Lilian's Tree

For those Genealogists, reading this, you will know the excitement of having a brick wall finally fall and the other questions that this event brings. Nearly 30 years ago I started researching my family tree. Things were very different then, microfiche, microfilm, waiting for weeks for certificates or replies letters and endless questions waiting for answers. I knew my Mum's Dad, Grand pop, and with a bit of detective  work was able to find his birth and then his parents marriage, both in Victoria and his brother's birth, here in New South Wales. Mum's birth and her parent's marriage date were known, good, things were falling into place. Now all I had to do was find the deaths of Arthur and Maryanne Galbraith. How hard could that be there aren't that many Galbraith's on the microfiche, I should have this 'done' in a couple of weeks!  1560 weeks latter and I finally have the answers for both Arthur and Maryanne! Arthur Galbraith was born in Ayr, Sco

I spent some time with my sister today, looking at the Discovering ANZAC's site, discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/ We knew the spelling of the surname but couldn't find him.  We had is discharge paper, so that helped. Here is a small tip, I entered his first name and his number and we found him. The surname was miss spelled, it an a not an e, for the second last letter. So if you aren't having any luck try any variation you can think off. It is a good site to search through.

It has been awhile since I last wrote and nothing really interesting has happened. The house is finished, I'm still studying and our grandson had a sleepover. Pretty ordinary stuff. Then this week, sadness touched all our lives, sudden unexpected loss. I never meet Phillip Joel Hughes, never saw him play other than on TV but his death has caused me to reflect on how short life can be. Yesterday I listened to the 3.00pm news, Phillip was still critical, I said a prayer for him and turned the radio off. At 4.15pm I logged onto Facebook and my niece had updated her status, to RIP Phillip Hughes 1988-2014 and I grieved. I can't imagine the loss his parents, brother and sister are feeling, my heart goes out to them. I will keep them in my prayers. To see our cricketers in tears, over this sudden accident has given the country a chance to see that they are 'real' and suffer the same grief. My thoughts then turned to another young man, only 22, Sean Abbott. I want to hug

Morning, I am a member of the Society of Australian Genealogists, (SAG) and this past weekend they held their annual "Lost In" weekend. Held every year, it  alternates between a country town, like Goulburn and the Dixon Room, State Library of NSW. This weekend was "'Lost In' All Your Stuff" and we had a full program. Saturday started with the air-conditioning not fully working and we found ourselves using our notes to fan us. It did get fixed and it made the rest of the day more comfortable. We had talks on topics as varied as what happens to your "stuff", when you pass from Christina Nicola, Senior Legal Officer Genealogy NSW Trustee and Guardian, to 'Beyond Your Lifetime', with the focus on who to pass your information onto. Copyright was discussed with Nathan Webster, Legal Officer, Australian Copyright Council, giving a very interesting talk, complete with a monkey selfie!  Look at the Australian Copyright Council's website

I think that the Garden of Remembrance at Rookwood is a hidden gem. Why?, because it honours those who have died since the end of the conflict they served in. The veteran's death has to be accepted as being caused by war service.  It is run by the Office Of Australian War Graves, part of the Department of Veteran's Affairs. While it looks like a crematorium wall, there are only plaques, not ashes there. There is an office that is open Monday to Friday to help in finding the correct wall and panel . On the weekend there are books that list the veteran's name, service number and date of death and they show the wall and panel numbers. Below are some of the photos I took.

Monday of a long weekend, at least for some of us!  My 'to do' list is getting shorter, with some things like reading and knitting on going. I started the list very early on Saturday morning as I wasn't well, long weekend and I took ill, not happy :( .  I picked things that didn't require much effort on my part. I did put a large collection of old photos into a scrapbook album and my printer takes 30cm x 30cm paper, so I did the labels at the same time. Trying to finish printing and the doing an album of our Singapore photos, from last year. Can't rush these things. I have done some family research but not much. I'm using up a subscription to  RootsIreland.org  I didn't find much regarding my Abberton side, will now try the Magill side. The Bankstown Family History Group as it's meeting on Tuesday 7th so I organised things for that as well. I've started an new subject in my studies, today, Irish: Land Administration Records, it should be inte

A long weekend, what better way to spend it than researching family. Here is the link to show what databases are free to look at this weekend (in the card catalogue) - http://search.ancestry.com.au/search/grouplist.aspx?group=occupations2014#databases Enjoy.

