Lilian's Tree

 Every year Jill Ball reminds us to Accentuate the Positive, usually genealogy related, this year Jill has given us a series of prompts to use. Here are my responses. Remember to Accentuate the Positive   2025 Prompts 1.  I treasured, spending time with our family this year, all 10 of us together for our wedding anniversary. 2.  I shared photos and stories with the newly found family. 3.  I travelled; this year we travelled. Started the year with a trip to Victoria and ended the year with a trip to Victoria. In between, seven nights on the Murray Princess, a seven-day outback safari, we got as far as Cameron Corner. Time at Nelson Bay and the Hunter Valley. Other short stays as well. Very few months when we were home for the whole month. 4.  I learnt how to use WeAre.xyz and have put my One-Place Study onto it. 5.  I changed from using Adobe for pdf files and started using I LOVE PDF. Still learning it but I was sick of paying for Adobe. ...

 15 years ago I started my blogging journey, wow! I'm not a weekly blogger, sometimes I don't even blog in a month and sometimes it's almost daily. My posts number 870, including this one. So what have I blogged about;  Well I've done four A-Z Blogging challenges, these are every April and not just for genealogists. Once I did mine in June, because April was to busy for me. While I like doing them I do get 'blogged out' by the end. I've written about going to RootsTech and THE Genealogy Show, state conferences and the 2018 Congress, here in Sydney. There has been Trove Tuesdays, when you find an article that is of interest to you and write a post about it. Some do a challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks, I did 12 Ancestors in 12 months.  In 2019 I did 12 genealogy books in 12 months. There were dozens of posts during the Covid-19 lockdowns, including several on Accentuating the Positive. Every December, Jill Ball invites us to  Accentuate the Positive   (you ca...

 Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Wyong Family History Group's Genealogy Gold, as one of their presenters, along with Jill Ball. My presentation was on the City of Sydney Archives. Paul and I decided to make it a long weekend and travelled up on Saturday morning. Found our accommodation and then had lunch in the pub and checked in. After being in the car for around two hours, we felt that a walk was in order.  We meandered around the area and ended up at the Wyong River. You forget, when out walking, that if you walk downhill, you usually have to walk uphill to get back to where you want to be. Wyong is very hilly! Dinner was at the local RSL club. The local park.                                                                            ...

 Jill Ball has challenged us to Accentuate the Positive, for 2024. This theme has been going since 2012 and it is really good to look back on what you have achieved in the past year. 1.  Google provided an answer to not genealogy, but Google gave us ideas of places to see on our 2024 road trip through country NSW. Yes, cemeteries were involved. 2.  I was the recipient of  genearosity  from Jennie F. 3.  This headstone gave me some extra information we knew that an Uncle and Cousin were buried in Armidale Cemetery but it took a photo, taken by a friend to show that   Aunty was also in the grave. 4.  An useful record I discovered was Rate books on the City of Sydney Archives site. A wonderful description of the house my mother was born in. 5.  A newly found family member who shared, not newly found but she lives in Northern NSW and she sent me a photo of her Mum, my half-sister. 6.  A geneasurprise I received was a trip to C...

 On the 21 November 2010 I wrote my first post, it was very short. Now it's the 21 November 2024 and this is my 812 post. I've just had a very quick scroll through what I've written about, here is a list; Books, Trips, Life in general, Conferences, RootsTech, Congress, Study, Classes I took. I've done three A-Z Blogging Challenges. They are every April and you pick your own theme. I did 2016 and 2021 in the April but in 2018 did it in June as I was busy in April. 12 Ancestors in 12 months was another challenge, I based it on the 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks. There have been Trove Tuesday posts, different themes on different days. National Family History Month, in August, has seen posts. Jill Ball has us looking back each year as to what we have done.  I also used the blog as a way of recording what we did during the Covid-19 pandemic. Interesting to look back on. I also finished the study I wrote about. Had my book published but the second one is still a work in progress. A...

  Last week Jill Ball did a guest post for the Genealogical Society of Queensland, called An ABC Journey Through Books, you can read it here,  Books   I have read or used some of the books Jill mentioned and recommend them to you.  I liked the idea, so have done my own, with a twist with some of the letters. A to Z Book List, with a Genealogy Theme.                                                     A – Atlases, for the many places we study, i.e. England, Germany, Ireland. B – Born in the English Colony of New South Wales by Dr Craig James Smee. Seven books covering the time period from 1788 to 1830, with births, deaths and marriages. C – City of Light by Ian R Lobsey. About Tamworth in New South Wales. D – Dictionaries. I have many from medical, Latin, Law, Old trades, titles & occupations, Surnames, ...

 2023 was a good year. Our health remained good and we did a big road trip in May, (now planning 2024's). I also returned to church and joined a Growth Group. Love being back. I've read, attended talks, classes, lunches, did genealogy research, did heaps of reading, did some sewing and knitting and managed to keep a journal for the whole year. Surprised! What will 2024 bring? I've a new journal to start, a trip away with one of our granddaughters, lunches and classes booked. We are planning our next road trip. I've started a Photo a Day, on Facebook, will see how I go. No theme just what catches my eye.  Jill Ball posted a link to this blog  Jennifer's Best Bookish Blog,  Bookish Blog  and it's given me some ideas for my 2024 reading. I'm going to use  StoryGraph   to record my reading for 2024. GoodReads will still get used but I thought I'd try something different and my granddaughter suggested this one. For 2024 I've made each month a different re...

