Monday, October 3, 2011

Vintage photos

I arrived home today as I always do, not suspecting anything exciting. And the first thing I saw was a big covered box at my seat at the kitchen table. And as I hung up my jacket in the closet, I saw this through the breakfast nook window.


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My husband is having fun again.

The box on the table turned out to be a Canon scanner – something he’s been talking about getting for years. I agreed that a scanner might come in handy, especially one that would take 35mm film strips.

The scanner was a big surprise to me and after thanking my husband and jumping up and down a few times, I went out to take a walk.

And when I came back, I saw this.



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My husband is in rare form today, I’ll tell you. He moved the scanner box out to the living room, right where I sit, as if to say “open it up and get it going”. Also, to my surprise, he’d brought down two boxes full of old pictures taken throughout our life. They were sitting in the living room waiting for me to get to work. Oh, my!

I thought it would be difficult to figure out the thing, but after loading the software, it was a piece of cake. A piece of crumb cake.

I am now the proud owner of a Canon CanoScan 9000F which scans prints as well as 35mm film strips, 35mm slides, and 120 format films. So I opened one of the old boxes and took some photos from the top to share a few with you real quick.


Please be kind.



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My husband and I at someone’s wedding in NJ in 1992. My hair has always been unruly. And I can’t believe how young we look.



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My husband in 1988, showing a broodmare for Iron Spring Farm in the breeding division at the Devon Horse Show. I worked the press box at the show for years at and took this photo from the ring.



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Please be kind. Me circa 1982.

I had just bought an antique rocker with mother of pearl inlay and was quite proud of myself because I’d gotten it to fit into my Fiat Sport Coupe for the ride home.

Don’t ask me how I did that. I remember it wasn’t easy using the gear shift.



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Summer of 1988 with our two sons, taken on Iron Spring Farm in Chester County, PA. I love this photo.


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Hope you enjoyed. As I continue scanning, I’ll share more from time to time.

Have a beautiful week, all ~

123 Signature

64 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

LOVE what your hubby did with the pieces of wood! so sweet!!! and those photos are priceless treasures. the one of you as a couple; then the one with the 2 boys... my oh my...

Jeannelle said...

Congrats on getting the scanner! The old pictures are wonderful. Post them on the blog whenever you want....very enjoyable!

Donna S. said...

Love, love, love the old photos!!! You look wonderful in them!!!!

Ashley said...

What a cool experience to come home to! I mean, that is so sweet and unexpected and probably made you want to just throw your arms around him. Seeing these pictures of you from years back that you love makes me wonder what photos my husband I are taking of each other will stand out to us later in life. One of those things where you sort of stop and think "will this be a defining memory in my life?" Hope you have a good week!

Low Tide High Style said...

Woohoo, congrats! And I love seeing all of those glimpses of you and your family over the years! Thanks for sharing, and I see a new obsession in your future!

Kat :)

Anonymous said...

These are such nice photos and I'm sure there's a ton of memories in the photo box just waiting to be scanned.

Canon no longer updated the drivers for the scanner we had, so instead of replacing it, I now take photos of the old photos and download them from my camera.... hey, it works for me. LOL

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

Absolutely beautiful, the whole thing. The fact that he surprised you with the wood greeting, then the scanner, to those photos which are absolutely priceless.

That last photograph is wonderful.

Love it.

spindrift,maine said...

I just love this post, Kate! Love your husband's playfulness, not to mention his thoughtfulness. Love the photos. Love your hair. Love your boyfriend. (He's a competitor for Marlboro Man, for sure!) And I LOVE you in the field with your babies. It all put a big smile on my face. Thank you!

Hilary said...

you both have wild hair in that first pic!! But I love all the photos, and the glimpse into your family.......lovely, lovely, lovely. I loved seeing them.

Anonymous said...

I remember that last photo gave Mom and Dad tears in their eyes when you gave it to them.

Country Girl said...

Is that you, Ginny? Or is it Judy? Ginny took that last photo. I set up the camera for her. I remember giving it to mom and dad and them loving it.

Michelle said...

THANK-YOU for being willing to share old photos of yourselves! (I know it would take a lot of courage for me to do that.) The photo of George with his name in kindling and the photo of you and the boys are both wonderful. Thanks again. :-)

Peppermint Ph.D. said...

Lovely photos and beautiful memories :)

Caroline said...

OMG!!! I love these photos. All of them! But he last one is amazing!

