Sep 17, 2016

Big Birthday Blog Hop

Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching is having a fun birthday blog hop in honor of her big birthday. She has assigned everyone a year in her life to talk about and share a fun memory she has. Here is the memory she shared with me...

1976 - Jo was 10.  As the oldest child Jo was responsible for looking after her two younger siblings and over the Summer Jo and her sister decided to "teach the baby to read".  Fortunately Jo's little brother (who was 3) was happy to do this and quickly learned 35 words from Flashcards.  All except "leg" which he insisted said "Lego" so Jo added the "o".  The children all enjoyed playing theatre and acting out the books they read.  As the only boy, Little Brother always had to be The Prince, Little Sister had to be The Heroine (as she was the only one who would kiss the Prince!), the Best Friend was always the Fairy Godmother in the bridesmaid dress from the dressing-up box and Jo was "everone else", usually the Wicked Witch all in black velvet.  One time Jo played all Seven Dwarfs with teddies tied to each arm to represent the other six.

Now we are supposed to share a personal memory: I was an only child so unfortunately had no siblings to play with. This week we were going through an old box and found old audio cassette tapes that we had recorded on. To our surprise when we hit play on one of them it was a very young me. Probably 10 years old or around there. I read a play on the tape. There were of course several different characters. Since there was only me I changed my voice to act out each different person. Changing my voice into different weird accents and what not is still something I do today so my son and me enjoyed giggling at how I'm still the same pretty much as I was then. It was very special because also on the recording is my Grandparent's voices which have passed away. It was a very sweet reminder of great times I had while visiting their home.

Now we are supposed to share a stitching item that we think Jo would appreciate. I know she LOVES Halloween so let's see what I can find in my folder...
This is a Halloween banner I stitched in 2013. It's called Fright Night Friends by Stoney Creek. Here are some close ups so you can see it better...

It was a fun piece to stitch up. Hope you like it too Jo.

I wish you a very Happy Birthday. Hope it's a great day and even better year ahead for you. Enjoy blog hopping around to read more blog hop posts. It will be fun to learn a lot more about Jo and about each of who have joined in on the fun. Thanks for hopping by.

22 comments:

Vickie said...

Hello Katie! That cassette tape is truly a special find. This was a neat post!

Barb said...

Neat find. We use to have tapes with my Grandfather's voice on them but that was years ago. I love your Halloween piece and I'm not big on Halloween pieces. Great job on it.

Rhona said...

What a great find!Love you Halloween stitching.

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Thanks for taking part in the Birthday Blog Hop. I'm so pleased that your year tied in with a special find. I love doing all the voices when I read to my son too. I do a terrible Scottish accent which veers into Welsh!
Love the Hallowe'en banner. There's a lot of spookiness on this blog hop for some reason...

Carolyn said...

Hi there Katie!
What fond memories of you on those tapes. My Father taped my brother, sister and I one year for Christmas. It's quite amusing to hear how we sound. I think Jo's story about the seven dwarfs on her arm is so cute and funny. I love your Halloween finish. It's beautifully done!

Astrids dragon said...

What a treasure to find that tape, something to keep for always. I love your Halloween banner, it's awesome!

Bea said...

Great post Katie and what a treasure in that tape. Those are memories you want to hang on to. Love the banner!

Julie said...

Lovely GG post with great progress pic.
The whimsy is cute.
How wonderful to find a long lost tape and listen to days gone by.

rosey175 said...

Haha, I do weird voices on occasion too, although it's limited to teasing the cats! They are unappreciative of my talents, pfft. Great Halloween stitch for Jo. :D

Tiffstitch said...

Very cool story about you and love the banner!

Stitching Noni said...

Love your story... how special to have found those tapes :o)
Great Halloween stitch!
Hugs xx

Brigitte said...

Funny to read what you and Jo were playing at age 10. Great stories. And a great Halloween banner that you chose for her birthday.

Melinda Forbes said...

What a great find - I would love to be able to here their voices. How wonderful for you. I love your Halloween Banner.

FlashinScissors said...

Hi Katie
Such fun stories from both you, and Jo! Lovely that you found that tape .... such special memories for you! And I love that description of Jo with the teddies tied on her arms .... just so funny! Your Halloween stitching it so cute!
Barbara xx

Ariadne said...

This blog hop was a great experience! Your story is so sweet with all the voices. My husband can change his voice a lot and I too do the same when I read fairy tales to my pupils.AriadnefromGreece!

Carol said...

Fun to read about you, Katie, and I love your Halloween finish :)

jocondine said...

So glad to visit you for JO's BBbh, your story with the tape is so sweet, that must have been a great surprise. I remember Mum reading stories on tape for my daughters, not always an easy thing to do (remember recording books for a blind uncle, what a work!). Great banner too! Thanks for sharing.

Elfie said...

I am slowly hopping through the birthday blog posts. I enjoyed reading your post. This is such a nice thing to be involved in.

The Eskimo's Wife said...

*Love* that Halloween finish! Very nice! :0)

gominam said...

Your beautiful Halloween piece is so detailed, all that backstitch! Ah, the cassette story brought back sweet memories. Thanks for sharing:)

Heather said...

Great stitching and memories

Kaisievic said...

What a wonderful find that cassette tape must have been, so very special. Great post, my dear.