Genealogy Do-Over: Reset this blog?

Thomas MacEntee's proposal of a Genealogy Do-Over starting 2 January 2015 and continuing for 13 weeks is one which has captured the imagination of nearly 1,000 people (probably more since writing).  I am one of those 1,000.  I relish the idea of doing a virtual reset on my research.  I'm tired of sitting dully in front of my monitor and wondering which ancestor to pick (again), only to find out that he/she is the brickwall I looked at last time.  I want to make sure my methodology is sure, but most of all I want to get my motivation back.

And then I looked at this blog.  I remember, when I started it back in 2010, how excited I was.  My first post was:

"This blog is intended to be an extension to my ancestor-spotting records at home of names, dates and places.  It is going to be the place where I put my family history.  Anecdotes, snippets of information, quotes, pictures - and even some chapters of book(s) I am writing on the surnames that appear in my family tree."

And, at first, I loved this blog.  It made me reduce my scattergun approach, since I was writing about one ancestor at a time.  It revived personal memories of parents and grandparents that I thought I had forgotten.  There was the joy of exploration as I delved into daily and weekly memes, like Sorting Saturday, Maritime Monday and Way Back Wednesday.  I loved Challenges such as Fearless Females, the A-Z Challenge, and the Family History Writing Challenge. In fact, it gave my genealogical research a 'reset', something like Thomas MacEntee is suggesting.

But soon I came to realise that, despite the courageous goals of my first post, I didn't have many anecdotes.  I didn't have many pictures to share.  And slowly the appeal of having a genealogy blog lessened until the gaps between posts could be measured in weeks rather than days.  I felt I couldn't give up because of all my followers, the thousands of views of my blog, and the few special friends I have made through blogging (you know who you are).  I still love this blog, but the excitement has dimmed somewhat.

So this Do-Over is going to give me 13 weeks of serious contemplation about what I want for this blog.  What is its future?  Does it even have a future? (There.  I've said it.)

Please let me know what you think.  I need input on this one.

Getting ready for the Genealogy Do-Over

I have been 'doing genealogy' for 35+ years (and it shows).  I love organising and making lists (and lists of lists, and so on).  So the idea of a 'Genealogy Do-Over', as proposed by Thomas MacEntee, filled my ecstatic little OCD mind with visions of checklists and office supplies (and more office supplies) and folders and sub-folders and sub-sub-folders on my hard drive.  I salivated at the concept.  Then I put some thought into it, and began my prep (most of which was already done, anyway, and I just had to create a virtual/cardboard box.

• located all my vital records certificates and put them away in acid-free pockets in binders
• separated out the digital versions into their own folders
• created surname folders
• made sure there were no digital photos named 'img1024.jpg' or similar
• redeemed my coupon for three months' free Evernote Premium
• thoroughly researched different softwares

Ha ha! Fooled you!

Now let's talk reality here.  Here are my responses to the above checklist:

• where did I put that binder? did I remember to order the acid-free pockets...I'm sure I did...
• wow...look at that...they were both 18 when they married...now where's my link to Google Earth and I can look at the actual church...
• create surname folders...this one's easy...[phone rings...and again]...now I've ended up with three folders for the same surname...how did that happen?
• 'img4073.jpg'? you mean I have to go through 4073 photos and rename each one?
• the deadline hasn't gone past yet...phew...whaddya mean, it has?
• researched different softwares: check.  But I think I'll stay with the one I know, then I can afford to keep playing games on social media...

I'm not in a mess.  I'm not in a mess.  [I have to keep repeating that, to try and convince myself.]  But my motivation has disappeared, and my methodology seems to be along the lines of "let's see how fast we can get this done...[distracted by another website] ooh, SHINY..."

So my Do-Over mantra is going to be: SLOW DOWN and see what you missed along the way.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2014: The Meaning of Christmas

This one always amuses me.  People who firmly deny any sort of religion in their lives still sing happily about a Saviour being born in Bethlehem.  They completely refuse to believe in Christ, yet large supermarket chains sell nativity scenes made of wood or china (and they have rapidly found that, if you put the word 'Christmas' in front of something ordinary, like 'pudding', 'biscuits', 'TV', or ''CD', you can charge almost what you like for it).

