Sepia Saturday 551 : Christmas & New Year 2020

 

So here it is - Merry Christmas. S in the Sepia Saturday alphabet takes us to Seasonal Greetings ... and Powers of Waterford for Seeds and Trees. This is our Christmas and New Year prompt for 2020, so you can add your contributions at any time over the next couple of weeks. Just post a post and add a link to the list below.

And that takes us to 2021. What kind of Sepia Saturday do we want for next year? Is it time we called it a day? Are blogs a thing of the past and do we need to move our efforts to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Do we carry on just as we have been doing for the last 150 years? Let me know what you think, I will be happy to do whatever people think is best.

Sepia Saturday 550 : 12 December 2020

 

I'm singing in the rain.... which has always seemed to me to be a daft thing to do. If it is raining outside, sensible people stay indoors and flick through their collection of old photographs looking for something beginning with the letter R. If it's got rain in it, run with it, if it has a river, reserve it, if it features a rhinoceros, rescue it from obscurity and share it with your sepia friends. Just choose any old photo, feature it in a post, post your post on or around Saturday 12 December and add a link to the list below.

As usual, we will be having just one prompt for the Christmas and New Year season - here's a preview.

Sepia Saturday 549 : 5 December 2020

 

When you think about it, Sepia Saturday is a bit like a quilt. Over the years, hundreds of people from around the world have come together to establish a patchwork of old images and memories. Some are very old, some less so. Some are close family, some are distant relatives. Some are brightly coloured, some are in faded sepia. Individually they are all interesting, but together they create something which is more than the sum of its individual parts. That's what I like about Sepia Saturday, it's a collaborative exercise in preserving memories.  Which is nothing more than a long way of saying that our Sepia Alphabet has worked its way around to the letter Q. And Q is for quilts. And queens, and quadrangles, and quays, and quintuplets .... and almost anything else you want it to be for. Just find an old image, add a new explanation and post your post on or around Saturday 5th December 2020.

And whilst you are waiting in the queue, you might want to look at the two remaining prompts for this year. As always, there will be a break over the Christmas and New Year period but we will be back for T in the new year.

Sepia Saturday 548 : 28 November 2020

Post early for Christmas. At the end of November, what better way to get us ready for the Christmas season than with a vintage postman. And the postman also fits in with our Sepia alphabet which this week has reached the letter P. So look out your postmen, your poodles, your pots and pans, and your pantechnicons - it is time for Sepia Saturday 548. Simply post a post on or around Saturday 28th November 2020 and add a link to the list below.

Here are the next theme images which will take us up to the Christmas break:-

550 AND 551 COMING SOON

Sepia Saturday 547 : Saturday 21 November 2020

I realise that you may need to hear from the organ grander rather than his monkey, but - you're stuck with me. And as we get to the letter O in our Sepia Saturday trip through the alphabet, you are stuck with a theme prompt that features an organ grinder and his monkey. Se it's time to search through your photo archives for organs, grinders, monkeys, anything relating to the letter O ... or, let's face it, anything you want to share with the world. Just share your photo in a post, post the post on or around Saturday 21 November 2020 and add a link to the list below.

Whilst you are listening to the merry tune of the organ, you can take a look ahead and see what lies in wake for the next week or two.

Sepia Saturday 546 : 14 November 2020

We are now more than half way through our Sepia Alphabet .... and let us hope that we are now more than half way through the global pandemic that has affected us all for the last nine months. Could there ever be a more suitable time to pay tribute to the nurses that have looked after us so well (our thanks also go to all the other health care and essential workers - it's just that they don't fit into our N category!). So help us celebrate these vital workers by posting a post on or around Saturday 14th November 2020 and adding a link to the list below.

And just to help you get ready for the weeks ahead, look out your organ grinders and your postmen.

Sepia Saturday 545 : 7th November 2020

We have now reached the letter M in our sepia alphabet. M is for money, morning, mist, marmalade and men. M is also for machines and our theme image this week features a girl working on a sewing machine in the Netherlands in the 1920s. So look out your M themed old photographs - or, indeed, any old photographs - and link them to the list below on or around Saturday 7th November 2020. Whilst you are waiting for your new pair of shoes to be finished, take a look at what the next two letters in the sepia alphabet have to offer.

