"Have you seen my childhood?"

"When you finally go back to your old hometown, you find it wasn’t the old home you missed, but your childhood." – Sam Ewing

These wonderful photographs taken by Lissy Elle,

evoke times from my childhood.

I love how we are able to recapture moments from our childhood,

through sweet memories.

"It’s essential that a part of you not grow up.

Childhood wonder gives us our spark and beauty." – Robin Quivers

"Childhood is the world of miracle and wonder;

as if creation rose, bathed in the light, out of the darkness,

utterly new and fresh and astonishing.

The end of childhood is when things cease to astonish us." –Eugene Ionesco

"There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully

as those we spent with a favourite book." – Marcel Proust

Above: A photograph of my childhood home.

Above: Taken around 1960...Thats me wearing the white pompoms on my red hood. This photo was taken in our then, front yard.

Below: Taken  around 1962, I'm the one with blond hair wearing the baggy togs,

sitting next to my nanna and granddad.

"Childhood is frequently a solemn business for those inside it." – George F. Will

These are photos of my childhood home...taken well after our family had grown up and moved out.

They show the renovations that have changed the appearance of the house in recent years.

No, you really cannot go back.

But you can cherish the sweet memories of your carefree childhood days...

and ensure that your grandchildren take from their own childhood,

lots of wonderful memories of special moments spent with their Nanni and Poppi.

This was the thought behind me creating our Secret Enchanted Forest for our grandchildren.

Already I know that there are some very sweet memories taking root inside them.

I feel quite wonderful to know that this is so.

 

"Time is of the essence, the days of CHILDHOOD are fleeting…make memories while you have the CHANCE." – Tina Chambers