Candylei said...

Reading this brings tears to my eyes! What a wonderful surprise for you inside and outside of the house. I love the last photo too, it could be titled "Happiness."

Reena said...

Lovin what your hubby did. How sweet. But that last photo of you with your boys ... priceless!

GailO said...

How wonderful to be surprised like that! How sweet that husband of yours is! Each of those scanned photos is more wonderful than the next, culminating in that wonderful golden portrait of you and your sons.
Treasures!
xoxo

Lisa said...

I loved this blog . I too loved all the photos. Thanks for the smiles Kate and sharing.

Jeanne Walker said...

What a wonderful ending to your day! Good job, DH! Love the photos...especially the one of you and your sons...priceless!

Linda said...

Love that one of you and your boys. You look great in all your pics!
Husbands. Sometimes they can be so sweet. Yours seemed in rare form today:)

Unknown said...

I love the photo of you and your sons! It's beautiful.

wayne15575 said...

Oh, Kate. What a special day. Love all of the scanned photos. It makes you that more personable to us.
Thank you so much for sharing your life with us. It shows me that I'm not the only person who isn't perfect. Thanks again.

Annie said...

Ah, Kate, how wonderful.
I love your husband. He is so cute and funny sometimes, and he also looks very handsome in that photo of you both..in fact you both look terrific. Isn't it fun going through old photos. Good on him for getting you a scanner, what a sweetie.

Annie said...

Forgot to mention how much I love the last photo too. The light is just gorgeous. Very special.

Barb T. said...

Kate--How thoughtful of your husband! I love it when my boyfriend surprises me this way, too. Be kind!??? No need to be kind; you are beautiful and your photos show it! I just love old photos. Thanks so much for sharing them with your blogging friends.
P.S. We made the move to Maine from Florida!!! Very tough going, but soooo worth it. I love it here--even with all this rotten weather!!!

Donna said...

Hi Kate. Congrats on the scanner! I know diddly about scanners, but thought I'd pass this article along. It was on my RSS reader immediately after your post, so I sorta felt I was supposed to haha!

I always enjoy your blog & am really looking forward to seeing more of your "vintage" photos. (Feels odd calling something from the 80s or 90s vintage, no?)

From TipSquirrel: http://tinyurl.com/6hcrs67

Donna Luker

Jamie said...

I love that last photo too... and I'm missing being in the show ring.

becky up the hill said...

Simply beautiful.

Gretchen said...

I love, love, love your dear husband's "greeting cards" of wood. The photos are wonderful!! The last one is a treasure. I really enjoy your posts!!

nancy in ks said...

I am so. delighted. for you! This new toy will open up so much creativity possibilities - while going down memory lane.

And I LOVED seeing your older photos.

We are so much more than what people see on the outside today. Guess that's why I love old photos...you get to see some of the other layers of a life - ones that doesn't show from the outside but just as real.

Marilyn said...

sometimes we forget that those two young people staring at us from old photos are still here...sometimes deep inside...it's nice to let them out once in a while to run free again...to write messages in wood!! How very sweet...

The JR said...

I really enjoyed all the pics.

Beautiful mare, I need your hubby to show me how to show braid.

Daryl said...

Oh what a wonderful bunch of surprises .. and I had no idea Matt had curly hair! LOVE all these ..xo

Anonymous said...

How fabulous! I love my scanner and I really need to get the box of old photos from my mum's and get them on the pc.

CJ xx

Marianne said...

Great photos (and a great hubby as well). I'd love to hear how your new scanner does with slides. I've heard mixed reviews.

beth said...

your hubby cracks me up.....and wow, how thoughtful is he ???

i LOVE old photos, so i will always be kind. i promise.
please keep sharing !!

xoxo

Anonymous said...

These are fabulous!

Jan's camera said...

Aw, you are both so cute in those photos. I love looking back at old photos. And of course the photo of you with your boys is so precious. Wonderful surprise from your hubby.

JMCD said...

you and your wonderful hair were and still are gorgeous! love the picture with your boys the most.

Country Girl said...

I am unable to reply to all of you and wanted to thank Donna for the scanning tip from TipSquirrel for Photoshop. Great idea.

Thanks, everyone. I'll be sure to make this a regular feature.


~ C.G.

Cloudia said...

Treasures!
Present ones ("George") via your nutty lovely husband

and older ones like fine wine.

