Recent Reading
I've never watched The Midsomer Murders tv series but recently the programme was in the news (something to do with plaques?) and it made me wonder if the series is based on books. It is - well there are at least half a dozen books- so I thought I would try one and I enjoyed it enough to want to read more of the series.
Every so often I treat myself to a recently published hardback book. As you will all know I do enjoy visiting Cathedrals and churches and I also enjoy books by Christopher Somerville. I really enjoyed the book where he visits 21 cathedrals around the country - what I really liked was the fact that the items he tends to focus on finding in the cathedrals are the sorts of things I would look for myself. He chats to many people connected with the buildings such as deans, tour guides and stone masons. A really interesting read.
This was a re-read - to any one interested in church crawling I would really recommend this book as you can learn such a lot. It is the best general guide to churches I have.
Another Nicky Galena book and another one I loved. I am dreading reaching the end of this series!
The second Joanna Piercy novel - I did find some of the subject matter in this book a little distressing but it is a very atmospheric story.
The Wesley Peterson books just get better and better so many thanks to Rosie from Corners of My Mind who inspired me to try this author (as well as many others!).
I have been waiting eagerly for the next book to come out in paperback. It tells the story of the author's quest to search for the 50 species of wild flower in Britain he is yet to see. Beautifully written and enthralling. Did he succeed? You will have to read the book to find out.
I read most of H E Bates' books many many years ago. Again I never watched the tv series but I did think I would try re-reading this novel. To be honest I am not really sure about the book - at the end of the first chapter I thought if I hear the word "perfick" one more time I will scream! After buying the kindle version I eventually found my H E Bates omnibus so I wont' need to buy any more of the kindle books if I do decide to read any more!
This is a very short book on Anglesey - I did find a few more items of interest but preferred the longer book I read earlier this year which, although repetitive, did give me ideas of many places to visit later in the year.
Garden Update
Sadly the Blue Tit chicks are now down to three but those three finally seem to be thriving.
The first two photos show when there were still five - sorry for the poor quality - it is not easy to take photos of the tv and light was low
The final three. I have still only seen one bird entering the nest box so still suspect something has happened to one of the adults. Usually when both are feeding you quite regularly see both in the box at the same time.
I do love this time of the year in the garden and in the countryside with all the fresh green growth.
In the garden Azaleas and Clematis are flowering and
Forget-me-nots flower for ages.
I was rather annoyed with B the other day as for some unknown reason he decided to chops the buds and flowers off the sage and majoram which are so loved by bees and butterflies and prune the herbs. Luckily thyme escape the cull and the flowers are constantly being visited by honey bees and Early Bumble Bees in particular.
The climbing hydrangea by one of the clematis plants is now flowering as are
Rhododendrons. I know the latter are very invasive in the wild but in the garden they are full of Tree Bumble Bees collecting nectar.
The mini wild flower meadow is now flowering with Meadow Buttercups, Red Campion, Common Sorrel, Yellow Rattle, Ribwort Plantain and Tufted Vetch. More species will flower as the summer approaches - Ox-eye Daisy, Corncockle and Wild Carrot.
Yellow Rattle is really spreading and very slowly controlling the couch grass although as you can see from this photo it has not yet reached the grass in the foreground.
When we first moved in we had a large vegetable patch at the top of the garden. But we found once D and E came along it was hard to find the time to look after it and it also coincided with a time when foxes and cats were constantly digging up the plants and leaving undesirable deposits behind! So in the end B replaced the patch with an area of mini woodland and the mini meadow as seen above.
However, in recent years we have started to grow vegetables again though not in such vast quantities. D's runner beans have now been planted out using the first of the homemade compost.
I discovered two Large Red Damselflies mating in the porch last week. The pond dipping net bought the day before was able to catch them and release them without harm.
Family History
The House Clearance Company removing items from my mum's house a few weeks ago found this album of very old (Victorian?) family portraits and saved it for me.