The house if starting to come together, floors will be done next month and then we can move the furniture back in. Looking forward to it as I can't find anything. While this is going on I'm spending time researching various branches of the tree, with a bit of success.  I have joined the Kent Family History Society,  http://www.kfhs.org.uk   and they have been very welcoming. Their journal is interesting and I have joined the Global Section and have had helpful replies to my query. I have also taken out a subscription to The British Newspaper Archive so I can access their version of TROVE. No luck so far with my searching but as it was 10.00pm, last night, I might do better when I'm fully awake! This morning I went to the Garden of Remembrance at Rookwood Cemetery and took some photos for a friend. It is part of The Office of Australian War Graves and has plaques for eligible veterans, who have died post -war and whose deaths are accepted as being caused by war serv

The workshop, yesterday was amazing and I learnt heaps, now all I have to do is practice, practice, practice and keep a photo journal of what works. The teacher, Fiona was generous with her knowledge and was able to have us all taking really good photos. We went to Paddington Reservoir for the practical side and it is a really interesting place. Once a water reservoir for the area it is now a community space and it is beautiful. The photos below are from there, including the one with lights, taken in the lift, for a bit of fun. The class was at the Australian Centre For Photography.  www.acp.org.au

Ever wanted to take those spectacular photos that others seem to, well today I'm going to learn how to!  I have a day class, a gift from a friend, to learn how I can get the best out of my hybrid digital camera. I'll show the photos of how I do and will also include a link. Bye Lilian

I left home at 7.30am Friday morning and arrived back 2.30pm Sunday afternoon after three wonderful days and two nights at the NSW & ACT Association Conference. As I mentioned in my previous post Friday was open to the public as a Family History Fair and it was really good. There were four talks on Friday and I went to three of them. Joy Murrin talked about NSW BDM's and said that is it often best to think outside the box, with regards to names and registration districts. She gave and example of a person, occupation was a mason and when the child was entered into the register it was with the surname Mason. With registration districts Joy explained that each are were allocated a number of pages and it they filled up, the next entry went where ever there was a space, so you could have a Kempsey in a Kiama spot. The best thing is to be open minded and with a transcription agent, you can do a check and verify, before getting the full document. Gail Davis from State Records a

I am at the NSW & ACT FHS Conference. Today was open to the public and the next two days are for attendees. I have had a wonderful day. Will blog more latter.

http://www.aif.adfa.edu.au:8080/index.html    This is the AIF Data base. http://www.awm.gov.au/    The Australian War Memorial. http://trove.nla.gov.au/   Trove, for newspapers. http://www.naa.gov.au/  National Archives, Australia. http://mappingouranzacs.naa.gov.au/   A new site Mapping our ANZACS. http://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/home/    Another new site, Discovering ANZACS. www. forces -war- records .co.uk/ Records www.forces- war - records .co.uk/ ww2 - records    These two are UK records.

How was your weekend? I had a good, lazy weekend doing assignments, reading, knitting and dinner out last night. My weekend really started on Friday, when I went to my daughters' place and sent time with her and our grandson. Picked Grandad up from work and had dinner with them. Today I attended the Australian Copyright Council's conference, doing two sessions. The first Copyright Essentials was fantastic and Megan West, the presenter was excellent.  I recommend looking at their web site,  www.copyright.org.au   and reading their information leaflets.  Copyright essentials covered topics dealing with What is copyright? Who owns copyright, How long does copyright last? etc. I also did Clearing Copyright Material Offline and Online. This was good in explaining how to make sure that everything you publish, that you didn't produce, you have got permission to use.  It is better to take the time and effort to get things cleared than end up with a law suit. One more lot of

