The Garden Fence - proper Old Style support and chat!

Nargleblast

MingVase said:

greenbee said:

MingVase said:

My granny was one of the Herring Lassies, who travelled up and down the east coast working with the fishing boats. She met  a man in Lowestoft and took him home to Fife with her and married him. My grandad, who went on to own a boat out of Pittenweem.

And I thought you were a proper Scot. Turns out you’re another East Anglian…

SSHHHH!!! It's a terrible awful family secret! We don't talk about it!!

That's why you keep your wellies on all the time - it's so nobody sees your webbed feet!

mothernerd

florenceem that's ninja jellyfish. I love all your makes. As I may have mentioned before, I can't crochet. I tried to learn from a book (life before the internet) but couldn't master turning round, so basically I can make posh string. Did a little knitting but only managed to make a scarf for baby brother's teddy. I was envious of your lovely lavender bags but was so relieved to learn of your lucky find bedding and that you hadn't done all the embroidery by hand. 

I think I'm all lavender bagged out. I've been making them since I was about 8 yo and using any scraps I could find (I made some rather risque lavender bags using shocking pink heavy weight silk like material and some black lace (the sort that would have been used to trim underskirts). I even taught baby brother to make them (and padded coathangers - using an old nylon dressing gown cut into strips and wrapped round to pad them) on years when he had presents to buy and no cash. I've been using the lavender I harvested from my old garden about 7 years ago and never seem to get to the bottom of the bag - the craft group made them to go in the 'family hampers' to be given out by social services. I think the target was 32 and we exceeded that plus ones individual group members made to give as gifts, all done with my lavender (and mostly my felt).

Since then I've made star shaped ones (glitter felt and silver decoration), butterfly shaped ones (lower butterfly slightly larger with pinked edges and all the details picked out with buttons/ sequins - did quite a few of those with craft group members too - set within an assisted living project so most members needed help with their makes. I think my poor daughter in and out laws must be fed up of them by now and I'm bored of trying to work out how to use the leftover colours that no-one else wanted - scraps will go to mummy of twins two eldest daughters and full pieces to the charity shop. Most of my embroidery supplies were picked up cheaply as job lots sold by people who could no longer sew, so I've always tried to pass things on to people who will love and appreciate them. I had to give up using coloured fabric (first bold colours, then later pastels) and donated most to a group who meet (or met) at the library - they do lots of items to raise money for various charities.

I've also made draft excluder snakes (a large square seat pad cut across at 6" intervals), good parts of an old dress to cover it, scraps of red felt (or similar, certainly couldn't afford to buy anything) for tongues and some amazing silver glittery s shaped trim for features (eyes/ eyebrows). Mostly reclaimed materials - I've worn clothes passed on by my cousins, aunties, people my grandma's age, mum's boss's daughter (that was great, she was a few years older than me, lots of money and an avid sewer - got heaps of beautiful things from her). My grandma used to make me a matching outfit from her leftover scraps one of which led two workmen to call me 'Sunday school teacher' a reputation I've tried to shake off over the years. they also called me 'Miss Jean' which I think was a reference to a tv puppeteer who had two koalas called Tinga and Tucker. 

Worked hard yesterday (room sort and furniture moving) so I'm going slowly today - only went for yoghurt and a spoon, brought the bedside trolley back with me to apply various medicinal creams and my yoghurt hit the floor (lots left for me but don't want any more accidents). We didn't get the promised rain (cool breeze, heavy cloud, thunder rumbles but then no change - a bit cooler but no rain).

I've always tried to avoid family tree stuff (thought it was for someone 'older' and I haven't yet reached that stage of old). I have lots of bits of anecdotal family history. We have always been brought up being told we were 5/8 Irish and a 1/4 Scots but when my great grandma died we found out she was not born on a Scottish Island as we had been told but was born in Cheshire. Her sister lived and died in a family property on that island and great- great grandad (possibly 3 greats) name was originally Harrald (not Harold) so probably Viking ancestry. 

Dad's stories were told when drink had been taken so not sure how much reliance to place on them. His father lied about his age and joined up to fight  in WWI (that fits age wise). They made him a sniper and snipers (unlike regular soldiers) know each time they kill someone. How that affected a 15 yo Catholic boy wouldn't have bothered anyone at the time. He then travelled to the USA. He always said that America was wonderful country but that he wouldn't go back. We have family in America and Canada. Grandad was also outside the cinema when one of the gangster leaders was shot and killed. Dad's implication was that grandad was with one of the gangs and was deported ('wouldn't go back') after the incident. His shooting proficiency would support this. Mum has also said that grandad would put olive oil on his potatoes which suggests proximity to Italian Americans - but maybe all the immigrants shared the poorest housing, not separate areas for each origin.

Last year we received parts of family trees (both wip) from two of mum's cousins, one on her father's side, one on her mother's. Both are full of inaccuracies, things we know are wrong (great grandma's place of birth and also where she was when she died). It doesn't help that the same names are repeated throughout generations so you get lost in whether this particular Donald or Angus is a continuation of the one on the previous page or a generation further back (on dad's side it seems to be alternating Michaels and Malachis and then Thomases. There are some interesting nuggets but the whole thing needs sorting out.

