23 March, 2020
Reading coffee grounds is a tradition from my country, Cyprus. We used to call out of the window in the mornings before breakfast and take it in turns to gather round in each other’s houses. Now we get together here and it’s become a daily ritual again. We always use white Turkish coffee cups like this one, as the coffee patterns have to show up clearly. After we drink the coffee, we swirl the liquid round and flip the coffee cup into the saucer and leave it for a few minutes so that the sediment slides down and makes the final pattern. Aliya read the grounds for me in this cup. She told me I was going to get some happy news and that I was going on a plane journey soon.
Return to Keepsakes gallery
23 March, 2020
I left Barbados in 1958 on the Surriento, an Italian migrant passenger liner. As I was boarding the ship, my grandmother gave me an embroidered handkerchief with something wrapped inside. She told me not to open it until I arrived in the mother country. I opened the little bundle on the train to Victoria and found this penny inside. I laughed because she had said to me that I would always have money! I’ve kept it in my purse ever since then, and this is the first time it’s left my hands in fifty-eight years.
Return to Keepsakes gallery
23 March, 2020
I bought these in Chincheros in Cuzco, Peru. They are made by Incan women from remote communities who sell them to help raise their families. I bought this little pottery bowl when I was a child living in Independencia in Peru and it came with me to England because it reminds me of my origins.
Return to Keepsakes gallery
