Category Archives: Times Past Challenge

First Day of School And Wave Goodbye To Dad

Posted on April 8, 2019 by Sherri Matthews

Always a fan of Irene Water’s ‘Times Past‘ posts, her latest memoir prompt, ‘School Uniforms’, brings back more than a few memories. As a tail-end baby boomer attending Primary School in 1960’s England, my school uniform was standard grey tunic, … Continue reading →

Posted in My Dad's Alcoholic Prison, Times Past Challenge | Tagged 1970's Fashion, Baby Boomer Generation, Family Memoirs, Fathers & Daughters, Memoir, Memoir writing prompt, Patform Shoes, prison, School Uniforms, Teenage Rebellion, Times Past Challenge | 85 Comments

Memoirs Of A Bicycle: Times Past

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Sherri Matthews

Driving to Gatwick Airport recently, road signs to long-ago places from my childhood like Horley, Reigate and Brighton, zoom by. But one town called Purley brings back just one clear memory. Not of the town itself; in fact, I have … Continue reading →

Posted in Times Past Challenge | Tagged Baby Boomer Generation, Bicycles, Childhood memories, Cycling, England, Family Life, Girl Guides, Hounds of the Baskervilles, Short Memoir, Suffolk, Surrey, Times Past Challenge | 100 Comments

Fire And Ice And Somerset Gin

Posted on March 19, 2018 by Sherri Matthews

Things have been busy at the Summerhouse lately, which is a good thing when it comes to writing and blogging, but not when two bungalows directly behind your newly purchased house go up in flames late one night, perilously close … Continue reading →

Posted in Cats, Family Life, Times Past Challenge | Tagged Airmail Letters, Baby Boomer Generation, Beast From The East, Black Cat in Snow Photos, Family Life, Family Memoirs, Friendship, Handwriting, House Fire, Newton House Gin, Somerset Snow Photos, Times Past Challenge | 113 Comments

Sixty Seconds’ Worth Of Distance Run

Posted on January 31, 2018 by Sherri Matthews

The sun disappeared taking last year with it, and I quietly prayed that this year would be better. Eyes straight, time to press on and write. This is THE year, right? The Summerhouse is five years old this month. Five … Continue reading →

Posted in Times Past Challenge, Writing | Tagged Blogging, California, Education, England, Family Life, Friendship, High School Graduation, Memoir, Poetry, Rudyard Kipling's If, Times Past Challenge, travel, writing | 75 Comments

My Sandwich Generation And The Song Of The Summerhouse

Posted on June 29, 2016 by Sherri Matthews

What has happened to my ‘Great’ Britain, my ‘United’ Kingdom? Last Thursday, over thirty million people voted in the EU referendum, out of which 52% voted to leave, 48% to stay. In Brexit’s thunderous wake, I, like millions of others, … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Affairs, Times Past Challenge | Tagged 3 Doors Down, Asperger's Syndrome, Baby Boomers, Brexit, California, Chinese Button Quails, EU, European Union, GardenChallenge, The Sandwich Generation, Times Past Challenge, United Kingdom, Voting | 150 Comments

Laundry: Women’s Work?

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Sherri Matthews

Robots are taking over the world. Well, maybe not completely, but they are doing a good job of it, according to a newspaper article I read recently. There are robots in bars in Japan serving cocktails (I wonder if they … Continue reading →

Posted in Childhood Memories, Family Memoirs, Times Past Challenge | Tagged Beatrix Potter, Childhood memories, Family Life, Grandmothers, Ironing, Laundry, Memoir, Robots, Times Past Challenge, Women's Work | 133 Comments

Times Past Challenge: Chinese Spoons And Eating Out

Posted on February 1, 2016 by Sherri Matthews

Dressed to impress in my purple and white midi dress my mother had made for me and patent leather, navy-blue sling back shoes with block heels, I walked into the dimly lit Chinese restaurant, mesmerised by the brightly coloured lanterns … Continue reading →