Well that's another half term done and dusted

It's true what they say about time going by faster as you get older .... something to do with a lack of memory cells and I liken it to the memory being like an old cassette .... the more that is recorded the less space there is therefore the time between memories seems shorter making time go faster ..... am I making sense !!!

In between organising activities for small people, caring for a poorly grandson and moving out number one son I've managed little in the way of crafting this week but I have made progress on the Freecycling unwanted items before I bring new ones into the house front.  I must have gained a few square feet of space in the house and even my mum commented today on how empty/uncluttered the living room looked today.  Mainly because I have moved this

upstairs.  It was in the charity shop a couple of weeks ago and I just couldn't resist.  I have just the fabric to make some lovely bedding.  There was another similar crib in the CS last week but I was a good girl and resisted.

I've been sorting out some old photos too and thought I would use one as my new header photo.  This group is my paternal great-grandparents Bertie & Florence with the eldest of their nine children - Eric, Clarice and Florence.  GG Bertie was born in Dovercourt, Essex and GGM Florence in Mickfield, Suffolk.  They married in 1895 in St Albans and it was only when I started doing my family tree some 20 years ago that we discovered they had a daughter before they were married but she stayed in Suffolk and was raised by her grand-parents .... nobody in the family knew of her existence or if they did they never spoke of it.  Bertie was the son of a blacksmith but was work on the land diminished he had to turn his skills to something else which turned out to be plumbing.  He came to Bedfordshire just as the Victorians were starting to take drainage and sanitation seriously and looking at this posed family photo he looks as though he was probably doing alright.  If you look closely you can just see his watch chain .... my brother has inherited the gold watch at the other end of the chain as it has passed down through my grandad and dad.  My grandad was the 8th child of their brood ..... all raised in a two up two down and how they did it I will never know.  I can just about remember my great grandmother as a little old lady wearing a large hat when I visited my grandparents house as a child.  Bertie and the elder children died before my time but I do remember Florence or Auntie Flo as we called her .... what a character just like my grandad .... cheeky and full of fun and I can remember at family gatherings she would have a gash of red lippy and never failed to flash her bloomers during a dance!

I am a great believer in that you have to know where you have come from in order to know where you are going in life and tracing the family tree is so interesting.  If you haven't tried it I recommend that you do but be aware that it will become another addiction like the crafting/thrifting (or maybe that's just me ;-)

I had a very unusual maiden surname and was always curious about where it came from ... it was Scowen .... pronounced with a soft 'o' rather than the harder 'cow' sound.  Grandad always said it was Scandinavian and that is feasible because blonde hair and blue eyes do run in the family and my research has highlighted that the highest concentration of families with this name came from East Anglia and there were a few in Cornwall/Devon where the derivation was Scawen or Boscawen.

Here are a couple of other old photos .... this time on my paternal grandmother's side of the family .... she is the little one sitting on her mother's knee

When I can locate my Family Tree Maker master disc and can unlock my data I will post again on this subject.  I hope you have found it interesting and would love to hear of your family stories too. x