Photograph albums hold wonderful memories as well as being very entertaining; they can be something to pour over for hours. Two years ago I started a project of making family albums for my three eldest granddaughters.
As often is the case, I started with a bang, then put them aside and just now have taken them out again. These kinds of projects are usually something to pass the time in the cold winter months, and maybe the summer outside jobs will sabotage my project again, but I hope not.
Right now I feel I have the energy to finish the job and find going through the old albums is like looking back on my life. I have black-and-white snapshots of my older sister, two brothers and myself that my mother took.
I have been told that my mother had her own camera and loved using it on every occasion. Even though I was only six when my mother passed away I can vividly remember her lining us in a row, and just before snapping the picture, she would come over to me and turn my head so my ringlets would show, leaving me to appear with only part of a face showing so I could never really see what I looked like.
My father was too busy having his own business and being a single Dad for the next seven years so that period flew by with few photos.
But even back then, school class photos were taken and those are treasured items in my albums. An example of this has been showing up in the Journal lately and though I didn't grown up in town, I get a kick of my friends who did, discussing the various students in the photo and wondering if some forgotten friend will be showing up for the reunion this coming summer.
My own kids were photographed from the day they came home from the hospital.  Each one has their own album, always kept up to date, which I'll pass on to them some day but right now I still like to look through them.
Then coloured slides came along, and my husband was the one who took these and hundreds of them have recorded all our special occasions and family trips. This winter I went through a lot and threw out many then turned the rest over to my son who is bravely taking on the job of putting them on DVDs.
My husband used to say that when we retired to a nursing home he wanted a room that looked out over the tracks so he could watch the trains go by and all we needed to take were our 45 photograph albums. At that time, I thought he was kidding but I now know what he meant, entertainment and great memories.
St. Patrick's Day is also today and though when we visited Ireland years ago, we connected with my husband's family in Klonikilty, Cork and though his background was Irish on both sides of the family he refused to kiss the Blarney Stone. But I did and a little of the green came off on me and I fell in love with the country.
The cookbook “A Taste Of Ireland In Food And In Pictures” is a lovely book of photos from the 1800s and the recipes are so ornate that I decided to go for the more modern version of their more traditional dishes.
Potato pancakes
A very good but simple recipe.
3 medium sized raw potatoes
1 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. cream
1 egg, well beaten
1 tsp. salt
Grate potatoes. Add other ingredients, and stir well. Cook by spoonfuls in hot fat, turning once.
Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner
2 pounds corned beef
6 potatoes
6 carrots
6 parsnips
1 medium turnip
1 head of cabbage (3 pounds)
Cover corned beef with cold water and let soak overnight. Next morning, drain and add fresh cold water to cover the meat.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until meat is tender, about 2 hours.
Scrape the carrots and parsnips, cut in half lengthwise. Cut peeled potatoes in half and peeled turnip into thick slices. Cut cabbage into wedges. Add vegetables to the meat about 20 minutes before meat is cooked.