We have had showers, the ground is still dry of course but even seeing rain gladdens the heart. It means I can scatter Lucy's ashes over the rose bed in one of the showers. Selfishly I want another old spaniel to replace her, it will not be of course, my life will take a different turn in which animals will probably not figure.
Well pottering about in family history, and wondering why my grandfather and father do not have birth certificates is answered easily. Both were born in Antwerp, Belgium, but it leaves the puzzle of two of my siblings, Peter and Barry who were definitely brought up in this country and yet I can't find birth certificates for them.
Yesterday picking up the ashes, a prescription, and putting petrol in the car, almost forgotten how to do that! Then delivering a load of knitting plus craft books to the charity shop gave me a feeling of jobs well done.
Rod and his wife came to mow the lawns, they seem out of sync at the moment, turning up on odd days. They pointed out all the moss the crows are throwing off the roof, almost a frenzy of work. The young must be born and they are desperate for food.
Not one p******** word spoke so far ;) but in choosing the Police Commissioner for the area yesterday's voting paper, guess who I gave a miss to?
Memory from F/B, two hens and the brood. Whitby is the mecca of the North. sometimes I miss it, especially the little cottage tucked away so safely in a yard. The following photo is the entrance to Paul's favourite pub, it served beer from Tadcaster I think. It was a pub for the old regulars each day as they took their customary seats.
There was a charming old lady each time we went there, she would sip her glass of wine whilst pretending to read her magazine in the corner table. Always ready to talk.
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| Market Hall |
Would you move back to Whitby do you think? Get a little flat there? It holds such happy memories for you. A shame you can't indulge yourself with a replacement for Lucy. There will be many dogs chucked into dog homes when furlough is ended and the Lockdown Puppy no longer required.
ReplyDeleteFamily history can be so frustrating at times. Do you have access to Ancestry (I have membership, so could look up for you if you haven't.) Perhaps your siblings born/registered elsewhere?
No Jennie, too many hills and definitely too many people. Whitby does have a charm though its very impracticality though has left it with a town of old cottages, now mostly holiday cottages. Thanks for the offer, my daughter phoned early this morning and said Lillie had found them, just by putting second forename first. She also has access to premium Ancestry, they are looking up her father's family.
DeleteWas that pub called "The Jolly Sailors Inn"? I have had a couple of pints in there. I preferred "The Plough Inn" - another Sam Smiths pub. Farewell to Lucy - you loved her well and gave her a good life after the trauma of being cast out into a dark shed by her previous owners. Perhaps they did not know better.
ReplyDeleteYes it was the Jolly Sailor, a very traditional pub with gorgeous crisps I haven't found elsewhere. It also was host to some of the weirdos of Whitby, old Goths, etc. Yes Lucy's back life was weird, the couple had been in Portugal with their three spaniels but had come back to England. Lucy was seen as inadequate as a retriever of game, because she hated gunshots. And as you say she had a good life with us and died at a good old age.
ReplyDeleteThere is an art to searching genealogy records, especially the old newspapers. You have to think very creatively.
ReplyDeleteStill a newbie on genealogy records Tasker, but my granddaughter seems to enjoy it. I have learnt some interesting facts along the way though.
DeleteI wondered whether you might return to Whitby Thelma but having read the comments above I can see why you wouldn't do so - also I believe you have close relatives in West Yorkshire - so presume you intend to go dow nthere. It looks as though we may never meet in person now I have no car and can no longer walk unaided.
ReplyDeleteWhitby is for the tourists, and is very hilly in parts Pat, not sure I would want to live in a miasma of fish and chips smells either. Sad we shall not meet but my eyesight has deteriorated and I would be scared of doing even a medium sized drive.
DeleteI follow your blog from my home in South Yorkshire.
ReplyDeleteSeeing comments from Pat in North Yorkshire, referring to West Yorkshire made me smile.
Especially as I'm sitting in a cottage in East Yorkshire today!
Yorkshire is a big place, a small country you could almost call it Anne. Probably the only county that has a N/S/E/W. East I suppose takes in all the coastal areas and experiences the chills and fogs from the North sea.
DeleteI have some of those buildings on the small print of Whitby I keep on my fireplace ledge - is that clock tower on the town hall with the red triangle roof peeking up right next to it? I enjoy my print even tho I have never been to Whitby and I probably will never visit.
ReplyDeleteYes you are right Ellen it is the market hall down Church street, I have put a photo on the blog for you.
DeleteThe print is titled, "Town Hall & Market Place Whitby" by Marjorie C. Bates. I find it so amazing that I would buy a $2 print at a resale shop here in Naperville, Illinois, USA just because I was drawn to it and now I know a blogger who lived there! What a coincidence!
DeleteThe print probably belonged to someone who had moved to your country from England Anne. The person who did the drawing was a 19th century painter. I once wrote of years ago a family named Cope, who moved from Avebury to America in the 17th century. Mary Cope came back to visit 'Awbury' in the 19th century as she called it and wrote a poem about it.
DeleteI don't know if it is just me, but every time I see people walking about together, unmasked, I feel a little jolt. I wonder if we'll ever return to that sort of life, where we wander familiar places together and no one gives a second thought to social distancing.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, condolences on Lucy.
thank you Debby, I had Lucy cremated and she came back in a pretty box but for some reason I am loathe to scatter her ashes yet. As for getting back to normal, I doubt it very much, they are saying it will become endemic, never quite leaving. I expect many people will always be looking over their shoulder, especially those who are classed vulnerable.
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