I have been doing some research into my Great-Grandmother and her death in the Hospital of the Insane, Stockton. I commented on this on Facebook and several of you asked how to go about accessing any records and I have decided to write up how to go about it. Once you have the death certificate or transcript of the persons death, you need to contact NSW State Archives. They are wonderful in pointing you in the direction you need to follow. As Mental Health and Asylum records have a 110yr access period you will most likely need permission from NSW Health, to see the records, Archives will point you in the right direction. Looks at these two Archives in Brief for more details on what is held at the Archives, Archives in Brief  - 85 - Mental health facilities - Patient records  and Archives in Brief - 86 Infirm and destitute asylum - Inmate records.  Both of these can be found at; www.records.nsw.gov.au   and look under Quick Links. Having made contact with the relevant department,

Morning, For those of us in Sydney, it is  raining and has been all night, something we haven't had for awhile. Being wet it is a perfect day to stay inside and do family tree research. I don't know if this will show up as a link, but if you had ancestors that lived in the Holroyd area, you might be able to help them out. Call for submissions of Holroyd pioneers www.parramattasun.com.au If your ancestors lived in Holroyd prior to 1927, these ladies want to hear from... This link is to the new Discovering ANZACs site and I'm going to spend some time searching through it. http://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/ www.FamilySearch.org   is another good site to search. There are family tress on it but remember they are only as good as the information the person had. The indexes that you can search are great. If you are trying to use the NSW BDM's and are having problems here are a couple of tips, 1) If you don't know all the details you can use

Fingers crossed, I have just been given permission to view any records relating to my great-grandmothers time in Calan Park, Sydney. Might answer some questions, most likely give me more questions to answer.  I have also finished a subject except for the exam. One more to go and then a break until October.

I should be doing assignments and I did sit outside in the sun and study but searching for ancestors is much more fun! (I will do my assignments, really I will) I have been looking for both my great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers deaths. Two posts ago I mentioned that I was waiting on great-grandma's death certificate. It has arrived and I cried. She died in a hospital for the insane at Stockton after being moved from Calan Park. While it was liver cancer that killed her I am now waiting for permission to view her medical records at NSW Archives.  Why was she there and has it go anything to do with why I can't find her husband?  Will all be revealed or will I still be in the dark? Today I decided to spend time on Scotland's People as he was from Scotland. It looks very promising as I have found a death for an Arthur Galbraith in 1894 with the district give as Marine Return. It is a death at sea, which ties into the family stories that he died at sea. I will now buy

After weeks of trying, today I have accessed the blog from my iPad. Now I can do updates on the go.

I've been busy, with the house finished being painted and a driveway laid. That was 'fun'. My car has been homeless for three weeks, living at a friends place. While the driveway hardened we went away to Melbourne to visit our family. Lots of lovey granddaughters/grandparents time as mum and dad were away. PJ movie night, netball, pizza night and granddad bedtime stories. It was really good to spend time with them. On the family tree side I haven't really been motivated to do much. I really should set myself goals and (try) stick to them. I have looked at my great-grandmothers death and ordered a couple of certificates and they should be here soon. They will either answer my questions or give me more questions to answer. Still going with my socks and did start the new scarf, both are progressing well and I will post photos, when they are done. We did do something exciting! We named our house, after nearly 40 years with thought it was time and the sign arrived toda

I have just read an article on the English 1881 Census, in Your Family Tree magazine, May 2014.  It mentions that when it was completed officials noted a rise in the number of 'deaf & dumb' people. It seems that many enumerators had recorded babies as being deaf & dumb because they couldn't talk! Something to keep in mind not just for that census but any records. Look at the persons age before making judgements.