Sepia Saturday 544 : Saturday 31 October 2020

We have reached L in our Sepia Alphabet Ride. Amongst other things, L is for lighthouse, so if you have any old photographs of lighthouses in your collection, now is the time to shine a light on them. If you can't see the light, you could always try leather, lamp-posts, locomotives, long faces, lungfish or labradors. Or you can always ignore these silly prompts, an post any old photo to Sepia Saturday. Just post your posts on or around Saturday 31 October 2020 and add a link to the list below.

And what comes after L - well M and N, of course. See what the future of the alphabet holds for Sepians.

 

Sepia Saturday 543 : 24 October 2020

 

In our sepia tour through the alphabet, we have reached letter K, and K is for kiss. So look though your old photographs and search for the kisses, the embraces, the snogs, and the smouldering passion. If you can't find any, there is always kettles, kangaroos, knitting and kettledrums. Or this being Sepia Saturday which is famous for its lack of rules, you can post any old photograph you want. Just feature it in a post, post your post on or around Saturday 24th October 2020, and add a link to the list below.

Whilst you are catching your breath between passionate pecks, you might want to look at what is in store in Sepia Saturday, and guess what - K is followed by L and M!

Sepia Saturday 542 : 17 October 2020

 

Here at Sepia Saturday we are all jumping for joy, because we have got around to the letter J in our alphabetical theme journey.  So search through your photographic archives for something (anything) that fits (or seems to fit) the theme (or, because we don't like rules, any theme). Once you have an old photograph, post it on your blog on or around Saturday 17th October 2020 and add a link to the list below.

Whilst you are thinking about what to post this week, you might want to look at what is just around the jolly corner:-

Sepia Saturday 541 : Saturday 10 October 2020

One of the few things that has got me through the difficult last seven or eight months, it has to be confessed, is ice-cream. In a world where meeting friends, going out for a meal and a drink, visiting a theatre or concert hall, have all become distant memories, you can never under-estimate the positive effect of an ice-cream cornet. This week our Sepia Saturday theme image celebrates ice-cream, so get ready to search out those old images which will melt your hearts. If you have no ice-cream flavoured images, you could go with any subject starting with this week's letter which is I. Or you can abandon themes all together, and just share any old image you care to share. Just post your post on or around Saturday 10 October 2020, and add a link to the list below.

Whilst you are forming a socially distanced queue by the ice-cream van, take a look at what awaits you over the next couple of weeks.

 

Sepia Saturday 540 : 3 October 2020

 

I know it might seem a little late for a holiday (to those readers in the Southern Hemisphere please read as "I know this might seem a little early for a holiday"), but ... it's a strange world we live in now and you have to take your opportunities where you can. The seasons turn remorselessly, but so does our trip through the alphabetical Sepia Saturday theme images and we have worked our way around for H is for Holiday. Just in case you are fed up with sun-hats, beach-balls, and sand between your toes, please feel free to pick your own H for a theme this week. You might have an old photo of a horse, a house or a hula hoop - whatever it is just include it in a post, and post your post on or around Saturday 3 October 2020, and add a link to the list below.

And while we are sat here in the sun, thinking about as little as possible, lets take a look at what comes next on Sepia Saturday:-

Sepia Saturday 539 : Saturday 26 September 2020

As you may have worked out, I am doing the alphabet thing again (after putter theme images together for ten years, you need some artificial stimulus!). So last week was F (for fire) and this week is G for groups. The group in question is a photograph with a caption on the reverse which reads "Sidney and the Gand, Christmas 1954, British Army on the Rhine". The Sidney in question is the happy smiling chap in the centre of this particular group, and is also my wife's cousin. It's a typical throw-away group photo, but it is full of life and drama and history. The pints of beer, the couple kissing, the looks on the faces of the young men a long way away from home, it's a classic of its type.

