Lilian's Tree

I'm sitting at my computer, knowing I have heaps to do but I'm in such a funk that I can't start anything. I was feeling good yesterday but having someone use the house for target practice, with eggs, isn't funny. What I really need is to log into Ancestry or something similar and make a really interesting discovery! Well now to do my assignments.

This is the bag we were given upon registration, on Friday and a selection of the goodies that were in it. Loved the fact that the tissues were from a local funeral home!

When I opened my curtains, at the hotel, on Saturday I was greeted by these. I love watching them and will one day have a ride. It was a good start to a great day! Day 2 of the conference was for those registered only and there was a lot for us to do. The keynote address, by Dr David Headon,  was on how the design of Canberra came about. Really informative. Morning tea, scones, jam & cream, were next, followed by Family History Trivia. What does John Farnham's song, Age of Reason have to do with family history?  What is the first life event mentioned in the song? (answer below) Chris Boyack talked about how to construct your family tree, using FamilySearch. I like using FamilySearch and have had some good results. Cora Num gave a talk about Research tools for the Digital Age.  Different ways to collect and store information. She stressed several times the importance of doing back-ups. After lunch there were four different talks, with your choice of two. I picked

I heard all three ladies speak at the conference and had to get their books. Joy Murrin's on NSW, BDM's  was hot of the press, only released on Friday and I bought the first one. This gives lots of useful tips on searching the indexes for a record. Carole Riley's on lands backs up what she gave her talk on, maybe this time the information will stick.  Carole's passion is land records and in this book she shares her knowledge with us. Well worth buying. Cora Num's eRecords was also a new book out this year and blended in with the talk she gave.  Cora has a fantastic website that is well worth a visit. Google Cora Num and you will find the site. In the goodie bag we all got at registration were magazines like Inside History, AFTC and a copy of the HAGSOC journal, The Ancestral Searcher. Heaps of reading to do.

I'm  to tired, tonight to add any more, hence watch this space. More comments, more photos to come

I have had four fantastic days in Canberra, 3 1/2 at the conference and Thursday, wondering around several places in Canberra. This was my first conference and I found it very informative. A diverse range of stalls,  wonderful speakers, excellent sessions and fantastic people. Friday was the Fair and was open to the public and there were  11 different speakers, throughout the day. Topics ranged from Early Church Records,  Treasures from State Archives, FlipPal Scanner to one I missed, DNA found my Grandfather.  I did a work shop, Writing a non-boring family history, by Hazel Edwards. Some of you might know of Hazel from her 'Hippopotamus' books series. Hazel had us do several short exercises in either pairs or threes. In one we had to become our main character and the rest of the group had to ask us questions and  stay in character.  Hints, tips, wonderful advice and lots of encouragement made this  a wonderful workshop. Hazel's book that is full of useful inform

I have a deadline to get a draft story done and while I spent most of  yesterday on the computer, the story is still half done. I had so many emails to reply to, forms to change and orders to process that by 5.00pm I had had enough of the computer. Going to make an effort to put fingers to keyboard, (doesn't sound the same as, pen to paper) and finish it today. Will keep you posted.

I wrote last weekend about the photo restoration class I attended and asked for your advice. Thank you. I did download a 'free' program and it caused all sorts of problems to my computer. The program attached a Trojan to my internet homepage and as a result my computer has been at the 'computer dr' this week. All better now I decided to go with Photoshop Elements as the one I will use. I've just started a 30 trial and so far so good. I was too tired, last night to do anything other than remove some scratches but it works well. The writing class has finished but most of us are going to continue to meet and are working out the logistics of doing that. We feel that we can encourage each other in our writing journey. Will keep you posted. Better finish as I have to hang the washing and then go to a committee meeting, this morning. My husband was going to paint but we have had thunderstorms and rain, so I don't think that will happen. Enjoy your weekend.

I attended a talk on photo restoration and the person giving the talk uses Photoshop Elements. It looks really easy to use, so I'm thinking about that. I tried to do some restoring in the program that came with my camera but it doing really weird things. The program with the scanner is so old. Any suggestions are most welcome. Any good free ones that I can try?

I'm doing a three day course on writing and publishing your family history. Very interesting and informative but my brain is in information overload! I've had some articles published and am in the process of finishing another one. Anyone else going to or have written their family story? How did you go about it?

Sydney is experiencing a warm end to winter and the start of spring. Wonderful time to be out in the garden. My veggie patch is growing great with peas, carrots, spinach, cauliflower and basil planted and growing. The Spider Magnolia is in bloom, the Wisteria is in bud and the Weeping Cherry is also in bud. How is your garden going?