We get to know each other better every day via posts like this :-)

Warm Aloha from Waikiki;

Comfort Spiral



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Mary said...

OK, first of all -- super romantic gesture, much better than candy or flowers! Your husband gets major props for the scanner. ;)

Secondly, damn -- you were a looker! Seriously, you both were beautiful. And your kids were so cute! I'm sure you are both still beautiful, too... ;)

Have fun with your new scanner! xoxo

mrs mediocrity said...

I love that last photo, too! Just gorgeous! And I was already smiling at the others.

You have to love it when they do sweet little things for you, right? It's kind of cool that he gave you something that will have you re-living your life together.

TnTConnect said...

What an amazing husband! Thanks for sharing the photos, they are great.

Mental P Mama said...

Weeping in Wilton tonight. This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. And I know you know that.

Deb said...

love the photos....your hubby is quite the charachter...

The Village Queen said...

How fun! And yea we all are alot older! How cool you worked at Iron Spring, that was the dream barn when I was in horse eaons ago. Lucky you all. And your hubs is way cute!

Bluebird49 said...

Oh my gosh! This is what happens when we go out for a night or two? OMG! I so love these pictures you scanned. Could he possibly have known how much fun your readers could get out of your old pictures? If so--good for him--if not--oh well--you done good, Andrew! I just love them all--the one of you two--is so sweet. And the one of you in your new chair--so cute--and the one of you and the boys-- reminds me of--I can't think of what. Sort of an old picture taken back in the 1930s or so---and it's just so beautiful!

I can't imagine how he knew to get the scanner...but I'm so glad he did!

Hilary said...

Kate these are such lovely photos. What an incredibly thoughtful gift, including that sweet presentation.

Talia said...

I love that you shared you pictures and history with us.

Jo said...

Katy, those photos are exquisite...! What a gorgeous family. :-)

Jo said...

And by the way ... you haven't changed a bit...! What's your secret?

Lili said...

My favorite ones are the one with your husband showing the horse and the one with you in the field with your little darlings! I hope you show us more of these too. What a beautiful creative side your husband has to set that all up like that as a surprise for you. xoxo ~Lili

RURAL said...

Those photos sure pull at my heartstrings.....gorgeous. What a wonderful surprise he has gotten you.

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

Kanelstrand said...

Beautiful memories! I am loving your photos! I want more!!!

Deb said...

I love the photo of you and your boys! Do you have this photo on display in your home? If not, it damn better be!
And the hubby has a great sense of humor!!!

thotlady said...

I simply love the photo with you and your sons. The color is amazing and the three of you...precious.

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

oh, these are beautiful photos!!.. and Iron Spring Farm!! WOW...

love your favorite too... awesome.

linda said...

very sweet! Love the "vintage" photos..I just kept saying "awwwww..." Wonderful gifties friom your husband. Can't wait to see more pics!

(GBS) NewsFromTheHill said...

I'm so behind!!!
LOVE the old photos! Mine would be about the same vintage and I'm excited to see how well they came out after scanning!
Did you scan to your hard drive or to CD's? I've been needing to get one of these for the longest time and didn't know what to look for.
The ability to do the negatives would be wonderful!
What model did your husband chose?

Anonymous said...

Dee from Tennessee

Oh.My.Gosh. I absolutely LOVE all the photos......LOVE them. Oh...the one of you with the kids.....you've got to have it framed/whatever!! And tell your husband he has hit another homerun out of the ballmark with the wooden signs....esp good ol' George's sign!! Have a blessed weekend with the man you love~

A New England Life said...

Kate, these are beautiful pictures of you and your family! It's no wonder you fell for your husband, he was a looker ; )

Anonymous said...

I love old photos! I don't have to know people to enjoy their photos :) Several years ago we "splurged" and purchased the HP 8180 wireless all-in-one because it had the built-in attachment for slides, negatives and will scan photos as well. I love it even though I have never taken the time to scan slides or negatives. I have scanned some of our parents' photos and pages from old yearbooks. I may have to take a week's vacation and dedicate it to scanning slides and negatives!

Linda (GillLink)

Unknown said...

It is a project I am not sure I want to tackle either but probably should....my favorite, is the last one with you and your two children. It is a classic, and looks to me that a story is behind this one...or..I will just make one up...
There once was a gal who lived on a farm, who had 2 wonderful children and a husband with charm...her life was complete and she never complained but there was a secret she couldn't confess....