I have had a wonderful day, my monthly writing group meeting and lunch. The meetings are held at the Society of Australian Genealogists, Richmond Villa and are usually full! The group has various speakers an cover a wide range of topics, from punctuation to finding a publisher. Today Ralph, from SAG spoke about the resources that the Society holds and how they may be of use to us, in or writing. Looking at old photos and using them to identify what when they were taken and where. Maps, Land Titles etc. Looking at things in context. This was our 8th meeting and thanks to Sue, our 'boss' for all her hard work in organising them.

Ever been away and someone gets out a really old photo and says, 'this is your great grandma' and you think I want a copy?  Now when you go away you can take a scanner with you and copy the photo straight away! I have a Flip Pal scanner, photos below and it is fantastic! Gould Genealogy in South Australia sell them and accessories. I did a class today,  by Carole Riley at SAG and she showed us how to get the best out of the scanner and how to stitch large documents or photos together, once they are scanned. Software comes with the scanner. It runs on 4 AA batteries and you can use rechargeable ones. It comes with a 2GB SD card, it has the stitching program on it. The cove comes off and you flip it over for scanning larger items. Go to http://www.gould.com.au/  and have a look.

It has been an interesting week, with most of my time spent indoors due to the cold and windy weather that has arrived. I've spent the time reading, organising the next two subjects and balancing the family history books, for the end of the financial year. We have also had the painters, painting the outside. It looks stunning, with soft grey walls and the darker guttering and new roof. Today we have spent time changing the back door handle to a modern one. One down, six more  internal doors to go! I been knitting socks and have a new pattern for another lovely scarf/wrap to start. Have a great week!

Yesterday the Royal Australian Historical Society, in Sydney had a series of talks on the topic, Place Names as Historical Records: An Open-Air Archive. There were four speakers, Dr Joshua Nash, Dr Terry Kass, Angela Phippen and Bruce Baskerville and they covered a range of topics. Bruce spoke on place names as historical records. How there are layers of names for places and how they evolved. Angela's talk was on houses with names of First World War battles. Who built them and the how to search to find them. Both were very informative. Dr Joshua Nash spoke on the different names that are used on Phillip Island in the Norfolk Island Archipelago. This lead to a lively discussion on wether 'unofficial' names should also be listed with gazetted names. Dr Terry Kass spoke on Official Histories and Records of Place Names: The NSW Geographical Names Board. This talk also spoke about how areas are known locally as one name but gazetted as another. An example of this is Mosman

Here are some random photos I've taken two weeks ago, in the Hunter Valley. Beautiful sunrise, with balloons. Roses near our room. Fog on our last morning and a magnificent Giant Egret.

Morning, I run this blog on my PC and am trying to workout how I can use the iPad, when I'm away to blog. As the email attached to this is a Microsoft account I am wondering if that is the problem. Any advice, suggestions or hint are welcome.

Well I have had a very interesting week, I went to Melbourne! It was Grandparents Day at my youngest  granddaughters school and I haven't been able to make it the last two years, I went. I was very adventurous, booking online, ordering the Skybus ticket and topping up myki. I just took carryon and it was wonderful. Grandparents Day was beautiful, with time in the classroom, being interviewed as to what school was like when I attended and then an assembly. As she is in the band, I got to watch her perform. The school also had an open night and I went to that as well. I also had some time with both girls, when their parents went out. The eldest and I had a wonderful talk about all different things. They are both very talented girls. I've been knitting beanies for my grandson and will give them to him, tomorrow. I get to babysit him!

I realised that it has been awhile since I blogged. I've been studying, knitting, reading, taking photos and being Grandma. These two books are really good reads. Nora always writes a great story. This one is about Faberge eggs and is really good. I don't want to give to much away but it starts with a girl seeing a murder, along the line of the movie "Rear Window" and then moves along from that. The Tea Chest is a good chick lit book. Strong female leads and a quirky story line.  Think about different teas and tea shops. This is for James and was fun to knit. I like the fact that it has a shoulder opening, making it that much easier to get on and off. I'm growing Basil and couldn't resist trying to capture a close up of the bees that were having fun in it. They ignored me and using my zoom I was able to get these shots. I love Autumn with it wonderful colours. This tree has given me so many different moods that I can't resist p

After a wonderful Good Friday with family and Skype with our Victorian family, we were very happy. Yesterday saw us go to Masters Hardware for bits and pieces. I got some cauliflower and broccoli seedlings and will plant them today.  Then into Officeworks for a USB stick. From there we went to our local café for morning tea and then home. I sent time on Find My Past just general searches for family names. Did find information that I had but in more detail. Went and gave a niece her birthday present. What have you been doing?