Sepia Saturday 539 (post your posts on or around Saturday 26 September 2020) gives you an opportunity to feature your group classics. Simply post your posts and add a link to the list below. And whilst I have you all here, grouped together, let me show you what H and I will bring:-

Sepia Saturday 538 : 19 September 2020

 

You know what it's like when I fire burns out of control: you start with a billycan gently boiling the water for your tea, your attention is distracted, and the next thing you know half of New South Wales is on fire! It's the same with Sepia Saturday. To start with, you have your theme image gently boiling away, ready to be shared with the waiting world, then you are called upon to keep an eye on your two year old grandson, and the next thing you know you are scrubbing carpets and trying to get strawberry jam out of your hair. This is by way of me apologising for letting things get a little behind with Sepia Saturday 537. Now, I am a reformed character, putting the prompt image up on a Monday so that whatever happens people can submit their Sepia Saturday posts in plenty of time for Sepia Saturday 538 (post your posts on or around Saturday 19th September 2020)

And if you want a little distraction while you are waiting for the fire to take hold, take a look at what is to come over the next week or two.

Sepia Saturday 537 : 12 September 2020

Sorry about this .... words to come in a bit, when I wake up!

Sepia Saturday 536 : 5 September 2020

Fathers and daughters, mothers and daughters: yes, we have reached letter D in our alphabetical trawl through the theme images. Our theme photo features the American businessman and art collector, Solomon Guggenheim and his daughter, Barbara Josephine Guggenheim. For your Sepia Saturday post, you can follow the daughters, follow the "D's", or - as always - do whatever you choose. All we need is an old photo and a few words. Post your posts on or around Saturday 5th September 2020 and add a link to the list below.

While you are waiting for your ship to sail, take a look at what is around the corner:-

Sepia Saturday 535 : 29 August 2020

 

Three men at a cattle sale in Australia in the 1940s. One says to the other, "What are you looking for, here today?" "Some nice fat beef cattle". he replies, "and what about you?" "Some prime hogs would be useful", he replies. They turn to the third man, a stranger in these parts. "And what about you stranger?", He takes a minute to consider his response, looks around, and then says: "'m looking for some old images to share in this weeks's Sepia Saturday challenge".  If he finds any, let's hope he posts a post on or around Saturday 29th August and links a post to the list below.

Whilst you are waiting for your bid to be accepted, take a look at the sheep and pigs ... and take a look at what is coming up on Sepia Saturday.

Sepia Saturday 534 : 22 August 2020

 

I have been waiting for so long for the bus, I have forgotten where I am supposed top be going to. Being Sepia Saturday, however, I can go wherever I want to. If I choose to, I can be guided by the prompt and therefore look out old photographs of buses or transport or men carrying suitcases. There again, I can just jump on the first bus that comes past and see where it takes men to. That, as always, is the beauty of Sepia Saturday. Just post your posts on or around Saturday 22 August 2020 and add a link to the list below.

And while you are waiting for the right bus to come along, take a look at what is around the corner next week, and (when I get around to it), the week after.

Sepia Saturday 533 : 15 August 2020

 

It takes a big man to make a big anchor. These two big men are in the process of making the enormous anchor for the steam ship Mauretania in the Swan Hunter shipyards on the River Tyne in 1907. They are here to invite you to submit your old pictures of big men, anchors of all sizes, chains and even swans: or indeed anything else you can think of that might in some way or another connect up with this theme image. All you have to do is to feature the image in a post, post the post on or around Saturday 15 August 2020, and add a link to the list below.

And whilst your attention is anchored on the subject of old photographs, take a look at what is coming up next on Sepia Saturday.

Sepia Saturday 532 : 8 August 2020

We may all be locked down, denied the opportunity to see the world, but there is one form of travel that is still open to us all, without risk, and without the need for PPE. That is, of course, time travel; and as far as time travel is concerned, Sepia Saturday is your travel agent. This week we are tempting you with the delights of a ride on a electric tramway in Wellington, New Zealand. As with all Sepia Saturday prompts, however, you are not limited to New Zealand, or trams, or cliffs, curves or posts: you can go to whatever destination you want. Simply post your post on or around Saturday 8th August 2020, and add a link to the list below.

Whilst you are waiting for the next tram, flick through the time travel brochures and see what is on offer for the next couple of weeks.