Christmas at Mum's place was voted the best in years - we managed to have all the family present, the kids (now all adults) plus the adults all got on, our small gifts to each other all hit the mark and showed a lot of thought in the selection and we didn't overeat or drink. Mum was even convinced to turn the air con on! This is really similar to other years so I'm not sure why we all felt that it was the best but I do have some nice photos of everyone around the table having a good time.
Since then we have been busy catching up with friends on Bribie Island and taking delivery of our new boat and taking it for a spin or two. I'm very pleased and proud to say that I was the first to catch a fish in it too! It's going to get a lot of use once some of the tourists and holidaymakers return home. Pumicestone Passage is always busy this time of year.
We've also started to re-landscape the back garden and putting in some new plants. It's all hard work but once we have the gardens looking the way we want we can sit back and relax (or do our hobbies without feeling too guilty).
I haven't done too much genealogy but I did realise that I had forgotten to mention that National Archives of Australia has a new research guide - Commonwealth Government Records about Tasmania which will be launched and available in late January 2014. It is compiled by old friend and colleague Michael Piggott. I've been sent an advance review copy but so far I haven't had time to do more than flick through the pages but it looks good.
Module 3 of my Connecting with Families course with the National Institute of Genealogical Studies was easier than I thought it would be as I already use timelines as part of my normal genealogical research but I wasn't aware of some of the website tools so I will spend a bit more time looking into them. The other major focus of the written assignments was gravestones, another area that I have done a lot of work in. But again I was surprised by websites that I hadn't come across before, although some are just American focused - I should look at them for my Norwegian ancestors who went to Minnesota in 1851. Module 4 is next and then the exam - all to be finished by 19 January!
I also found time to do My Genealogy Aspirations 2014 which included a review of my 2013 aspirations and as yet I haven't participated in Geniaus' Accentuate the Positive Geneameme 2013 blog challenge. I did her 2012 challenge and I always find it surprising how much genealogy I have done when I think about the questions Jill poses in the Geneameme. So that will be an early 2014 blog challenge!
As I indicated in my Aspirations I want to get back to writing blogs about my families and other genealogy topics so I have been working on my own blog challenge that reflects my archival background. It's not easy coming up with 52 topics that involve genealogy, archives and records but I have a list of sorts and I'm hoping to kick that off during the first week of 2014 and then every week thereafter. The other hard part is coming up with a catchy name for it! Wish me luck.
Tonight is New Year's Eve and we have booked into the local bowls club for their dinner/dance so that should be good. We decided to skip the fireworks this year and as it seems to be threatening to rain, perhaps that was a good idea. I hope everyone has a terrific 2014 genealogy year ahead of them and that we all progress our research or at least learn a little more about our ancestors. Until next time.
Since then we have been busy catching up with friends on Bribie Island and taking delivery of our new boat and taking it for a spin or two. I'm very pleased and proud to say that I was the first to catch a fish in it too! It's going to get a lot of use once some of the tourists and holidaymakers return home. Pumicestone Passage is always busy this time of year.
We've also started to re-landscape the back garden and putting in some new plants. It's all hard work but once we have the gardens looking the way we want we can sit back and relax (or do our hobbies without feeling too guilty).
I haven't done too much genealogy but I did realise that I had forgotten to mention that National Archives of Australia has a new research guide - Commonwealth Government Records about Tasmania which will be launched and available in late January 2014. It is compiled by old friend and colleague Michael Piggott. I've been sent an advance review copy but so far I haven't had time to do more than flick through the pages but it looks good.
Module 3 of my Connecting with Families course with the National Institute of Genealogical Studies was easier than I thought it would be as I already use timelines as part of my normal genealogical research but I wasn't aware of some of the website tools so I will spend a bit more time looking into them. The other major focus of the written assignments was gravestones, another area that I have done a lot of work in. But again I was surprised by websites that I hadn't come across before, although some are just American focused - I should look at them for my Norwegian ancestors who went to Minnesota in 1851. Module 4 is next and then the exam - all to be finished by 19 January!
I also found time to do My Genealogy Aspirations 2014 which included a review of my 2013 aspirations and as yet I haven't participated in Geniaus' Accentuate the Positive Geneameme 2013 blog challenge. I did her 2012 challenge and I always find it surprising how much genealogy I have done when I think about the questions Jill poses in the Geneameme. So that will be an early 2014 blog challenge!
As I indicated in my Aspirations I want to get back to writing blogs about my families and other genealogy topics so I have been working on my own blog challenge that reflects my archival background. It's not easy coming up with 52 topics that involve genealogy, archives and records but I have a list of sorts and I'm hoping to kick that off during the first week of 2014 and then every week thereafter. The other hard part is coming up with a catchy name for it! Wish me luck.
Tonight is New Year's Eve and we have booked into the local bowls club for their dinner/dance so that should be good. We decided to skip the fireworks this year and as it seems to be threatening to rain, perhaps that was a good idea. I hope everyone has a terrific 2014 genealogy year ahead of them and that we all progress our research or at least learn a little more about our ancestors. Until next time.
Happy New Year to you, Shauna. I hope 2014 brings lots of Geneasuccesses and Geneasurprises.
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