Lilian's Tree

 November was a very slow reading month for me and I only read five books and am still only halfway through the November author.  Talk to the Heart is book #3 in the Rose Hill series. Adeline Walsh decides to leave her home in Rose Hill and  join a convent in Smalltown, Victoria, (not real places). She discovers that the plans God has for her might not be the live of a Sister in a religious order. My November book was Kind of, Sort of, Maybe, but probably not by Imbi Neeme. I'm about halfway through the book and really don't know if I will finish it, (I've read the other five in between starting it and the end of the month.)  I'm curious to know how it ends but... My next two books are set in the fictional town of Wirralong. They are books #2 and #2 of the Outback Christmas series. Book 2 One Starry Christmas Night by Barbara Hanny. Old school friends, Jaxon and Bea, have returned to Wirralong, unbeknown to each other, to help out their grandmothers. They rekindle th...

  Every year Jill Ball prompts us to.  Accentuate the Positive   I read the prompts, this year and didn't think I had much to contribute but reading other bloggers posts reminded me of things I had done. I've left some blank but that could change. 1. I got the most joy from, not having to rush anywhere. Still had meetings but without the stress of driving to them or going on public transport and from having time to spread out the paperwork and not have to tidy it up until I was done with it.   2. The Covid situation gave me an opportunity to, tidy up my genealogical book shelves. I now have all the books, referring to countries, together, not spread over three shelves. All the books on writing, together and the research books, also together. So much easier to find them.   3. I managed to attend a face to face event at, I did, in February, get to the New South Wales Archives, exciting to get there. Also in May, the Botany Bay Family History Society had ...

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...

Friday dawned cool and cloudy and after breakfast Jennie Fairs, Sylvia Valentine and I wandered over to the NEC, Birmingham. A small crowd was there so we joined the queue. It was lovely to chat with those waiting and people were surprised that we had come so far. As my first talk was at 11.30, I caught up with friends, collected hugs and ribbons and gave out the gifts.  They were tea cosies and scarfs. Nathan Dylan Goodwin, talking on how he writes his Morton Farrier, series. Very interesting and useful. Alison Spring, was my next talk on Finding Scottish Ancestors, before 1855.  As this was my time period,  I found it helpful and it also re-enforced that I was on the right track. Lisa Louise Cooke, gave a fabulous talk on Time Travel with Google Earth. I had missed her speak at Congress 2018, so was thrilled to hear this talk. During the talks, it sounded like there was a large number of people talking. No it was very heavy rain and Jennie and I c...