Rocking Horses

Reading Carrie's wonderful blog this morning http://wordhoards.blogspot.com/ I'm reminded of a shadow photo I took many years ago of my own daughter playing on a rocking horse made for her by my father.



Just below the shadow of the horse you can see the outline of a wheel, which is an old bicycle he dredged out of our local canal and turned into a spinning wheel which was then 'barge painted' by my mother and is still in regular use even today. My father is nothing if not creative and delights in turning old toot into objects of use and meaning!

My daughter is now nearly 22, and would, I'm sure be acutely embarassed to know I'm posting this photo of her on the net, but it's a photo that means a great deal to me, representing as it does, three generations of my family.

Playing on horses is a bit of a tradition in my family as you can see by these two photos I've posted below - one of my grandfather, resplendent with ringlets and taken circa 1910 which I really must 'repair' in photoshop some time soon;



and one of myself circa 1965;



a little less enigmatic perhaps, but significant to me none the less.

My daughter's rocking horse still stands in my parents home, a little battered now from overuse, but knowing that it will hopefully be continued to be used by future generations of my family is a strangely comforting thought.