I love the tinsel and baubles and music.  I love the food which you can't get at any other time of year.  I love the bargains, deals, and sales (who doesn't?).  I love poinsettias and Christmas cacti.  But, most of all, I love my Saviour.

I love that He could have stayed where He was, in glory - but He didn't.  He came to experience Earth life so He could relate.  I love that He gave His life for me - because He loves me.

The meaning of Christmas?  Jesus was born.

That single fact is more important than all the tinsel and baubles in the world.  It's more important than getting that last-minute present for Aunty Mary, or paying the electricity bill so you can have all those tree lights. It's more important than remembering to put the sprouts on.  Those things aren't wrong - they're just accessories to the most important thing - Jesus was born.


The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history twenty-four different ways during December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com.     

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2014: Christmas Tree Decorations

The only tree decoration I remember from my childhood was not a very Christmassy symbol.  It was a small metal purple, silver and blue bird like a peacock (and I don't think there were peacocks worshipping at the manger!), and it had a 'real' fibre tail - like the sort of bristles used on a pastry brush, or in fibre-optics nowadays.

Now the years have come and gone, so have the various tree decorations, but none has stayed, only the memory of that peacock (well, I thought it was a peacock, but then I was tiny).  Nowadays, I prefer the minimalist look anyway.  I'm not a fan of covering a tree's natural beauty with baubles and tinsel.  My own tree has a grand total of 4 glass baubles, 25 tiny coloured lights, and no tinsel whatsoever.  I like to see green!  Gives me more hope that the future will come again, rather than the sparkles and shiny things covering up the ghastly past.

At least, that's how I feel.  At work, I prefer as much sparkle and tinsel as possible to cover up the plainness; but at home, I prefer greenery - and lots of it.

The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history twenty-four different ways during December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com.    

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2014: Fruitcake - Friend or Foe?

by James Petts via Wikimedia Commons

The Christmas cake I ate as a small child was dark and rich - too rich - so one year my mum found a recipe for Boiled Cake which we used afterwards - it was still a fruitcake, but much lighter. Incidentally, you didn't boil the cake, just the ingredients beforehand... Here is the recipe (makes a big cake for about 12):

Boiled Cake
250ml (8 fl oz) water
900g (2 lb) dried mixed fruit
225g (8 oz) caster sugar (or light muscavado sugar)
170g (6 oz) butter
230g (8 oz) plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon of mixed spice
2 eggs, beaten

Boil the water, dried fruit, sugar and butter for about 10 minutes.
Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, and mixed spice into a large bowl.
Pour on the boiled mixture and stir well.
Mix in the eggs.
Pour into a lined loaf tin
Bake for 90 minutes at 150 C or Gas Mark 2
Let stand for 10 minutes

It tastes better about 24 hours after you have baked it! Some cooks like to add elderflower cordial to the water, some use cold tea instead of the water, some add treacle.


[This post originally appeared in 2012 (link here]




The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history twenty-four different ways during December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com.    

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2014: Christmas Traditions

Traditions, to me, often seem to be either a family thing, or something you share with at least one other person.  I find it quite difficult to start up traditions of my own, since I am on my own.  A tradition isn't a tradition when you are on your own; it's merely a quirk.  Would you agree?

Anyway, here are some of my 'quirks' - or 'traditions':

# I start my Christmas in October!  I love all the sparkle and glitter and just-plain-pretty that accompanies the wonderful spirit.  So I start in October (and often forget to take my tree down until the following April, but that's just because I'm too busy to actually do anything ho ho).  I am only supposed to start decorating at work on 1 December, but I try to sneak in a few unobserved decorations, and I always put my small Nativity scene on my computer, where I can see it.

# I refuse to go into town on the Saturdays in December.  The place is simply heaving.

# I buy myself a present.  I am still wondering about filling a stocking, too.

# I carefully select my Christmas viewing (of DVDs).  This year (2014) I will be watching some I have seen before (White Christmas, the 1st season of The Waltons, A Christmas Carol with Sir Patrick Stewart) and some completely new to me (Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life, Frozen).

