Rachael 1991

It seems very unfair on the other three children that the camera and colour film were coming in to their own when Rachael was small, so the family albums are full of pictures of her. I like this one, taken in the conservatory, reminding us what fashionable small girls were wearing in those days.

Here she is with her Mum on the steps of the Lodge Road conservatory. In the background is the yellow plastic box which held her many toys.

This is her a little later the same day wearing her tired look.

The important person in this picture is the little hand puppet, who was called Jacko. He, along with a second hand puppet called Rabbit, dates back to the 1950s. My brother also had two puppets, another Jacko - which was confusing - and one called Mrs Haylett.

So my Jacko must have been over 40 in 1991, a ripe old age for a well-used and well-travelled monkey. He had by this time lost an eye but was otherwise wearing remarkably well. He was still with us in Kilchoan but I have now lost track of him. Perhaps Rachael has him.