Monday had to be one of the wettest, coldest, windiest days I've ever experienced in Melbourne but when you are booked to give three genealogy talks on the other side of the city you can't stay in bed just because you don't like the weather. I was also giving myself extra driving time because every time I go on the Western Ring Road it is chockers and I wasn't disappointed. Getting up to about 30km an hour was about as exciting as it got and at one point I thought I wasn't going to make it to the first venue. But once past the airport it did get a bit faster and amazingly I found the first venue without getting lost once.
Yarra Plenty Regional Library has a number of libraries within it due to the sheer population numbers in this part of Melbourne. My first stop was Lalor Library and the talk was basically a beginners type talk on researching Australian ancestors. As usual I will be putting up PDF copies of the Yarra Plenty talks on the Resources page of my website, under Presentations (scroll down). I'll probably wait until after the last talks next Monday to do it. There are a few other priority items on my to do list today!
After the talk Liz (organiser of the talks as part of their National Family History Month, they can't fit everything they want to do in a single week so a month makes sense) wandered across the road (trying to ignore the rain and wind) to the shopping centre where we indulged ourselves with a pie and latte. I had a pepper one hoping it would warm me up from the inside.
After lunch it was off to Mill Park Library and I was very grateful to Liz for allowing me to follow her as I don't think I would have found my way on my own. Although trying to keep together without other cars coming in between or being separated at traffic lights was a bit tricky in the rain. Mill Park library is stunning and I actually thought it was some sort of convention centre and I even found myself thinking about how good it might be to go back to work in a place like that, especially their local history collection room. The talk here was on It's Not All Online, Where Else Can I Look which was well received by an enthusiastic audience.
After that Liz and I wandered across to the local La Porchetta for an early dinner and I again went for a warming type meal - calabrese tortellini with lots of hot salami and chilli in a great tomato sauce with another latte. We had a great genealogy/library discussion and the two hours went very quick. Then it was back into the cars for the drive to Watsonia Library and by this time I was well and truly lost as I have never been to that part of Melbourne before.
The evening talk was on researching Victorian ancestors and was well received despite a few technical difficulties at the beginning. By the end I was starting to feel a bit weary and after checking on the best way to get back on the Western Ring Road for the long drive home, I was on my way. Luckily that time of night it is not as busy as during the day but even so it still took just over an hour before I was unlocking the front door.
The other half was back from Bali and having slept all afternoon was keen to tell me all about his adventures which were definitely more exciting than my tales of packing up ready for the move which is now less than four weeks away.
I managed to get in some of my news as well including that I had an article published in the August issue of Irish Lives Remembered and I had spent time doing talks and publications. I still have two more talks to do for Yarra Plenty next Monday - details are here. These will be my last genealogy talks in Victoria which is a bit sad.
Yesterday I made a determined attach on starting to pack up my study and I'm trying to keep everything in the order it is currently in but of course that doesn't always suit the nature of the packing boxes. Because books and paper weigh so much, the boxes are smaller and I'm now surrounded by little towers of boxes! Whatever house we end up buying, it has to have a study as big as this one or bigger!
Today I'm doing some publication checking and indexing along with more study packing so I better get back to that. The day's already half gone but I've also done the domestic goddess type work as well, washing, cooking, cleaning, yes the other half is definitely back!
I hope others are having more genealogy fun than me at the moment. Till next time.
Yarra Plenty Regional Library has a number of libraries within it due to the sheer population numbers in this part of Melbourne. My first stop was Lalor Library and the talk was basically a beginners type talk on researching Australian ancestors. As usual I will be putting up PDF copies of the Yarra Plenty talks on the Resources page of my website, under Presentations (scroll down). I'll probably wait until after the last talks next Monday to do it. There are a few other priority items on my to do list today!
After the talk Liz (organiser of the talks as part of their National Family History Month, they can't fit everything they want to do in a single week so a month makes sense) wandered across the road (trying to ignore the rain and wind) to the shopping centre where we indulged ourselves with a pie and latte. I had a pepper one hoping it would warm me up from the inside.
After lunch it was off to Mill Park Library and I was very grateful to Liz for allowing me to follow her as I don't think I would have found my way on my own. Although trying to keep together without other cars coming in between or being separated at traffic lights was a bit tricky in the rain. Mill Park library is stunning and I actually thought it was some sort of convention centre and I even found myself thinking about how good it might be to go back to work in a place like that, especially their local history collection room. The talk here was on It's Not All Online, Where Else Can I Look which was well received by an enthusiastic audience.
After that Liz and I wandered across to the local La Porchetta for an early dinner and I again went for a warming type meal - calabrese tortellini with lots of hot salami and chilli in a great tomato sauce with another latte. We had a great genealogy/library discussion and the two hours went very quick. Then it was back into the cars for the drive to Watsonia Library and by this time I was well and truly lost as I have never been to that part of Melbourne before.
The evening talk was on researching Victorian ancestors and was well received despite a few technical difficulties at the beginning. By the end I was starting to feel a bit weary and after checking on the best way to get back on the Western Ring Road for the long drive home, I was on my way. Luckily that time of night it is not as busy as during the day but even so it still took just over an hour before I was unlocking the front door.
The other half was back from Bali and having slept all afternoon was keen to tell me all about his adventures which were definitely more exciting than my tales of packing up ready for the move which is now less than four weeks away.
I managed to get in some of my news as well including that I had an article published in the August issue of Irish Lives Remembered and I had spent time doing talks and publications. I still have two more talks to do for Yarra Plenty next Monday - details are here. These will be my last genealogy talks in Victoria which is a bit sad.
Yesterday I made a determined attach on starting to pack up my study and I'm trying to keep everything in the order it is currently in but of course that doesn't always suit the nature of the packing boxes. Because books and paper weigh so much, the boxes are smaller and I'm now surrounded by little towers of boxes! Whatever house we end up buying, it has to have a study as big as this one or bigger!
Today I'm doing some publication checking and indexing along with more study packing so I better get back to that. The day's already half gone but I've also done the domestic goddess type work as well, washing, cooking, cleaning, yes the other half is definitely back!
I hope others are having more genealogy fun than me at the moment. Till next time.
It was certainly a ghastly weather day and I think it did effect our attendance numbers for the sessions but for those people who made the effort, it was certainly worth while. I wish we could have hosted you at at all our branch librairies.
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