Summer Reading & Watching

Hello, been awhile, hasn't it?  That's what happens when school holidays occur.  One gets relaxed, too relaxed in my case.  The days fly by and start to blur and before you know.  Ahhhh 2 weeks till Term 1, must get this ready for shop, must get this ready for son's school.  So of course the relaxation just floats away and one is dragged back to reality.  However saying that, I thought I would share what I have been reading / watching in my summer break.

Reading

Is It Just Me? by Miranda Hart   
I discovered Miranda Hart a couple of years ago, with her sitcom, 'Miranda'.  She's fun, quirky and real. I found the book a great pick me up, a laugh out loud kind of book.  I would love to meet Miranda, but seeing I'm so short, I'm afraid she would tower over me. :-)

Paper: An Elegy by Ian Sansom
I fully admit one of the reasons why I purchased this book was because of the cover, it's so tactile. Sansom covers the history of paper from the 7th Century to the e-book.  I am only partly way through it, but enjoying it all the same.

Watching

Who Do You Think You Are?  UK Series 3
As you have read in past posts, I enjoy researching my husbands family tree.  So of course an avid watcher of the WDYTYA series.  I had missed a few of the episodes, so I thought I would catch up on Julia Sawalha and Robert Lindsay.

#reverb12 Day 2 Your most significant spend

What was your most significant expenditure in 2012?

It doesn't have to be necessarily the biggest expenditure, 

just the one with the most impact.

What difference has it made to your life?

Kat, you ask some difficult questions. :-) :-)

So I thought, maybe that book or music I purchased many months ago, or was it that renovation we did just recently? Then I thought, it was the archival products for the family history which I purchased from Zetta Florence at the beginning of 2012.

I decided last year to research my husbands family tree (my mother is researching my side of the tree).  Little did I realise that it would take me on a huge journey.  Not only did I learn more about my husband and his family past. But I also learnt more about England and it's quaint villages, made contact with complete strangers who are VERY distant relatives to my husband. Also just learnt about genealogy and the skills that one learns.

I am really enjoying doing this research, I feel like a little detective.  The expenditure of the products has brought all this wealth of history together.  Finding an archival box big enough for a wedding dress was a happy moment to.

If you want to read more #reverb12 posts, click here

Vintage Christmas Cards

Well it's exactly a month till Christmas Day.  Where has this year gone!?  To celebrate a month to go, I thought I would share a couple of vintage Christmas greeting cards that I discovered in the family history archives. 

Kardonia Series UK (Circa 1960s)

Diplomat Greetings UK (Circa 1960s)

Note: The Greeting is printed on puffed up material, to give a 3D effect)

Blogtoberfest Day 4 - Digging up the Family

Sounds awful doesn't it? Digging up the family, but that's what has been happening, but in a digital and paper sense. :-) :-)

My mum has been researching our family tree for a long time now, she has gone as far back as the 1600's. I on the other hand decided to research my husbands family tree, and only started last year.  With the help of his mother, I was able to obtain a basic family tree from her memory.  What a memory she had, she certainly wasn't bad with the dates.  I wish I had that skill. 

To cut a long story short we have obtained all the family history photos from my husbands side of the family.  And I have had the great joy of researching, comparing dates, archiving photos, war letters and even a wedding dress!  I have been storing the items in proper archival boxes purchased from Zetta Florence located here in Fitzroy.  I still have much to do!

It is so true what they say, 'Genealogy is addictive'. I have learned about Workhouses in the England, wars that I didn't know much about, learning to read 1800s census and so on.  One can feel like a detective trying to find out the truth. Thanks to the Internet, the search has been made much easier and being a member of Ancestry.com of course is the icing on the cake for my research.

Here are a few photos I would like to share with you, from both sides of the family.