# And, most important of all, I read my scriptures, listen to carols, and do lots and lots of family history.

Can you add to my list? Please?



The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history twenty-four different ways during December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com.    

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2014: Christmas Crafts

This combines really with yesterday's (non)post about Christmas Shopping.

One year, when we were really hard up, only the ladies in the family got presents, because my mother and I could make those.  A really neat idea! and I was only small, so it didn't seem tawdry.  We got jamjars (the fat little sort), washed them out, then filled them with different coloured cotton-wool balls for removing make-up.  At that time, it was very fashionable to have bobbles on everything, so we stuck small pieces of coloured lace on the lids and put a strip of bobbles around it.

gilliangladrag.co.uk

Does that count as craft?

The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history twenty-four different ways during December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com.    

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2014: Christmas TV and Movies

My memories of Christmas TV and movies when I was a child - I don't have them.  One of the strongest traditions in our family was that the TV stayed switched off on Christmas Day.  When my cousin got older, he was allowed to watch Christmas Top of the Pops (it was a teenage thing).

As I have grown older myself, have moved out, and spent (unfortunately too) many Christmases on my own, I have looked forward to Christmas TV as my main source of entertainment.  Older still, and family history is now my main form of entertainment - so the TV stays switched off again.

The only 'Christmas' movie which I will watch at any time of the year is "A Christmas Carol" - the version with Sir Patrick Stewart as Scrooge.  I admit, I first watched it because I am a Star Trek fan - and he played Captain Picard - but I continue to watch it because he is such a splendid actor.  And he's British!


* This post originally appeared in 2013.  The link to that post is here

The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history twenty-four different ways during December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com.   

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories: Father Christmas (not Santa Claus)

I have been looking forward to today's ACCM post, because last year I found an absolutely wonderful picture (thanks, Facebook!), which to me sums up the way we should view Christmas:

It shows us the Baby in the manger being adored by Father Christmas, who is humbly kneeling.  This is how it should be.  Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against the trees and the decorations (in fact, I love them so much, I started in October!).  But what I love the most is the spirit of kindness and generosity - and why is it that this feeling often only seems to come into people's hearts 'but once a year'?  Father Christmas seems to embody the bringing of that feeling - but the source of it is the Saviour, Jesus Christ, and we have been entrusted with the moral agency to continue feeling (and acting) that way.


The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history twenty-four different ways during December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com. 

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories: The Christmas Tree

I grew up with artificial trees, so it was natural when I left home and set up my own flat to have an artificial tree myself (and all of my flats have been far too small to cope with anything over a foot tall!). Over the years, artificial trees have improved considerably, so what used to be a rather obviously-plastic one now looks almost real. You often have to touch the needles to check!

"Happy Christmas" by Viggo Johanson

The Christmas tree has not always been with us. Or has it? Check this out from Wikipedia:

"While it is clear that the modern Christmas tree originates in Renaissance and early modern Germany, there are a number of speculative theories as to its ultimate origin. Its 16th-century origins are sometimes associated with Martin Luther. Alternatively, it is identified with the "tree of paradise" of medieval mystery plays that were given on 24 December, the commemoration and name day of Adam and Eve in various countries. In such plays, a tree decorated with apples (to represent the forbidden fruit) and wafers (to represent the Eucharist and redemption) was used as a setting for the play. Like the Christmas crib, the Paradise tree was later placed in homes. The apples were replaced by round objects such as shiny red balls."

And this from Encyclopædia Britannica: "The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands to symbolize eternal life was a custom of the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. Tree worship was common among the pagan Europeans and survived their conversion to Christianity in the Scandinavian customs of decorating the house and barn with evergreens at the New Year to scare away the devil and of setting up a tree for the birds during Christmastime."

And from religioustolerance.org: "Oliver Cromwell preached against "the heathen traditions" of Christmas carols, decorated trees and any joyful expression that desecrated "that sacred event."

I wonder how many of my ancestors had a Christmas tree?


* This post originally appeared in 2012, and again in 2013.  The link to that post is here

The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history twenty-four different ways during December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com.