Blogging A-Z – April Challenge – N is for …..

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Julie Goucher

N is for…..Networking!

This is a bit of a buzz word. We probably all do it in a professional sense when we attend training events and conferences. The last company I worked for was VERY into buzz words and acronyms. The current company is too, but in a different way, a much more genteel way, and I guess the temperament of the last company was one of the reasons I left.

In an online sense we also network. Perhaps it is less obvious and more around enjoyment than expectation from any employer or profession.

Here are a few that I take part in:

  • Taking part in a Blog hop
  • Blog challenges such as the A-Z April Challenge
  • Facebook we can track individuals that we know and those individuals and organisations that have fan pages 
  • Twitter –  is a personal favourite

There are others, Linkedin, Google Buzz and Delicious and I personally have little experience of them, but perhaps they are your favourites.

How do you network?

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Blogging A-Z – April Challenge – M is for …..

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Julie Goucher

M is for…..Monty

In keeping with the current pet theme. Here is our beloved Monty.

Monty enjoying the sunshine!
Monty 1997 – 2008.
This photo was taken in June 2004 when Monty was enjoying the sun!
Monty was a really beautiful dog – much like Alfie in some ways, and I guess that is part of the temperament of the breed – Border Terrier and partly how we treat our pets – they are really part of the family.
We had had Monty from a puppy when he selected us at the home of the breeder. He came and sat between Stuart’s legs whilst he was crouched down stroking another of the same litter. We knew then he was the one! He had his claws painted with nail polish so we could find him again when he was ready to leave his mum!
Monty developed epilepsy and when he was about 7 years old. We awoke one Sunday morning to him having a fit and called the vet. He was then stabilised on medication and remained on the whole fit free, but every now and again would have one. 
Then at the end of August 2008 Monty had a fit and the vet was called. No amount of his medication would help. He was given a general anaesthetic as very often when dog’s come round they are fit free. We bought him home and sat round the clock with him until Monday morning. We thought we had mastered it, he had been wrapped in a blanket in the lounge with us for more than 12 hours and we were taking him back to the vets with the intention of having a scan to determine what the next steps were. Then Monty had another fit. The vet repeated the process of another general anaesthetic, but this time it was not successful.
We only had one option open to us for the sake of Monty and sat within until the very end. It was tragic, both of our beloved pets gone within the space of 6 weeks. The two smallest individuals in the household and yet they left the biggest gap.

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Blogging A-Z – April Challenge – Q is for …..

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Julie Goucher
 
Q is for…..Quilt
When I was a child at school, my Mum worked for a fabric and clothing company in Guildford in the packing department. She was allowed to buy the remnants of the fabrics and often did and stored them. Some thirty years on she still has some of those fabric swatches and has used them to make a quilt or two. 
I still have one that she made for me as a child, Made for a single bed, occassionally we have it on our double just for a snuggle quilt. I admire such talent and patience. The following are three quilts Mum is currently working on. 
What surprised me is that, the two quilt pictures below are for different quilts. Fabric selected at random, yet the similarities of the design.
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Sunday Salon – March and into April….

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Julie Goucher

I have not posted a Sunday Salon post for a few weeks – due to being in the middle of several tasks, which seem to have taken a lot of energy and time.

In the last few weeks I came across a fabulous post about Quilt coverings for cars; yes you are reading right. Have a look HERE.

I battled to get through Home, a personal life by Bill Bryson. I say battled not because I disliked the book, on the contrary, but because the library book had been reserved by another reader and I could not renew! Finish it I did and the review is on its way, and I purchased my own copy as I enjoyed it so much! I might even re-read as I hate reading against the clock.

I also received a e-book as part of the Library Thing Early Bird Reviewer Scheme and that review is also to follow. I have also received an email from an author to review her book and then on the tail of that one an ebook arrived from another author.

I submitted a rather small post to the Carnival of Genealogy 104 which was about cars. I have also been approached to have my blog used in a genealogy presentation, which is really flattering.

In between reviewing and writing I have read and reviewed South Riding by Winifred Holtby and a couple of library books by Kathleen Morgan. Both were Christian fiction which I would not normally read, but they caught my eye in the library and came home with me! Those reviews are HERE and HERE

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Blogging A-Z – April Challenge – L is for …..

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Julie Goucher

L is for…..Lily

Lily 1995 – 2008
Lily was a little sweetheart. She was born in May 1995 at an address in South London, and was one of four kittens from the litter. She was bought as my first wedding anniversary present and the moment I saw her, I knew she was the kitty to come home with us. 
She had such beautiful markings and that followed through into her personality. She had lived with us for just about a week when we heard a kitty meow, that indicated that she was in pain. We rushed into the kitchen to see that she had burnt her nose on the washing machine door just as it was warming into a dry cycle! We rang the vets and booked her in as an emergency and I remember the receptionist asking if she was the cat with the burnt nose. 
We should have known then she would be playful, curious and a proper scamp! – Lily loved to explore and as she found out, through two broken legs!, despite not being an outdoor cat. She was always wanting to play, sleep, she loved the sun, being warm and cuddled.

Lily 1995 – 2008

In May 2008 we noticed a lump on her lower underside and took her to the vets. It was diagnosed that she had a tumour and it was an aggressive cancer. Together with the vet we decided to bring her home and make and continue to make a fuss of her until it was no longer possible.