Wishing you a Blessed Easter

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bankstownfhg1/ Above is our web site address and while it is a work in progress, it looks great. Teresa has done a good job on getting it up and it should be fully 'tweaked' in no time. Wednesday night saw us at the UWS Bankstown for a book launch, about the University. It was interesting and several people took forms. Catherine, the organiser, will take some posters and put them un around the Uni. Now to Print them off. Yesterday, Friday, I went to the new Bankstown Library & Knowledge Centre, for a browse. I ran into Abby, who we deal with and she pointed out the room we will use and let me see inside. It will be great to have a 'home' for our meetings.

Well last night was our meeting night and everyone had their laptops or tablets and we looked at some interesting web sites. I picked Family Search, Ryerson Index, Old Bailey Records, Australian War Memorial, TROVE and New Zealand BDM. State Records, NSW and New Zealand Past Papers  were looked at as well. Some found what they were looking for, others were happy to browse the sites and ask for help. That way when they are at home they how to structure the search. It was a great meeting. It was the last of our 'homeless' meetings as next month and forever, we are at the new Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre. We will be using a room in the theatre area, with access to the library. Our insurance is sorted and just needs to be paid for. Our web site is slowly taking shape. Watch this space! Now to work on our grant application. This group is growing slowly.

 I spent a fantastic day at the Botany Bay Family History Fair. I came home very tired but thrilled with the feedback we got.  It was great to catch up with Cassie and Ben from Inside History magazine, Alan and Joy Murrin and Jill Ball. It was an experience to 'sell' our group but people were thrilled with the fact that someone started a new group.   We have even been booked for next year! BBFH did a fantastic job in organising the fair. They had a raffle, talks, through out the day and a diverse range of stalls. The Spinners and Weavers were there along with a quilting group and a pottery group. All three on the New South Wales transcription agents were there, Unlock the Past, Family Search, Inside History and State Records were also there. The special interest groups, from the Society, also has stalls and were eager to help solve problems. I had Carmel helping out and she enjoyed herself, taking in two of the talks. I did one on writing up your family history. Below is a

Some events that are coming up;  29 March Botany Bay Family History Society Fair, Tradies, The Kingsway, Gymea. 10.00am to 4.00pm We have a table. I spent time, this morning making sure things had labels on them, that we had enough flyers and that everything was in one box.  1 April Bankstown Family History Group. meeting Panania Diggers, 7.00 - 9.00pm. Bring your laptop or similar as I am going to show 4 free to use web sites.  5 April St Peters Church. Princes Highway, St Peters. 2.00pm Victorian Cemetery. The cemetery is 175 yrs old.  6 April the Opening of the Bankstown Library & Knowledge Centre. 11.00am - 4.00pm .  9 April UWS Milperra, 5.00pm Book launch on the history of the Uni. We will have a table, to hand out flyers. The group was found through this blog, in a Google search.  12 April Kiama, Family, Local and Social History Expo, Kiama Pavilion, Bong Bong St, 9.30am - 4.00pm. Not sure if I'll get to this one as there is a family birthday, that day. The three

This group stated because we had attended a series of talks on writing and publishing our family histories. We had 25 members at first and now have 40 attending and more on the waiting list. I presented last month, on the topic of Indexes and next month will talk about appendixes. We have show and tell, where we present what we are working on, ask for advice or even show what we have had published. I'm writing, at the moment but want to keep it quite for a bit. I've done the first hand written draft, 10,000 words. What I'm doing with it is typing it up and editing as I go. As I wrote I would add arrows, lines or (sp) so I knew that I had to either add sections, check spelling or reword bits. Are you writing? What?