I have no idea whether the photos are from my mum's or my dad's side of the family although I suspect the former. The photographic studios featured are located all above the place - Edinburgh, Dublin, Hanley, London etc. I know from past family history research that dad's family lived in Broseley Shropshire for centuries before moving to Herefordshire a few hundred years ago so the photos don't really seem to be linked to those areas. Mum's family history I have never traced. Hopefully, when the estate is finally settled and perhaps when the summer is over I might undertake more family history studies and perhaps sign up with one of the genealogy sites.
A few of the photographic studios - details are on the back of the cards and I have been given a website address from Kevin (thank you) on Twitter where I can do some research on the studios.
There are dozens of photos - sadly none, apart from one, are labelled - here are just a few.
This is the only writing in the book and I have so far failed to decipher it!!
Of course, there is always the possibility that the photos are not family but the album came into mum and dad's possession somehow? At the moment I have no idea so it is all a bit of a mystery. I do have a box of very old photos - mainly my father's so it is possible when I find the time to go through it I may find photos of the people who were in the album if they are from Dad's side.
18 comments:
i would suspect that raising three chicks alone is a worthy feat. Most songbirds have a very difficult time without a partner to help and frequently abandon the nest, or quickly re-pair with an unmated bird, who will sometimes assume parental duties and help to raise the young.
Your flowers are so pretty, and I think our gardens are at their best this time of year. Sad about the chicks, but it's nature's way and I suppose better three healthy ones to survive than lose the entire brood. I hope you can find out something about the photos, as I am slightly in the same boat as you but with loose ones, and not as many. Oh, and I still have the attic to tackle!
David Gascoigne - Thank you - I am just hoping so much that the 3 survive to fledging.
Rustic Pumpkin - Thank you and yes I agree about it being better to have 3 alive rather than losing them all.
Thanks too re: the photos. The photos are not going to be easy - even the loose ones unless they are relatives I remember. On top of that my son insisted on bringing back dozens and dozens of boxes of slides all have to be gone through :( Although they will be photos of places and people within my lifetime.
Good Luck with the attic! I don't think there was any stuff up there at mum's as mum had it re-insulated about 15 years ago. I did ask the house clearance people to check it but have no idea if they did so it is something I will have to do well before completion date :( I have never seen so much stuff crammed in wardrobes, drawers, cupboards etc. - I don't think my parents threw anything away :( Sadly, I probably didn't go through it all as well as I should have done so have probably lost a lot of interesting stuff :(
Your garden flowers are lovely and such a variety of them. I'm glad there are still three blue tit chicks, I hope they fledge soon. Whichever parent is left is doing a good job feeding them. Like you I love reading Joy Ellis, Kate Ellis and Pricilla Masters especially her Joanna Piercy books. The photo album is wonderful. I googled George Henshall and it appears he was at Broad Street Hanley from about 1868 until about 1872. By 1880 he had moved to premises in Corporation Street. So that will give an approximate date for that photo but won't of course help with identification of the person. I have a box of old photos that came to me from Mum's cousin in Canada so I know they are family but some I can't identify at all:)
Rosie - Thanks so much. I suspect at least at week until fledging.
I really do thank you re: the authors as I would never have read them if it hadn't been for your book lists. Whenever I want to find a new author that is the first place I go! :)
Thank you so much for googling and find out the info re: George Henshall - as you say gives a date for the photo. I think my dad's family were still in Broseley then so seems a long way to go for a photo unless of course photographic studios were few and far between. The other thing is that the photos are all of a different people by the look of it. Once the remaining jobs to do with the estate are done (mainly in connection with the relative that was living there :( ) I will have to get out the box of loose photos and sort them out in case they contain clues. So many branches of the family it could be - dad's father's side, dad's mother's side and mum's side. It does make you wish people had labelled things with names and dates!!! Still I have always enjoyed problem solving and mysteries so will give me plenty to do! :)
I have my fingers crossed the three remaining chicks manage to survive and fledge. Your garden is looking lovely, I suddenly have lots of Forget-me-nots flowering this year, self seeded it seems! I've added the Peter Marren book to my wish list!
I find the photographs just fascinating, I do hope you are able to find out who they are, it's going to take some doing I think!! I've been researching family history through the Ancestry website and i'm totally hooked!
Another lovely post Caroline. We were in France without internet so have been unable to communicate until now.
