Finally I have a mortgage I can start to pay off!

South_coast

When my Mum got into family history, she unearthed bigamy (in an earlier generation!) and that my Stepdad had another daughter he knew nothing about 😮 It was quite the eye-opener 😂!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Karma - the access is there, but it's not very easy to use. I would use it if I suddenly thought of something I'd like to look up (or something international, as I don't have many international relatives and so don't pay for the worldwide access), but for proper hunting, I think it's worth paying. There was mention of FMP access at the library, but not by app it seems. My friend has FMP though, so we can always ask each other to look things up.

So I managed to get out for my walk before the rain arrived, which was nice. Have also cleaned the kitchen and baked some rolls to have for lunches. Delayed project has now arrived, so I should be getting on with that, but the council are strimming outside and the noise is doing my head in.  Have retrieved two curries and some stewed pears from the freezer for dinner tonight - rations are so low now that I sent my mum a pic of the empty fridge yesterday! I'm sure it'll be overflowing by the end of tomorrow, with our veg box and supermarket deliveries. DH also ordered some beer yesterday to split between us and his brother's birthday present. The beer cupboard only has 3 bottles left now - a record (usually it has several items that we just don't want to drink, but these are nice... a sure  sign of the times that it's got so low!). The brewed beer will be ready in a couple of weeks. I'm also trying to use up the random spirits - we had clementines in a sugar, butter and whisky sauce (neither of us like whisky!) for dessert the other night - definitely the best way to deal with whisky!

MS things:
* Clicks done
* 4 x PA surveys done (sorry SC!)
* Using up what we have in
* Signs of germination in my salad ice-cream tub
* Work

Gratitudes:
* Nice chat with MIL on my walk
* The garden is colourful
* We do have enough food until tomorrow - and it's good to use things up

Have a good afternoon all!

themadvix

Sorry SC, didn't mean to ignore you! Nothing quite so interesting in my family - but when tidying up files one day was concerned to discover that I had a duplicate of a census image - turns out DH's family and mine lived within doors of each other in Islington in the 1900s! I find it fascinating, but particularly how they migrated to London - clear evidence of this in several branches now.

themadvix

Just spoken to garden centre - they'd reopened orders, so I rang them to chase and it seems the email had fallen through the gaps. But it's understandable under the circumstances and they've rectified it very quickly - all ordered and delivery early next week. It feels good to support a local company too (and no queuing outside B&Q required!) Hopefully by then the weather will have improved somewhat.

South_coast

themadvix said:

Sorry SC, didn't mean to ignore you!

No need to apologise, it was just like real life 😂!

I've been using up booze too, and can recommend whisky with coke if you haven't tried that and still have some left? I thought it would be vile, but it's surprisingly nice (or I'm unusually desperate)!

themadvix

Thanks SC, but can’t stand coke and it doesn’t come in glass either. I think I foresee lots of fruit in booze in the near future! 

Karmacat

Great news about the garden centre! 

Suffolk_lass

It's that medicinal quality in whiskey that puts me off. I have only just got to the stage where I can tolerate gin (because of the smell) in the last year or two but some of the posh tonic makes it smell quite appetising. I might try elderflower and gin jellies this year (as we have at least three opened bottles of gin thanks to DS staying last summer). 

On the family history side my surviving rellies are mostly on my Mum's side and her brother had a go (lots of annoying inaccuracies though) - my Dad's family is more interesting because of various family events, but few people to verify the stories I remember being told. Perhaps I should have a go.

Karmacat

Suffolk_lass said:

On the family history side my surviving rellies are mostly on my Mum's side and her brother had a go (lots of annoying inaccuracies though) - my Dad's family is more interesting because of various family events, but few people to verify the stories I remember being told. Perhaps I should have a go.

Do, SL!  Write down what you know - the family tree, and the stories about each person/ couple/ family, you might be surprised at how much you actually know - most people are.  There's all sorts of central websites, many with free information, that can help you on your way.  Actual birth/ death/ marriage certificates cost money, but you don't have to have them, especially the recent stuff.  And if you know the surnames of both the parties concerned, there's a trick to finding out if you've got the correct lot.  But start with what *you* know.

themadvix

Morning all,

Was caught up with work, getting drenched on my walk and catching family up with family history stuff yesterday, hence my lack of post (it wasn't that I was out and about ).

SL, definitely agree with Karma, it's good to start somewhere and really fascinating once you get going. And I love that you can put it down and pick it up when you feel like it and there's always someone/something else to investigate further.

Today is going to be another busy day - I've got some work, need to invoice/pay myself/do money shuffles, and pop to Dad's to collect the garden centre order (which arrived yesterday - very impressed!). Our supermarket delivery and veg box arrived yesterday, so we're feeling food (and drink) rich, which is nice after a couple of days of eating what we could find! I really feel for those who are struggling to put food on the table at the moment - and our delivery always includes a donation to a food bank as a result.  I need to find some flour today too, as supermarket again tried to offer me a weird alternative to plain flour. I have a couple of places I intend to check out.

The seeds continue to grow well (and haven't been slugged yet - will order some wool pellets from Ebay) and my salad seeds are germinating Have ordered some coriander seeds as I've not grown that before, but feel I really should! I can see my spring onions from the house now - indicative of their increasing size!  

Another job, hopefully for today, is to ring Nationwide travel insurance. We've been offered an open ticket by Virgin, but I need to check if this would be covered if they went in to administration. We'd rather have the voucher as a) they'll be less likely to go into administration if people don't take all their money and b) we still want to fly with them/we might not get cash for our airmiles. But we need to know we're covered if the worst does happen - and this of course, may count as a 'new, post-Covid' booking. We also need to find out if we can claim for a hotel and flight that were part of our holiday - we're being offered vouchers for them too and the Nw website says we have to take what's offered by our 'holiday provider' rather than claim, but this isn't a holiday provider and the likelihood we'd be able to book exactly what we'd booked previously is unlikely (and again, where do we stand with taking the voucher and then the hotel going bust (airline is Delta, so unlikely to fail)). Hmm... A vexing conversation I suspect. 

MS things:
* S&S Fotg survey
* Accepted for an RM CD survey beginning 11 May
* Work
* Clicks

Gratitudes:
* Lots of lovely food
* Work still coming in, albeit in much lower volumes
* We're all healthy

Have a good day all x