We prepared ourselves that one day we would need to make a decision as to Lily’s health. She was bright and just as we decided that the time had come she came downstairs from her favourite landing; at the top of the house where she could bath in the sun that came into the landing from the window and asked, in her special way for the lounge heater to go on. It was the early part of summer, but we put the heater on and opened the door! We enjoyed a final weekend with her, she remained eating and drinking, but the decline was evident. We were with her until the last and even now the top landing is known as Lily’s landing.

She really was a very special girl.

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Treasure Chest Thursday – Richard Edge 1807

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Julie Goucher

I sat reading the Western Morning News published yesterday 16th April and turned towards the back where there is always details of forthcoming auctions of collectibles. Every now and again something catches my eye. Yesterday’s edition was no exception.

This is from the forthcoming auction of Bearnes Hampton  & Littlewood of Exeter scheduled for Tuesday 19th and Wednesday 20th April 2011. (I am not connected to either the seller of the item or the auctioneers)

Described as West Country Documentary Pottery Flagon with an expected auction price of £200-£400.
This is an item of someones family. Sadly about to be sold to the highest bidder. These types of items are usually engraved to commemorate an event, this is probably a birth as a marriage would normally show details of the bride.
The details are of Richard Edge and the date May (12) 1807. 
A very quick search revealed a few entries for Richard Edge, but none in the West Country, but, upon thinking about it, it could well be a simple case of the pottery alone is from the West Country and not the recorded event. It was not uncommon for existing pieces of china and pottery to have the engraving added at a later date.
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Blogging A-Z – April Challenge – K is for …..

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Julie Goucher

K is for…..Kenya

A country that will always hold a special place in our hearts. Planning a wedding should be a wonderful event, all the hype and excitement leading the finale; the big day. For one reason and another, and for some reasons I won’t go into, we had lots of interference and what should have been a great time became one of huge frustration and agitation.

We therefore elected to get married overseas and to have our marriage blessed when we returned. Our wedding venue was Kenya, and our special occasion occurred in a beautiful garden, underneath a green leaf gazebo with the sounds of a Kenyan choir singing in Swahili. It was a truly magical day and memories of it we treasure.

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52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History – Wk 15 – Sports

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Julie Goucher
Week 15. Sports. Did you have a favorite sports team as a child? If so, which one and why. Did your parents follow the same teams? Do you still support the same teams?
This challenge runs from Saturday, April 9, 2011 through Friday, April 15, 2011.

I have never been particularly sporty, although I loved playing hockey and played netball. I could never remember where I was allowed to run to etc with netball, so was always centre! I enjoyed Badminton and took that up when I stopped playing hockey.
As to watching sport. I am rather fond of tennis, although am not so fanatical that I would take the fortnight of Wimbledon off from work to watch the sport! 
My grandfather played Cricket with my Uncle Ted in the rural village of Shackleford, I guess sometime in the 1930s. When my Uncle passed away in the mid 1980s he had been still playing cricket up until he was 77 years of age! My Grandfather and his brothers used to have a bet on the horses – although I am not sure how they did on the odds!

Ironically, it was the Grand National last Saturday and Mum and I always have a small bet – 50p each way in memory of my Grandfather. We do the bet online as I would hate to go into a betting shop and Stuart was working, otherwise that would have been his job! Mum said last week that my Grandfather would study the odds for the horses before making his decision, whereas, am I sure that he would have disapproved, we selected the horses by their name! We did have a win of £11.00 which I am sure he would have approved of!

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Weekend Cooking – Pie in the Sky

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Julie Goucher
Readers here in the UK may remember a crime series called Pie in the Sky which was broadcast on the BBC during 1994 – 1997. The series is currently doing a rerun on the ITV 3 channels each weekday evening at 7.45pm.
The series centres around Henry Crabbe, a police detective, Margaret Crabbe wife of Henry who is an accountant. Together they also run a restaurant called Pie in the Sky. 
Henry is the long suffering underling to Freddy Fisher who is fairly senior in the police and who likes to get Henry to do his donkey work for him. When things go well, Fisher takes the credit and when no so well, Henry gets lots of hassle. Henry is old school and is waiting to start retirement, and is simply longing to spend every hour of the day in his wonderful restaurant.
More details about the series are HERE and HERE. This is simple entertainment and is just what the chef ordered!
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52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History – Wk 14 – Spring

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Julie Goucher

Week #14 – Spring

Week 14. Spring. What was spring like where and when you grew up? Describe not only the climate, but how the season influenced your activities, food choices, etc.                             This challenge runs from Saturday, April 2, 2011 through Friday, April 8, 2011.
Spring is probably my favourite season. Watching the world of nature awaken from Winter and preparing to enjoy the Summer. As a child, I think that Springs were fairly mild, although I do recall one Spring, around Easter time that we had a rather heavy snow fall in the South East, which I think was fairly uncharacteristic.

Of late, we have had some really beautiful sunny days. We have adjusted our clocks to make the most of the light – loosing an hour’s sleep! As the weather gets warmer, sunnier and brighter, we tend to eat lots of salads and less of the heavier, winter type meals.

I really like nothing more than to open the windows and doors onto a bright sunny day and chase away the cobwebs of winter.

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