I have noticed that part of my little patch is turning into a meadow what with tall Buttercups, Borage, Nettle and Goosegrass!
Pam - Thank you - I think our forget me nots constantly self seed :)
I was wondering about joining Ancestry or there is another one called Find My Past. I think I can access at libraries via my library ticket so when I am ready I will go to local library and check them both out and see which is the best.
Toffeeapple - Thank you. I hope you had a good time in France :)
Your meadow sounds beautiful well the first two plants do - not sure about the second two although nettles will be good for certain caterpillars :)
Both cost after the free trial of course, I believe that Ancestry has a lot more information on it and is definitely easy to use though I might be biased because i've found out so much!
Pam - Thanks - OH had a month's free trial to Ancestry a few years ago but cancelled before he had to pay! I did find then some family tree stuff on my dad's mother's family. I will wait until estate settled and perhaps autumn is approaching as it may be more of a winter pastime. I know Solihull libraries subscribe and I have a library ticket but a) you need to be able to get on a computer and b) I don't think you can print information off very easily or if you can you have to pay??? Not sure. Also it is much easier if you can do the research at home and then you can access whenever you like. I might come back to you and ask more questions in a few months if you don't mind?
From what I have read in the past on the ancestry websites some are better for some things than others - all swings and roundabouts really. I do have the bare bones of my dad's father's side as my cousin years ago traced it all back to about 1570 so it would be a matter of finding more details and confirming his findings and possibly tracing from scratch mum's family tree (not easy as I do not have much information on her family and I know her father walked out on my mum's mother when mum was a few months old. Sadly, didn't find any birth, marriage or death certificates at the house :(
Fingers crossed your BT chick fledge. None of mine survived. I have a suspicion something happened to the female. Feeding continued with one adult but there was no overnight roosting in their last three nights.
Chasing the Ghost sounds interesting. I must look out for a copy.
Midmarsh John - Thank you and so very sorry to hear about your BT chicks. Rosie above mentions that she has seen on a birding forum that quite a few broods are struggling. We still have the 3 but one is huge and tends to dominate food supply :( Still not 100% sure here if we have lost one of the adults.
Chasing the Ghost is really good - I hadn't heard of most of the species he was seeking! but that doesn't really matter as he is such an entertaining writer.
Yes of course, feel free to ask. I think you do have to pay for printing 20 or 30p a sheet here in Leeds. Though if you do sign up for ancestry and you only pay for a short while you can still access all the information already found on your tree you just can't add any more information to it. If you have names on your Mum's side you should still be able to find details, sometimes the older certificates are there online or you can order copies too.
I started mine in the winter, it's a good time!
Pam - Thanks so much. I've been wondering whether to try Ancestry or FindmyPast? Will probably go to library and if they subscribe to both check them out that way. From what I can gather though if you want death,marriage or birth certificates you can only get them from Registry Office (or similar) and I think they are quite expensive.
I got my Family History file out a few days ago and did actually find a draft family tree I must have done years ago on mum's side which does have a few names on that I had forgotten - going back to my great grandmother so that is a start!
I am resisting temptation to join on a free trial anywhere at the moment as still busy with estate stuff and (if rain ever stops!) want to go out so will try and leave it until the winter. I also have a lot of photos and thousands of slides of dads to sort out so really I shouldn't get sidetracked at the moment!!
Don't worry if you miss this reply as when I come to start I'll ask you more questions then and thanks again :)
The registry office have started doing PDF copies which are around £7 or £8, that's a few pounds cheaper than getting copies in the post. I've only got the odd copy when i've been really stuck on something.
I must admit seeing your photos on twitter yesterday jogged my memory about this post!!
Pam Thanks so much - good news that the pdf copies are cheaper but as you say you wouldn't be buying many of them!
I spent £5 once years ago (forgot which site) to get a copy of my grandfather's service record WW1 and it covered all of one line!!!!!!!!!!!
Things hectic atm but when I get a minute will try and find mum and dad's wedding album (not sure which storage box!) and see if any of family faces remind me of the one photo I put up on twitter.
I think we have some tree sparrows nesting in one of our garden trees along with a blackbird :-)
CherryPie - Great news about your nesting activity :)
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