Three committee members went to the bank to set-up the groups account. I can see the reasoning behind what they asked for but we don't have it. Minuets of the meeting 'electing' us to our positions! We had people volunteer or be asked to join the committee and no-one else offered. Elected unopposed, is how it was. Then I got home and opened my email and blew a fuse.  I'm trying to be nice and have the overseas members, another group, pay by direct deposit. One has done so and while it took several days to get it all together it was ok. Another is complaining that I don't know what I'm doing. Shouldn't have sent the reminder letter but emailed it to her! Now saying her bank wont let her direct deposit and I should set-up PayPal!  if this keeps up they will have to find another treasure/membership secretary and I know no-one else wants it. That will teach me to duck quicker, next meeting! I did enjoy sometime with girlfriends, knitting and chatting. Have

Well where did the last week and a bit go? I am starting to wonder if someone has cranked up the turntable to 78rpm from 33rpm! Not sure what I'm talking about think back to pre CD times. The Bankstown Family History Group is going ahead in leaps and bounds! We had our meeting on the 3rd and the constitution was accepted, with a 27/1 vote. The 1 didn't think that they would be the only one opposed and they did try to halt the vote. The other members were happy with what had been presented.  Fair Trading has sent us the Certificate of Incorporation, which means we can now get a bank account and pay the room fees. We have the ABN and Tax File Number too. The Group has joined 3 societies, The Royal Australian Historical Society, the Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations Inc. and the  NSW & ACT Association of family History Societies Inc. This gets our Group 'out there', so people can find us. I hope that this leads to an increase in membership.

What are your plans for this weekend? I hope they are exciting. Me? Well  it is raining here and I won't be able to get out into the garden, so it looks like I will have to do some family tree research. I have a few things that have been simmering away and TROVE is looking like a good place to start. Then I have a jumper I'm knitting and some things I videoed to watch, that will keep me busy for awhile. Enjoy your weekend.

We have our name. Fair Trading sent a letter about being incorporated and they addressed the group as, Bankstown Family History Group Inc. Really  excited when that arrived as it means we can join other societies and start being known, get insurance and apply for grants. Baby steps but we are well on our way.  The constitution was emailed out and I have had a reply and a vote. The members have until 25th to reply and vote, if they will be away.

While we are still waiting for the confirmation of our name, we are going ahead with voting on our constitution. Tomorrow I email all the financial members a copy and they will then have seven days in which to read and make written submissions about it. The vote will take place at the next meeting in March. I have read so many different ones and then read several different versions of the groups' one, that I am getting 'constituted' out! I am so thrilled that it is going along so well, with the only problem being that the new library won't be open until after our April meeting. We have found a venue for the next two meetings and will get the program organised.

Today I gave a presentation at the Society of Australian Genealogists, (SAG), to the Writing and Discussion group I am part of. I am branching out into giving presentations as this is something I enjoy. There  is an eclectic mix of people, in the group and we are all wonderfully supportive of each other, giving ideas, advice and giggles. There was to be 25 attendees and the bookings stopped at 40! From a very small beginning it has grown and we are now able to plan the for the rest of 2014. Here am I checking the presentation before I started and then just as I began.

I have been reading, giving myself a break from study and work, and thought I would share with you what I have read. The first three books were recommended by the magazine Inside History. Check around for the best prices because I ended up getting Leigh Straw's book through Amazon. I'm still reading Leigh's book and am finding it really interesting as it gives the social context of the early 20th century, when these women deemed to be "Drunks, Pests and Harlots." "Eugenia" by Mark Tedeschi QC, looks at the true story of a woman, Eugenia, who for 20 years lived as a man and even 'married'. Did get a bit bogged down with witness but well worth the read. "The Railwayman's Wife" by Ashley Hay is set in Thirroul in 1948. Three different people form the bases of this story. The blurb on the back says; "explores the power of beginnings and endings." The next two books I read were ones I found when browsing, as you