 Jill Ball invites us to do this every year and it is a great way to reflect on what you have done. Remember to  Accentuate the Positive   1. On revisiting some old research I found ...That I had mixed birth and death dates up, so I fixed that.   2. In 2023 I hooked up with a new (to me) living cousin ... Several DNA cousins but we haven’t actually meet, yet.   3. I'm pleased I replaced a tool I had been using with… replaced and upgraded my laptop. The old one was out of date. The iPad will be next in January, for my birthday.   4. My sledge hammer did great work on this brick wall ... nope, it didn’t work, might need a jack-hammer!   5. I was pleased that I finally read ... Elizabeth MacArthur's  Letters, edited by Kate Grenville. It was an interesting glimpse into Sydney from 1789 to 1849.   6. I enjoyed my geneajourney to ...nothing this year, next year during our road trip there will b...

  My good friend  Jill Ball  posted this on her blog and has challenged us to do likewise, so here goes. When you have read my answers, why not cut and paste and play along! 1. Read the first chapter of a book in a bookstore Yes, how else can you know if a book is good.. 2. Bought a book in a bookstore What is a bookshop for is not to buy a book or several. 3. Stayed up all night to finish a book Yep! Still do if it's a good book. 4. Bought a book you already owned Yes, but I now check before hand. 5. Keep track of the books you've read Goodreads  6. Read more than 20 hours per week Yes,  and often have two books on the go at once. 7. Used a receipt as a bookmark   Tickets, ribbon, piece of paper, and I have a good collection of bookmarks, as well. 8. Follow more than ten authors on social media Three, Fiona McArthur, Louise Allan and Catherine Hein. All are Australian authors. 9. A dog-eared book page makes you cringe Yes, such a bad thing to do. 10. Own m...

  Jill Ball reminds us to do this each year, so here is my 2022  1. I got the most joy from, the Coffee 'n' Chat group I started in 2020, during Covid, via Zoom. It is still going strong and I love the chats we have. 2. The Covid situation gave me an opportunity to, tidy up files, work on my tree and play with DNA. 3. I managed to attend a face to face event at,  FHDU at Castle Hill, this first genealogy event I've been to since Rootstech in 2020 4. My main focus this year was on a One-Place Study that I've started on a cemetery at Mummell, NSW. 5.  A new piece of technology or skill I mastered was, my new phone. It took some time to get the photos off the phone and onto the computer. 6. A geneasurprise I received was, when a cousin showed up in my DNA results, I hadn't  know she had tested. Yes, it does prove that we are cousins! 7.  A Facebook Group that helped me was. History Goulburn, with information for my study. 8.  My 2022  social med...

 Jill Ball started this years ago and as 2020 has been a challenging year, I though I'd have a look back on what has happened. While Covid-19 curtailed face-to-face meetings, technology has enabled us to stay in touch, attend meetings or just catch up, so enjoy my Accentuate the Positive for 2020. 1)  An elusive ancestor I found was,  none this year. I mostly added new information, to the ones I have, as I’ve spent a large amount of time researching.      2)     A great newspaper article I found was, I’ve explored more of the wonders of Trove, whilst looking for information for clients and my own blogs. You find the most interesting things just by turning the pages.       3)  A geneajourney I took  was to Salt Lake City and RootsTech. There I did research in the Family History Library, attended informative lectures, caught up with friends, made new ones and won four  DNA kits from the major companies. ...

2020! Wow, a new decade! There wasn't much to celebrate at the end of 2019 with catastrophic bushfires raging in all states of this wonderful country. The fires continued and more started, lives and homes lost, wildlife and their habitats raised.  So, so sad. We had Master 6 and Miss 4 stay with us for several days and had a 'wild' party on New Years Eve! They were asleep by 9.00pm! I have been reading, with five books finished. These being; Ghost Swifts, Blue Poppies and the Red Star by Nathan Dylan Goodwin. Based on his extended family, it is about a mother's search to find how her son died in World War One. Beautiful story. The Dilemma by B A Paris. This was recommended by a friend and wasn't an author I had read before. I really enjoyed the book. Set over one day it tells of a couple, each hiding a secret about one of their children and the dilemma of telling each other what they know, before a big family event. On Writing by Stephen King. Yes, THE Ste...

Each year, Jill Ball challenges us to Accentuate the Positive, making us reflect on the previous year. Mine is short and sweet, this time but I did have an amazing time in England, Scotland and Ireland, walking in my ancestors footsteps and discovering some amazing places. Neither of my blogs relate to genealogy but are interesting reads. A Family Member I found was,  my half-sister’s son, daughter and some of their children.     It was 30 years of searching, solved with an Ancestry DNA test.   A geneajourney I took, this year I went to Ireland and Scotland and walked in my ancestors’ footsteps. An emotional journey.       A new piece of technology I played with was WATO, on the DNA Painter site.     A genealogy event from which I learnt something new  DNA DownUnder, three days of DNA. Learnt about WATO (what are the odds),   how to find connections, when there is no tree and found that what I’...