My beau says Merlin must be the most photographed cat on the planet! I have to agree, but she’s so gorgeous and photogenic that I can’t help taking photos of her! This one was taken on my mobile phone with a new app I found called ‘Vignette’. I love the colours of the shot mixed in with a slightly dreamy effect which compliments the refection in her eyes really well.

A lot of my family and ancestors appeared to have been either musicians or gardeners in their spare time; I have been lucky – as I enjoy both! I spend a large part of my working week as a musician, but yet, love spending time in the garden whenever I get the chance.

I have recently enjoyed creating winter window boxes for the front of the house – as well as filling the stone pots with winter plants including evergreens, miniature conifers, pansies, violas, primulas, cyclamens to name but a few ;-) in the back garden. I love colour all year round.

I also really love how a garden changes continually throughout the year – and I have just collaged this little collection of photographs taken in the short time we’ve been in this house.

As well as plants, I also love buying ‘accessories’ for the garden – and have recently purchased a second mangle (this time for the front garden), a vintage rusty milk churn and an old Victorian iron wheel (that most probably belonged to an old wheel barrow) all cheaply off eBay. I love how they give the garden added character.

We have bulbs coming up already – so am looking forward to seeing the next chapter of this garden’s evolution too!

This passion for stationery has never gone away – and last weekend I fulfilled a goal that I’ve wanted to achieve for some time – a book-binding workshop weekend! I was told about the workshop by the lovely Gillian Lee Smith (who I’ve mentioned on here before)  and through her link I was able to contact the workshop leader Rachel Hazell. I booked myself on – and two days of creative book-binding ensued.

We started by creating little booklets made simply out of A4 pieces of paper – and this led eventually to folds of paper being stitched together in various designs. It was a lot more fiddly than what I thought it’d be – but I was impressed by my fumbled results and the amount of booklets we managed to make in the time. On the second day, we practised other stitching patterns before creating our own piece of ‘book art’ out of beautiful paper – and utilising the knowledge and techniques learnt during the weekend. I took in old photographs, lexicon cards, ephemera and little vintage wares to use within my creation. The book I made had little pockets and flaps in which to tuck things – it also had scored folds which meant the book unfolded in unique ways revealing little hidden areas for those special words of wisdom. (I’ve not written those yet!)

Want to see some more pics? (click for a bigger nosey)

Rachel was a constant source of wisdom and wit and I thoroughly enjoyed (and would recommend) the weekend. I also particularly loved meeting other creative artists and book-binding enthusiasts; plus I want to give an extra special shout-out to Fiona P, definitely the mostess hostess, who fed and watered us throughout. You can find a link to Rachel’s website HERE which is full of interesting facts, links to blogs and information about her past and future endeavours. Her aim is to run one workshop a month for the next 12 months before creating a video and book about the process and experience. Watch this space for more details about this – as and when I find out about it.

I took this at an architectural reclamation yard – and was particularly struck by the barbed wire wall against the peacefulness of the religious stone figure.

Set up by 7 friends, Graze is a fairly new online company who deliver little punnets of healthy goodness and treats directly to your door or office for less than the price of a bottle of wine! Comprising choices of breads, crackers, dips & dippers, flapjacks, olives, natural teats, dried fruit, nut mixes and seeds – there is something for everybody with over 100 different natural products to tempt your snacky taste buds!

I know some will call me lazy for this – and clearly I am – but I was interested in this site for several reasons; a) I got given a code which entitled me to try two boxes of food for FREE b) I never know what little tasty treats to buy from the health food shops so I usually end up buying chocolate instead and c) when I do buy healthy treats, I usually forget about them till after their expiry date!! Lastly, I also love gimmicky new things – and so thought I’d give it a go – and I had my first FREE box delivered this morning. This is what I got:

HAZELNUT ESPRESSO – which contains coffee milk chocolate drops, hazelnuts, plums and amaretto drops. (Particularly yummy!)

THE HERB GARDEN: Oregano rice crackers, crispy peanuts & baked herb bites.