Last time I blogged, it was the day of the meeting. Well what a great turn out! While I had had lots of enquires and had a list of people that said they would come, I was worried that it would fall flat. 29 people came for the meeting, lots of wonderful discussions and feedback. We selected a committee and have started the process of registering the name and becoming incorporated. We are working on our constitution, reading other groups constitutions, so that we have guides as to how it should be. Meeting dates were set, for the rest of the year and we have invited our first guest speaker. Lots of hard work ahead to really make this group grow and flourish but I really think that it will.

The butterflies have started in my tummy, already! Tonight is the first of I hope many meetings of the Bankstown Family History Group. I've got everything ready, forms printed, an agenda done, dates for the following meetings, camera charged, name tags and pens. I've asked two of my friends to help out, they were coming to the meeting. One will take photos and the other will great people and I do know several, who are coming. I had an email, last night, from another group and they have asked me to be their June guest speaker! They have also offered to help us out. Will let you know how it goes.

Wishing you a Happy Australia Day. What are your plans? Mine, a BBQ with friends and while setting he table I discovered that we didn't have any sauce. Thankful that my little corner shop was open and well I did need to walk! Any genealogy research today? If so what? Hope that you break down the brick wall.

I have finished tiding up me sewing/study room and am thrilled with how it looks. I will say working in the heat hasn't been fun but now it is all done! I can find books or magazines without pulling things apart. A fresh clean start for the New Year, if I can keep it that way. Finished another subject today and don't have one to start until 7 April, but I do have one on the go that I will concentrate on. Loving the course and the subjects I've chosen. If you want to study have a look at online courses.

I've been last the past couple of days, doing family stuff with the family. Now they are on their way home, I can get into my study and tidy up! Yes, tidy up. I'm going through my quilting boxes and sorting fabric and culling rubbish. Went through my teaching stuff and culled even more than I did before Christmas. the I hit the genealogy shelves and really tided them up. I have a habit of reading a magazine and then just placing it on the top of the holders. Well today they are in their labelled holders, in order. The room is still a bit of a mess and I do still have several more boxes to sort through but I feel good that I have achieved so much, today. I can't find my sewing table but judging by the pile of stuff  I can see, it be under there, somewhere! Desk is tidy and I cleaned it too! Okay, I suppose that is enough for today.

What is the most exciting/precious item you have from an ancestor? I have two Family Bibles, one from my husband's (Sigrist)  side that is in German and the other is from my mother's (Galbraith) side. Both have the records of the children written in them. My Galbraith one even has the day and time as well. The Sigrist one has the only record of a birth, that isn't registered.

How do you store the handouts you acquire attending classes or conferences? Do you keep them in a hanging file in the filing cabinet or are they in a muddle? I kept them in the hanging file and found that it would get too heavy and collapse on me. I am now trying this, a concertina file case, I picked up at Woolworths.   I have labelled  sections, i.e. England, Ireland, Lands, Education as a single topics and others combined, i.e. Death Customs, Police & Wills are together. So far it is working but I can see that I will have to purchase another one.

I don't usually set goals or make resolutions but I do list things I want to do, I suppose that is the same. Well for 2014 I'm going to be more organised. I have been onto the Society of Australian Genealogists web site and booked nine events, up until 30 April. These are walking tours, of historical sites, the writing group I am in and am presenting twice, plus webinars. The webinars are for members only and are really good. If you don't belong to SAG, why not consider joining? Their web site is good, have a look; www.sag.org.au I also will continue with my studies, through the National Institute for Genealogical Studies. I am really enjoying the study and the fact that I can work at my own pace. If you are thinking of genealogical study, look at their web site; www.genealogicalstudies.com I have lots of other things I enjoy, apart from genealogy, that I will fit in. I knit and have several things on the go at once, plus I also make quilts and I read. I can go thro