LIFE: 5th to 18th February.

The past two week have  been characterized by a “A Chorus of Coughs” as N. and I succumbed to another cold bug, just as were getting over the flu. So it has been back to hot drinks, hot water bottles and paracetamol -  with a good day followed by a zero energy day.  

Oh, for some sun and warmth,  instead of  temperatures currently n the  range 1-4C/32-38F.  

However let's be positive - we have had light coverings of snow, with more on the hills, but nothing like that in the Highlands. It is getting lighter and lighter in the mornings and into early evenings, and snowdrops are blooming  -  spring cannot be far behind1  

Blogging 
This seems to have taken over from family history research as my main hobby, especially as I am following the "52 Ancestors in 52 Days" weekly prompt.  I published:

Week 6 -  My Favourite Name - Jennet WEek 7 - A Valentine from Flanders Field

Plus two other posts which were so appropriate at this time:
The Sad Tale of a Valentine's Day Baby  

To mark the 100th anniversary of some women getting the vote: 
Suffragettes in the Borders 


Other highlights in a very quiet time: 

I gave a miss to the Walking Group and the Women's Institute Meeting  where the talk the "History of the Rugby Sevens - not something I was vastly interested in. 

A visit to Melrose for the usual - post office, library and coffee shop.  That was a morning when the wintry sun was shining on the abbey highlighting the detail of its architecture.

A morning in Galashiels was less successful in that we got  caught in the swirling wind of sleet and snow, and by the time we were walking the short 5 minutes back home from the bus stop the wind chill factor had set in. 

School half term, though they hardly seemed to be back since New Year, so we had Nh a couple of days.  We had an enjoyable baking session, making chocolate brownies and chocolate chip cookies - and  managed to leave some for Nh to take home for tea. 

We sorted out Nh toy boxes  here and did manage to reduce the collection, but she is a bit of a hoarder, so some favourites had to stay - such as Fuzzy Felt and anything that had been Mummy's such as the Fisher Price telephone.  Who remembers that from the 1970's?    

TV

• "Michael Portillo's Great American Railroad Journey"  ended its Eastern coast  programme in Canada, including a visit to Montreal and McGill University. 
  
  I was  hoping  that it would feature John Redpath, a stone mason and builder who emigrated from Earlston in 1820 and became a prominent businessman and benefactor in the city.  He was involved  with major canal schemes, built Canada's first sugar factory, and the Redpath Library and Museum at McGill University are named after him.  He did not forget his birthplace and donated the clock and belfry tower in the Market Square.   John Redpath is precisely the kind of profile that the programme does so well, but it was not to be. - a pity. It would have  been good to see a Scottish Borders connetion on screen.

 Earlston Market Square c.1900 -  John Redpath's clock & belfry tower remains the significant landmark  in the village today.

• The programme has now moved cross country to California and brought back memories of my visit there 1966 and more recent mailings and postcards etc. from a great American friend G.
  
  On a San Francisco Cable Car in 1966

• "A Vicar's Life"  series is profiling  the work of English vicars across rural Herefordshire, who seemed more and more to be acting as social workers - helping the homeless. acting as street pastors in town centres at the weekends, visiting isolated elderly people  etc.  Despite the obvious pastoral commitment and hard work of the ministers, I cannot help thinking, that the traditional church service is onto  onto a losing battle, with increasingly elderly congregations.  It must be hard to keep up motivations through it all. 
• We have been following  chef Tom Kerridge's series "Lose Weight - East Wel" and there are some good ideas there.  So I set out to make the Roast Vegetable Tart for tea.   I had just put it in the oven  when the phone went.  It was a friend who lives on her own and is undergoing chemo treatment, so I did not want to say, "Can I phone you back?"   - the result I forgot about the tart until I could smell something overdone.  N.  nobly said we would still eat it, but it was not great, so I will have to try it again, with more of an eagle eye on the oven.  

So endeth the week!

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Journal Jottings   
Recording my everyday life for future family historians  

Developed from the "Genea-Pourri" prompt  on Randy Seaver’s blog Genea-Musings

I decided to change his title for my own version of this weekly online diary.

Facebook Censure, A Blogging Bonanza and Some Happy Moments

LIFE:  29th January- 4th February 2018

   
A FACEBOOK CENSURE

It came as a bit of a shock to get an e-mail from Facebook, saying I had contravened their standards and code of practice in a post I had written (post not specified).  I can only think of one that someone may have complained about and I cannot even remember the topic under discussion, with most of my feeds genealogy based.    There was a comment I responded to  about "Who on earth wants to visit Lancashire - it is all dark satanic mills"? 

Image - Pixabay

Perhaps it was a  “tongue in cheek” remark, but  my hackles rose in defence of  my birth county and I responded instinctively and quickly  saying "Rubbish" and went on to name some beautiful parts of rural Lancashire. 

I asked Facebook to cite which of my comments was the subject of the complaint  (they never responded to this) and I  apologized if this had caused offense.  I also gave my side of the incident. 

However the next e-mail  upheld the complaint against me.  They are in for a busy time, when I glance at some of the posts in my Facebook Feed,  where I have come across some very vicious personal remarks, usually on party political matters and on members of the royal family. A lesson learnt ! 

A BLOGGING BONANZA 
Since January I seem to be on a roll with blogging activity  and this week was a good one.

• Wrote up  the previous week’s activities on  "Journal Jottings".  The page views have not been great, so I posted something about  my new blog on my personal Facebook page and got some encouraging comments. 
• For Family History Fun, Week 5 of the prompt  "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" was on the theme of Census Discoveries.   I focused on the life of my great great grandfather Henry Danson (1806-1881) as revealed by decades of census returns.
  
  

  My ancestral home c.1999!!  

  Henry Danson was living here in the 1841 and 1851 census when it was a household of eleven family and  two farm servants. 

  How did they all fit in what looked like a smallish farm house?

• It was so relevant to the census theme, I had to post a press cutting of 1871 that I came across some time ago,   in which the writer (a man of course!) deplored the way women wished to hide their age from the "Bogey Man i.e. Census Man" -  an entertaining read!
   
• Began the next post for Auld Earlston - a history of the churches in Earlston .  That is quite a challenge   as it was a complex story of the three churches in the village separating, and reuniting down two centuries, but disputes over which buildings to retain.    A good selection of photographs hopefully will help to create interest.
  

Earlston Parish Church, c.1900

• Had a good catch up on my blog Reading List.  I must admit I am not good at finding time to read other blogs and make comments  - so how can I expect other readers to respond to me! 

Once the weather improves, I might not be so inclined to be at the computer, when the garden beckons for some work  outside.  


To end on some happy notes.

• I have lost a bit of weight! I don't quite know how, as N. and I do like our mid morning cups of tea/coffee with biscuits , or even better,  scones when we are out.  I believe in the 80/20 rule for dieting - eat sensibly  80% of the time and you can afford to indulge yourself  for 20%. 
   
• "Will You Write Some Book Reviews for Us?  That was the request on my library visit last week.  So I must look back at past reviews  I have written on the website Good Reads.  Something else to fit into my computer time!
   
•  Finally - a lovely picture of Nh. enjoying a new mount at riding, though the horse did look rather big for her! 

• 

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Journal Jottings   
Recording my everyday life for future family historians  

 Developed from the "Genea-Pourri" prompt  on Randy Seaver’s blog Genea-Musings

I decided to change his title for my own version of this weekly online diary.