APPLE & CINNAMON FLAPJACK: 3 small rustic rolled oat flapjack segments

THE HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON: punnet of apricots, dates & plums

I have been enjoyably snacking on these all day (you can specify which day you would like your order to be delivered too!). Each week they will send you 4 different punnets to try – based on your likes and dislikes (which you can inform them of) – all for £3.49 including postage! PLUS: with this code and link HERE (http://www.graze.com/p/TJTFYR1) you too can try TWO FREE boxes of Graze goodness like me!

After my 5th box I will decide whether to cancel or not – however, by the time I’ve bought some crisps, a cake and/or a huge bar of Cadbury’s as a side order to my lunchtime sandwich, I will have nearly spent what it costs to order one of these boxes – so I might continue to purchase and pack a healthier punnet a day into my lunchbox instead ;-)

Plus, like a schoolboy, I was very excited to receive this box through the post this morning – see, it CAN be Christmas everyday!! AND – more importantly, for everyone of you who signs up, I get the chance to donate a £1.00 to the Graze school of farming. This school teaches locals how to grow fruit trees in deprived rural Uganda. The project provides local students with tuition, tools and support to start their own orchards, invigorating poor rural areas by improving nutrition (the diet in these areas is generally very poor), increasing productivity from the land, empowering locals and providing a source of income.

Also, all packaging used comes from sustainable forests, is bio-degradable and 100% recyclable!

Everybody wins. Try it ;-)

I took this whilst walking to a workshop this weekend in Hebden Bridge. I found this little shelter which had patterned and coloured mosaic shapes all over its derelict walls – I took some scrummy shots of the nearby graffiti too ;-)

Last year I bought a beautiful handmade and printed notebook – especially for writing notes, thoughts and poetry in response to old images that I had. I’d like to share one such photograph of mine, that I sello-taped into this book – and my subsequent scribblings and inspirations for a poem.

This image made me think of a story, told to me by my dad, about a lady who lived in his village when he was a boy. Her only child, a son, went off to serve in the second world war – but was never to return. His body was never identified – and so, deep down, she believed that he was still alive somewhere, possibly wounded – but sure to return home one day to her.

For the rest of her life, it was said, she waited daily at her gate – looking up and down the lane – silently waiting for his safe return. She did this everyday until, eventually, she died of a broken heart. This image and this story inspired me to write this poem today, whilst recovering.

*

Five long mournful winters lay, wrapped and bowed, unaware of sadness

No vision to touch, yet a man in battle, landscaped & lost

They say he’s breathless…

…I’ll never believe

*

A mother’s tears will never dry

I stand and wait, helpless -

and I mourn – as only a mother can

whilst unknown brides rest, heavy, with uplifting smile and travelled dreams

  anticipating their unveil and unborn

*

Sometimes grief strips me of your wanted voice & gentleness of hand

but then I stand – and wait – and listen – and believe

and only then I hear – I feel – and I see

*

Lord, guide his spirit safely home to me…

*

I took this with a mobile phone in my living room. I particularly like how the end effect is very mysterious and ghostly – with my Mozart bust almost appearing through the mist!

Anyhow, with a new blog in tow, I set about doing just this. It was at times, extremely hard – not only finding out information about the person in the photograph but also tracing someone connected to them through their family tree. I used online census’s and genealogy websites; and whilst I often identified the pictures subject, their address, their birth & death dates and their offspring – it was only recently that I had my first reconnection to a ‘living’ relative. I wanted to share this with you now.

This is what I wrote back in April 2011:

For your family history viewing pleasure today I have a beautiful young lady called Clara Yates – and her eventual husband Cyril Bowden.

From my research, I believe Clara was born in 1897/8 in Charlesworth, Derbyshire. Daughter of Samuel and Lucy, Clara had lots of brothers and sisters (some of which I believe I also have photographs of) including Mary, Mabel and Tom.

In the last quarter of 1921, she married Cyril Bowden. On my research, I found a young man with this name and of similar age to Clara, living close to her in nearby Glossop (which is where relatives of the Yates family also lived). The youngest of 5 surviving children, Cyril is listed on the 1911 census as living with his parents Lemuel and Sarah and siblings on St. Mary’s Road in Glossop.

