Jolly Rosie
(L-R: Hamish, Suzy, Ellie, me and Ying saluting with a tall ships background)
Don’t we all look jolly? Yesterday the five of us excitedly leapt into Hamish’s car and he drove us to Greenock – an export town on the sea near Glasgow. All weekend, the vessels participating in the Tall Ships Race have been docked there and celebrations abound. We were all raring to go and whilst Eleanor stopped at a nautical scarf, I trumped her with my rather smart knitted sailor jumper. In the harbour, there must have been well over thirty tall ships, all of them with expanses of robust rigging, sails, superbly polished brass and tarred wooden decks. They were beautiful. I think I must have seen them before as a child, perhaps at Sunderland or in Liverpool, but I’m sure I was quite young (any ideas, mum?). More pictures will follow, but this one is one of my favourites, partly because it is a complete fake.
Around the ships and the esplanade area, there were hundreds of stalls selling anything from greasy, hot food to fruit and vegetables, silver jewellery, official merchandise, sailor hats, it went on and on. This one was a Stena ferries tent which claimed to offer free photographs of families at the Tall Ships and then actually did. We were all given a copy of this photograph, completely free of charge which baffled all the cynics in the group. I favour this picture (although it was taken in front of a ‘green screen’ and we chose a background) because it was an unrushed image of the entire group and we all look like we’re having a great day. You can see a slight green tinge to Hamish and Suzy’s hair if you look closely – also that Hamish’s elbow is sticking out of the background – you can see the pole holding the green screen up!
– Today Rosie is drawing ships (and parts of) and having a Chinese meal with friends –
