"I remember the time I knew what happiness was, Let the memory live again" (From Cats)

At the moment the present is scary (and not just my life, writing this after the London terrorist attack), and the future even scarier, so I live in the past. This is through hundreds of photos loaded on to a big computer screen, and accessible through Screen Saver.

Much more has emerged than 'snaps' of happy kids. The earliest dates from 1900, because our children's' paternal great-grandfather had the genes of a technology genius. So, there is Granny, aged 9, in a sailor hat, in Andorra.

As our great-grand-son (our eldest) is also a gifted technician he has managed to take those images, all on slides, and load them on the computer. Since 2008, everything has been loaded direct. Pre that time, we had them printed, then scanned in the very best way possible.

For our golden wedding one of our daughters said 'I want all your history, business, family, travel, to decorate the walls of the village hall'. A tall order – bringing out my hat fetish, three pages of them.

Now I sit next to my O/H, who cannot be left, with my knitting, and watch our life go by.

First bike, current Shire horses, temples in India, Cambodia and Viet-nam. Rain forests, beaches, party after party, gardens and flower collections (of course), cats (masses) local events, hot-air balloons, floods, stained glass windows (a passion) 'all human life is there'. We find visitors are fascinated, and grand-children delighted.

But, and a big but – this has not been achieved without application. Many hours have been spent sorting, cataloguing, jettisoning (pictures of beach scenes which could be anywhere), scanning, labelling.

One son, and my brother-in-law, are much more widely travelled than us. When we ask to see, for instance, pictures of the remnants of Krakatoa (two ton molten rocks) going up into the air – a vague reply 'they're in a box somewhere'. It is very unlikely that anybody will have the time, energy and enthusiasm to get them out of that box. A house will be cleared, and that history with them.

How important are family memories to you?

The Gardener

A Moodscope member.