LOOKING BACK AT THE PAST

When my Grandmother and her sister Aunty Rosa died, I had the sad task of clearing their homes.  Obviously a lot of their possessions had to be recycled and some discarded.  One of the things I did hold on to - very tightly - were their photograph albums, with photos of them when they were teenagers in the beginning of the 1900's, pictures of my Grandad in the first world war and others of my more extended family.

They were shortly added to when my Mother who is in her 90's decided to have a clearout and we found more of her family and that of  my fathers.

Now - what to do with them all and who were all the people in them?
It seemed a shame just to keep them in albums in a cupboard for posterity, particularly as other members of the family started to show an interest.  So I gathered them all together, named those I could and scanned them and sent them off to Tesco's to be printed into a wonderful hardback book.
This has been an overwhelming success and now I have had a huge amount of photos and information from other parts of the family, which I want to sort through and use to make some new books .

The interesting thing about this pastime is the things you unearth and the mysteries you have to solve.

Nanna and Aunty had two sisters and three brothers, two of whom died when they were in their teens in 1910 and 1911 of Tuberculosis.  I wanted to add them to my books and asked the older members of the family for their names. 
Tommy and Robbie - to a man they all came back with the same answer.  So off  I went in search of more info.  Well Tommy was there, but no sign anywhere of Robbie.
At last I found him - Henry George Annis Goodman - not a Robbie or anything that could be shortened to Robbie is sight.

Now I would have put this down as just an oddity in the family and there was probably some reason for the nickname, but it has happened again.

My Mum who was christened Eva Lilian, is and has always been called Peggy.
The only time she has ever been called Eva is on official documents and for a time at school.
No one knows how or why she became Peggy - even her Mum and Dad couldn't tell me, so it's going to be a real struggle for any poor soul who is trying to sort out our family tree in the future.

Now I'm hooked on this family tree thing - I've started cataloging all my own family photos and adding the all important names to them and make the more memorable ones into year books - small ones - not too much clutter ;0)

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A RANDOM SLANT ON MINECRAFT

Minecraft is the name of the game in our household at the moment.
I find it quite baffling that a game with graphics that remind me very clearly of the first computer games that came out in the 70's and 80's, should be so popular with the kids of today.

That being said, I have noticed in the past that the most popular - and fought over - toy in our house is a 40 year old Fisher Price cash register.  No super duper electrical motor, no batteries, no nothing except imagination, and I suppose that's where Minecraft comes into its own.

So...... as it's getting more than a little nippy out there and I have one young lad who is currently obsessed with the game, out came the trusty knitting needles and a Minecraft Creeper Hat and Sweater emerged.

I needed wool that looked pixelly in multiple greens and Stylecraft Wondersoft Merry Go Round in peacock was the best I could manage, but it does seem to have done the trick.

The pattern, as my knitting friend pointed out isn't exactly rocket science, but knitting the sweater was my worst nightmare - I can't do random.  I start off with good intentions but after an inch or two it's like nails on a blackboard.  It's the one thing I'm really OCD about.  I just like my patterns nice and uniform and even. Sad isn't it. ;0)

So now it's back to nice non random, sit and watch telly, maximum effect with minimum effort Arans for me!

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