Many years ago, when I haunted the churchyard (it was a good long walk straight along the canal bank and the point where I emerged was nearly opposite the cemetery so I would go in to chat to my grandmas and have an explore and a sit down if I needed to), I actually found one of the Michael/ Malachi headstones. it was on the very edge of the cemetery, on the far side from the Catholic part and was very overgrown (it's no longer there).

In addition mum has been helping her cousin's son who is estranged from his mother (mum's mum's family is great at feuds and grudges). He had some information from his grandfather (because he wasn't speaking to his daughter - or my mother) but mum has been filling in some of the blanks. Her other cousin sent her some more details about her bit and I wanted to rewrite that more clearly - I was going to say you know the way some people write the way they speak, lots of asides and going off at tangents, but then realised that I do that quite a lot.

The other aspect of family trees is going forward. I remember coming back from an antenatal appointment and listing all the health questions they'd asked including arthritis. 'My dad was riddled with it" says mum. He died when I was six, how am i supposed to know what he did and didn't have? I remember what he looked like (DS2 is nearly a carbon copy), I know which was his chair, I know he smoked a pipe and liked liquorice allsorts. I know he didn't work but not sure if he had reached retirement age or had had to stop or because of his lungs (working in cotton mills - when people talk about how they've saved for retirement I often think, some people never get the chance, their work cripples then kills them). I know more about his mother (aforementioned great-grandma) as she survived him and lived until I was in my teens (she didn't quite make her century).

So nearly every year (it seems like) one or other of my children announces that they have a rare genetic illness or condition. I'm not sure whether we're cursed (I've had my grandma's moustache since I was 18, I could have lived without the beard, or what my sons and one of my tutors called my 'little hairy hobbit toes' - to hark back to an earlier discussion) or whether growing knowledge of DNA and genetics is finding the source of once thought to be random illnesses. 

So DS2 who has cellulitis (since university) and heel spurs (took 8 years for a proper diagnosis for that one) and terrible acne (and one disastrous encounter with an experimental drug for it which sent his muscles into spasm) is currently under investigation for Mediterranean Familial Fever and has been asked if he has any Mediterranean ancestry? His father (mum thinks it's wonderful that because of him, my children are more Scots than Irish), has suggested that it may be from the Spanish Armada - many of the wrecks were on the Scottish shores and that would have been the nearest (and safest) place for any survivors.

When he visited last week DS2 said his DNA testing is due back, so we shall see.

Have a good day fencers, I will continue to take things slowly (still going through stages in my morning routine).

Hard_Up_Hester

My Steve's family are Irish  but have a Spanish surname allegedly a left over from the armarda.

Sayschezza

MingVase said:

My granny was one of the Herring Lassies, who travelled up and down the east coast working with the fishing boats. She met  a man in Lowestoft and took him home to Fife with her and married him. My grandad, who went on to own a boat out of Pittenweem.

My GGran was also on the herring boats along the east coast. Name of Gillespie.

MingVase

My granny was a Moir 

Hard_Up_Hester

Morning fencers.

Beano had his vets appointment yesterday, had was not impressed, even worse than the vet, I have him a shower which he really hates.

My son in law drove us to the vets, he was telling me about his work, he is a chef, the place he works is struggling to get staff and have closed one venue because of this. For a few weeks my SIL worked 7 days a week, he hated it because he missed spending time with the children so he stopped and the owner has had to alter the menu for the days when there is no chef. The owner is annoyed but refused to pay SIL for a 7 day week, he would only pay him for the five days he should be doing!

silvasava

Hester, maybe SiL consult someone over this, I'm sure it's illegal.  I know places are really struggling to find good catering staff.Theres a lovely pub not far from us with an excellent reputation for food. DH and I went in about a month ago for lunch and at the moment they no longer do food as they can't get the staff.  Could SiL find another place with a company that would give their employees their proper respect and appreciation, let alone payment for work completed.?

monnagran

Hester, that is iniquitous.  Surely your SIL could refuse to work on the days he was not paid.  I was under the impression that slavery had been outlawed in this country.

I am OFF computers in a big way.  I have spent nearly all day messing with my tablet, mostly with my bank as it won't seem to let me into my online banking.  I've been happily banking online for the past 12 years, but this last week it has decided that it won't let me.  I have been trying anything and everything under the tutelage of a dear little Scottish man.  Actually I don't know if he is particularly little but he was very kind  and patient with an old lady.  We played together for hours and were on first name terms by the end of it.  No joy though.  He has concluded that my poor tablet is too old to cope with the modern banking system.
SIX YEARS IS TOO OLD???
I've got cheese in my fridge older than that.
Well, almost.

Anyway, on Monday I will be turning up at my computer rescue place with a bribe of homemade cake, to see if Chris-who-plays-cricket can sort me out and rejuvenate my poor tablet.

What a waste of a Saturday.  I've done nothing.

Hard_Up_Hester

I feel your pain Monna, I can't get blogger on my tablet only on my laptop but I can't get anything else on my laptop apart from blogger what with that and the Wi-Fi being intermittent it's a nightmare.

ivyleaf

The joys of modern technnology. Whatever those may be.