Monday 3 December 2012

Baby Faces blogfest

I almost forgot about this blogfest hosted by the very lovely Trisha at WORD + STUFF. But better late than never, eh?


  1. Between December 2nd and 3rd, post a pic of yourself as a baby, and/or;
  2. Tell us a story about when you were a baby (no doubt you can't quite remember it yourself, but you've probably heard some stories from other members of your family).
You can choose to do one or the other or both, depending on your mood on the day(s). ;)

Well, all my baby pictures are in my parents' house (the only one I can recall right now is of me in the bath, holding a rubber duck that is for some reason pink. I look surprised at having my picture taken), but I can share a story. I must have been two or three at the time this happened, so slightly more toddler than baby - hope that's OK!

We had just moved into a new house - the one that I grew up in until the age of fifteen. My parents' friends had come round with their two young daughters, and thanks to me, us three kids mysteriously disappeared. At the time the house was in somewhat of a state of disarray, with most floors having no carpets, antique wallpaper peeling off and so on. My dad took twelve years to get it perfect and then sold it. My sister's room was at the top of the house, up quite a narrow staircase, and was next to the attic, with a tiny door connecting the two (think Alice in Wonderland). I'm not sure I'd even been up in the room before. As you'd expect, us kids were allowed to wander off and play while the adults chatted. I ended up going up these narrow stairs, which were probably quite difficult for young kids, with the two young visitors in tow (they were twins, possibly). And then, of course, the "magic door" which seemed just the right size for us was extremely inviting. I got it open, and found a dark space beyond. I may or may not have found the light switch, but if not, my eyes must have adjusted, because I ended up at the other side of the attic having crossed a lot of wooden beams and taking care not to fall into the "yellow sea" (just as well, because this was foam insulation that I would have fallen straight through and into the room below). We played in there quite happily and quietly for a good while, but our absence was soon noted, and it probably took a good half an hour for the adults to find us and lift us out of the attic. Just as well none of us broke our necks! Of course, following the incident, my dad fitted a lock to that little door - spoilsport. It was childlike exploration, but there may also have been an element of showing off in front of two girls!

Well, there you have it. Sorry the details are a little vague... be sure to check out Trisha's blog to visit the other participants!

A quick note - sorry I'm still not getting around much to your blogs. My laptop has suffered a mishap, and until it can be fixed or replaced I'm using my stepdaughter's, so my online time is limited. Andrew still has his casts on, and I'm spending a lot of time with him. We've just had two inches of snow here, so it's debatable whether he'll get to school today - a shame, since his sister has her work experience there this week! I've got a few blog tour posts/cover reveals booked this month, and of course I'll honour those, but I miss you guys. Hope everyone's doing well!

13 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Sorry about your laptop!

Shell Flower said...

Computer problems are so painful to us writers. I hope you get yours worked out soon. Your story is hilarious. I bet your parents were pretty freaked out for a while there. We had a similar attic at my teenage house and my sister and I would use it to sneak in and out as it led to another room over the garage by the back door. One night we snuck some friends (one of them a boy)in this way, but then my friend stuck her foot through the insulation causing the ceiling downstairs to cave in. We made the boy stay in the car in freezing temps until we could get rid of him in the morning. Luckily, my parents didn't realize the extent of our sneaking around and weren't too mad.

Morgan said...

We've missed you, Nick!

cleemckenzie said...

Great story . . . not the one about your computer, the other one! Where's your picture? Here I posted mine and totally embarrassed myself and you didn't. Not fair.

JeffO said...

Fun story, Nick, thanks for sharing. Good luck with your computer woes, and hope Andrew is recovering well.

Suzanne Furness said...

Sending 'Get Well Soon' wishes to your laptop. We're lost without them aren't we? Hope the snow clears for you quickly.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Boo about the laptop! Definitely lucky you didn't fall in the yellow sea, but quite an adventure! Who doesn't want to explore the attic?

Shannon at The Warrior Muse

Jeff Hargett said...

What little man doesn't like leading the little ladies on an expedition? Hope your laptop miraculously recovers (or that a replacement miraculously appears)... Christmas is nearing... it's the time of miracles, right?

Nicole said...

Ha! Childhood adventures are so great. I definitely would have gone through that attic door, too.

Trisha said...

Love the story - and yeah, I remember doing REALLY dangerous stuff as a kid that would give me hives now if I even contemplated it. Like climbing on really high scaffolding like a monkey, etc.

Thanks so much for participating in my blogfest! :)

Trisha said...

BTW, that house sounds like it was awesome! I would totally have gone through that little door too.

Carrie Butler said...

Thanks for sharing your story, Nick! I would've loved to have seen this little door. :)

P.S. I feel your pain! My computer went kaput last week.

Lisa Regan said...

That's crazy, stories like that, where at the time you were too young to even know you were in danger! Glad no one was harmed! Hope Andrew is recovering well!