely lilac colour to match.

So now its warm enough to plant my seeds. As we have a sunny yard rather than a garden I have bought new pots to plant in and at the same time bought a couple of packets of seeds. Candytuft will match my climbing peas and were a favourite of my grandmother who planted them as a border every year.  

Then I bought some nasturtiums, gaudy and bright, in oranges and yellow which were a favourite of my late mother. So once planted, fingers crossed for some sun and showers, I will have a display which will also remind me of times and gardens past!

In My Liverpool Home Part 2

I have briefly dealt with some of the reasons I love Liverpool - here are a few more. 

First of all there are the fabulous museums, including the new Museum of Liverpool which opened in 2011. The building, designed by a Danish company really adds to the waterfront. There are fabulous galleries and displays but my favourite is the Wondrous Place which celebrates Liverpool's musicians and sporting heroes. On the second floor there are huge windows which give tremendous views up and down the river where you can sit listening to 'Ferry 'Cross the Mersey'.

My father's father came from Everton - and he was proud of where he came from. Apparently when elder daughter went to university in Liverpool, I insisted that she supported Everton - and she still does!

Hurrah for the 'toffees'

Family history is another of my passions and I am intensely proud of my Scouse/Irish roots though sadly all of the places they lived are now gone. One of my greatest regrets is that I cannot remember how he spoke. He spent a lot of time in Manchester and then London so perhaps he did not have a Scouse accent. 

So Liverpool is where I feel really comfortable thank to the spirit of the locals. My husband recently fell over in the street and was immediately surrounded by people trying to help - perhaps not what would have happened at home!

Daughter and I were in a local pub near Anfield when the Liverpool match ended and floods of supporters arrived including some Scandinavians who apparently once bought the pub drinks as it was so cheap! Every one talked to one another happily. Typical of what I have always found here - perhaps embodied in the following, unforgettable,

You'll Never Walk Alone