Lilian's Tree

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.