Here is a photograph of both Clara and Cyril together, (click to enlarge) taken in approximately 1925/6 (according to the back of the photograph). What happened to Clara & Cyril. How long were they married? Did they have any children? Are you descendents of them? I have emailed several people through ‘Genes Reunited’ who appear to have both Cyril & Clara within their family tree – I have heard back from one gentleman, although it is still unclear how he is actually related to the Yates family. I have, as yet, to hear anything back from the others.

It transpired that the gentleman (Stewart) I was talking to was also a family historian – and his parents had been cousins of Clara Yates. The great-grandmother of Stewart had been a sister of Clara’s mother (don’t you just LOVE family history!!) and he had known some of the Yates family as a young boy.

I informed Stewart that I had only bought 8 photographs from a photo album on the local market – but that indeed the rest of the album was still for sale along with some postmarked letters. These were addressed to Olga Yates, the daughter of Tom Yates – who had been a brother to Clara. Stewart was very excited to hear about this (as he had met Olga on various occasions as a boy) and asked me to purchase the photo album on his behalf – which I posted to him in November last year. Other photographs were inside of the family – and it appears that the photo album actually had been the property of Olga Yates who had died in the year 2000.

Here are a few photographs of the album and its content:

Olga had been a very successful business woman and had set up her own company called Errin Foods – which apparently was sold on to Heinz. It was said within the family that one year she had bought virtually every crop of British tomatoes for her foods. Sadly, I’ve been unable to find out anything more about this through my research.

Stewart has since informed me that he has found another relative, linked to Olga’s grandparents, and has contacted them for information – and is considering sending the whole album to Glossop’s Heritage Centre to help identify the remaining photographs. I’ll let you know if I hear anymore.

It’s been wonderful to think that, through my blog and my research, I have been able to reconnect an album of 160 photographs to a living relative. However, I’d love to do so much more with ‘Identifamily’ – although it takes up so much time and money that I’m sadly having to limit my involvement with this at the moment. My subscriptions have currently run out, plus I need more time to ‘hunt down’ and purchase photographs that contain traceable names. This is quite a feat in itself; I literally have hundreds of Victorian photographs – but the majority of which do not have any identifiable information on them. And why would they…how many photos of our own have traceable details on them? I find it really sad to think that our current treasured historical and family images may, one day, end up, unloved, on a market stall (although more likely on a USB stick than a photo album admittedly)!

Yes, I know what I like, admittedly, but the house has my personality, stamp and taste written all over it….so, surely very clear for people to see when they come and visit. Personally I think I’m by far the easiest person I know to buy for! ;-) But due to this, I often receive money instead – especially from family – with a request to buy something for myself on my travels. So…this is what I have done…and ok, at least I can buy exactly what I want!

This is a photograph of our spare room (ready for all you fellow bloggers to come and stay!) in which we have a few new finds. I bought an Edwardian chest of drawers off eBay for a bargain price with some of our gifted money. They were in situe locally and so I went to see them on the way home from work, ending up with them in the boot within the half hour! They’re not too big and so the perfect size for the spare room and for our guests to use at their will. The subtle smokey lilac-grey bedspread was also a bargain festive find – and reminds me of the candlewick bedspreads from my youth…and looks great on the end of the bed. (Click on the pic for a closer look).

Downstairs, we also have a few other gifts bought from monetary donation. I use to own an oil lamp that belonged to my late sister, which sadly got broken many years ago. I used some of my Christmas money to buy a replacement antique one, which now has pride of place on the mantlepiece. In the same antique shop, they also had this brass ecclesiastical church candlestick which I fell in love with due to its battered state. It seriously looks as if it’s been dropped from a great height at some point – but it just adds mystery and character to its history in my opinion.

My beau also got a vintage Crombie tweed coat from the same shop which he hasn’t taken off since! It was a snip of a price and fitted him perfectly.

I also want to show you a beautiful gift that I received from a fellow blogger ‘Tialys’ AKA Lynne, in response to a competition she ran over on her own blog – which you can find here. It was very much appreciated and loved (especially as I didn’t win!) and became the perfect festive accompaniment on the coffee table, housing the much prized Quality Street & Roses chocolate sweets!

So there you have it…a few new gorgeous additions to the Houdini household…or as some family & friends have called it about the ‘more antique’ of my purchases “…more junk to dust!”

Thank goodness I disagree ;-)