Family History

 I've carefully avoided going down the rabbit hole of family history for many years. I was fairly sure that once I started I'd be hooked. I might have been right.

Since going through my mother's memorabilia I've spent most of the last few days trying to organise what I found there ready to hand on to any family member who might be interested. I already had a box with photos and other information that my mother had collected which is sitting in my living room but it isn't in any real order and it's been one of those things I've been intending to work on at some time. Now I'm in the process of some serious decluttering it's probably that time.

Some years ago a relative arranged a family reunion of the descendants on one side of my maternal great great grandparents so I do know something about that side of the family - at least back as far as my great great great grandfather who was born in 1774 - that's the only fact I know about him so it's just begging for future research - and for now I'm not heading there.

I knew that his son, his wife and oldest son, were among the earliest British settlers in what was then known as the Swan River Colony - theirs is one of the family bibles I found in the boxes. I decided  - while trying to not get trapped into historical research too much - hey, I have a degree in history so this was always going to be risky - that I should at least make out a direct line of descent from my ancestors to my children and grandchildren as well as what items each box now contains - and because I couldn't help myself I also thought I should check out a few dates on offical documents. It'd only take a little bit of time, wouldn't it.

Four days later and the line of descent is finished and - let's be honest here - I've had a lovely time trawling through passenger lists, censuses and other documents about the early days of what is now Western Australia, many of which were really not relevant but fascinating distractions. Given how carefully records were kept I was surprised - well, maybe not - at how many errors there were in the official documents. I was following the paper trail of both my ancestors and my great great grandfather's younger sister and her family who came here a month or so later - they nearly died as the ship they were on was wrecked just as it reached the colony (but that's another story) - and the discrepancies amazed me. Names are wrong - Hannah is Anna in an early census document for example, sometimes a name is spelled multiple different ways - in different places there was Harriet, Haryet and Harriett all referring to the same person - while dates of birth and even places of birth are at times wildly incorrect. The family bible was my saviour in this because there everything is listed clearly and I was able to put together the information I needed.

The trouble is - and I was afraid this would happen -  that I'm now itching to get into the box of documents in my living room and put them in order, too. I'd like to think I could do a little of this every day but, honestly, it wouldn't go that way, would it. I'd just keep finding things that are interesting and follow them and I simply have too much that really must be done at the moment. So, for now, they will just have to stay where they are and I'll have to resist the temptation to lift the lid and have a poke around. Sigh. At least I know where everything is now.

For Your Pleasure

 a bearded iris in my garden. I found this beauty when I went outside to hang out some washing this morning - it's been raining or cloudy all week so sunlight's been in short supply. Since my recent surgery I have been strictly forbidden to do pretty much anything in the garden so a flower like this, capturing the light, is a lovely way to lift the spirits. The good news is that, as of now,  I've been cleared to get out and garden to my heart's content so - as long as there are gaps in the rain - the garden is where you'll find me for the next few days. 

Yesterday - and Today

 My first mistake yesterday was in getting up. The second was staying out of bed. I'll just give you a few examples of why pulling the rugs over my head, stuffing my fingers in my ears and singing "La la la la" loudly would have proved far more sensible.

I got up and wandered out into the kitchen where I immediately felt crunching underfoot. The night before I had torn open a sachet of sweetener, spilling it on one of the benches and the floor in front of it  - as I thought. We'd cleaned up but unfortunately without the main light on hadn't noticed it had spread rather more widely due to the fans we had on to heat the house Not a great start but after twenty or so minutes of sweeping, washing and wiping the kitchen was again pristine. Phew - and I hadn't even had my coffee yet. 

The next step was to feed and medicate my cat who needs daily meds due to a health problem. I got everything ready and took it into the laundry where he eats - and the smell of cat pee was overwhelming. Somehow he'd missed his litter tray, hit the wall behind it and drenched it and the floor around it with a copious flood. Another twenty minutes later and order was restored. Still hadn't had my coffee. Dammit.

We finally got to have breakfast and I went to the computer to pay some bills. The bank website wouldn't open. Okay so I'll try again in a few minutes I thought. Nope. And again. Zilch. Again - nada. by now it was 10:30 AM and I won't tell you about the rest of my day except to say it did not improve at all.

I have to confess that I was more than a little wary about this morning - but it turned out to be far more interesting and enjoyable.

The kitchen was clean, my coffee was delicious and when I went to the bank site it opened and I could pay my bills. Pisces went off to get the car serviced and I decided to tackle a couple of boxes that had been sitting in my office since my father passed away some years ago. I had packed one at the time so I knew it held some family history information and memorabilia that I thought needed better storage away from the ravages of silverfish which are far too common around here. My decluttering has freed up a lot of plastic storage tubs so this seemed a good solution and I had a lovely time going through all this. Nothing is particularly valuable so there'll be no going to our local equivalent of Antiques Roadshow and finding we're suddenly rich but it tells a part of the story of one side of our family and that's important.

The other box I knew nothing about - it had just been handed to me already sealed up when we did the final clear out - and it turned out to be full of surprises.

What was in it had obviously belonged to my mother. Some of it I remembered from my childhood but some was a complete mystery - like the collection of teaspoons collected in their travels. There was a brooch I had never seen her wear - a shiny red bird completely at odds with her taste, a locket with a photo of my father aged about twenty, assorted brass paper weights, trinket containers, the glass beer mug in the photo on the left - Mum never drank beer in her life, some tea cups and saucers from a tea set that had belonged to her aunt according to the note with it (the cup and saucer in the rather blurry photo are from that), a toy china tea pot she had as a child, and some fittings for an old Aladdin lamp, plus odd souvenirs. 

There was also a whole collection of odd china and old fashioned cut glassware  (the glass sauce jug with its saucer shown below are just some examples) like those I remember from visiting an elderly great aunt as a child. Aunty was a traditionalist and visits to her house were like stepping back in history - to a time of kerosene lamps for lighting, a Coolgardie safe to keep things cool and with no refrigeration meat preserved in brine. It was fascinating and a little daunting I have to say but I am glad to have experienced something that most of my contemporaries haven't.  I already have an Aladdin lamp inherited from her so the fittings may yet come in handy. 

The oddest things were a woman's lace decorated cotton nightdress and knee length underpants. Whose they were and why they were kept I have no idea. There were notes with some of the other items, too, but not with most so, important as they must have been to her, I know nothing about them.  

Despite the gaps in my knowledge it was a lovely way to spend a day and I intend to use some of the china and glassware. It seems a bit sad to leave it all packed away again or to send it off to an op shop. I'll have a talk to the younger family members, too, and we can decide what should be done with it all.  Who knows some of them may find it as interesting as I do.