So you want to be a researcher?

never-more-certain:

emilyonthewall:

Quote from Jennifer Worth’s Call the Midwife, a most excellent book.

Oh my goodness save me, THIS IS SO CUTE.

Summer holiday with the Turners. (I don’t think I’ll be having a summer break this year, so a girl can daydream.)

Let’s say… Timothy and Shelagh are in the garden, investigating butterflies.

Let’s say… Timothy, clever lad that he is, remarks that the last time they looked at butterflies, neither the butterfly nor Shelagh were well, and casually adds, by way of conversation, how glad he is that she recovered.

Let say… Shelagh then can’t do anything but spend a good minute smiling fondly at the boy.

Then, the whole gang formerly of Nonnatus house, and various consorts, make their presence known through a chorus of bicycle bells and scooter horns. There are somehow enough paper straws to go around, but a couple of marmalade jars are employed where glasses are lacking.

Shelagh brings out some snacks, and Patrick fetches a new toy he came across at a fair, a Diana camera. It is really just a toy, all plastic, but it does work, he says. My colleague in radiology looked at a negative, and said that it leaked light, but the overall effect is like a dream. (We would discuss it as lomography.)

And now, I think we have impinged on their festivities enough, so let’s let the gang get on with it…

Wonderful photographs by Anna Larsson.

*raises hand* Mind if we return to the topic of Dr and Mrs Turner go to Torquay for their honeymoon? I know there’s a distinct lack of palm-trees on these pictures, the observation of which I recall as a wish of Sister Bernadette’s, but let’s pretend they - the trees - are hiding around the corner.

Yes, the styling, hair at least, is veering a little towards the 1940s, but it’s so beautiful that I cannot be arsed to care about a slight historical inaccuracy for speculation/inspiration purposes. The (sometimes not-applicable) muted colours, the high-waists, the textures, and the accessories. Ugh.

Outrageously blissful photographs by Martina Ankarfyr.

thinking/feeling

And everything that makes the heart beat must be hushed

 # THIS SCENE IS SO PROFOUND FOR HOW TINY IT IS # IT SPEAKS INFINITE VOLUMES ABOUT THE KIND OF PERSON SHELAGH IS AT HER CORE # SHE’S EARNEST AND LOVING AND DEVOTED # AND IF SHE SEES A NEED SHE WILL FILL IT # NO QUESTIONS ASKED # BUT THIS TIME IS DIFFERENT # THIS IS AN UNSIGNED LOVE NOTE # HE WON’T KNOW WHO DID IT BUT HE’LL KNOW THAT SOMEONE THOUGHT ENOUGH OF HIM TO DO IT # HE’LL SUSPECT AND PONDER IT # BUT IN THE END HE WON’T KNOW FOR SURE # THE NEEDLE PULLS NEW THREAD THROUGH THE SAME OLD BUTTON # BRINGING IT BACK TO LIFE-TO PURPOSE # JUST AS SHELAGH BRINGS NEW LOVE AND PURPOSE TO TURNER - detectivejane

(via mainlylaura)

Oi Sammi, over here.

“Just the way I like it.”

So, I decided I would attempt to kit out the Turner household some more. You don’t have to join - you’re welcome to scroll on; but if you want to stay, that’s also nice.

Dinnerware in the 1950s. It is unlikely that the Turners would have this much, but I think it’s just mis-matched enough to pass as the belongings of an over-worked doctor - since Shelagh probably won’t have any to contribute, yet. I bet the “nice” china is stashed away in a box in the shed, away from young, curious hands. Most pottery from the 1950s were either bone china or ceramics. The china would be all glazed, while some ceramic-ware would be glazed on top, and matte underneath. Popular decorations include patterns around the rim, and contrasting coloured glazes on the inside/outside or top/underneath of the dinnerware. This was also the time of bakelite (early plastic) cutlery, that would do best from not being left too close to the hob.

Attributed to Dr Turner’s penchant for being fascinated with newfangled technology: a Hoover. Not a vacuum cleaner, but an actual Hoover. It was an American import, and given its slogan from 1954 “Hoover fine appliances around the house….around the world”, the 1950s was the decade for exports. This model is The Constellation, a radical new design that could “walk on air”, i.e. it used it’s exhaust air to render itself more mobile, not needing castors. “Big, new idea”-y enough for the good doctor, no?

Finally, telephony in the 1950s: as we can see from the show, the absolute majority of the clientele of Nonnatus House run outside to use a pay-phone when a woman goes into labour. Telephones had yet to become a household staple, at least for the relatively poor, but I imagine the “local doctor” would have one for ease of access. Phones of this model were traditionally made from bakelite, and gradually took over the market from Candlestick phones, which were still first choice during the war. So, this phone does have its phone number up front, and it isn’t a British one; at the time, British phone numbers were easier to remember as they actually featured area-codes based on the name of your parish, e.g. STO for Stonegrove, so it wasn’t “just a number”. The phone here is coincidentally furnished with a stash of note-paper on top for taking down the details of your patients. Or your parents’ patients if/because they are too busy looking for perfectly appropriate ties.

(I love the wallpaper behind the telephone. Just loud enough.)

(Sources forthcoming)

Look at him. Especially in the top photo. All the emotions, with an overlay of queasy, knowing he will legitimately be able to touch her, but in a context that is a million years away from the ideal.

(Today’s sneaky work-time post, I guess.)

shelagh-turner:

Still reveling in the beauty that is Shelagh and Patrick’s love story. There are no jealous rivals, sour exes, or even dramatically impossible circumstances. Everything is simple and understated, and yet their story is every bit as engaging as it is profound.

(via never-more-certain)

never-more-certain:

mainlylaura:

amaliasmix:

I just adore these two, ridiculous amounts.

Two great moments of tension, separately.

Patrick is so wrapped up in Shelagh he can’t even eat his biscuit. He’s got it baaaaaad.

And it is a ginger nut to boot. Takes it to a whole new level.