Tuesday, November 29, 2011

You know it's getting closer to winter when.......

....the butter stays hard in the butter dish........the cats sit on the heating vents.......


..........and I get a Flu shot.......OUCH!!!!!!!

My doctor is getting on in years and of late has developed a very noticeable palsy so it was with some trepidation that I watched in horror as his hands shook getting the flu dose out of the packaging and attached the needle and approached me....... all the while his hands were shaking and I knew in my heart of hearts it was really going to hurt.......and it did:(

My aching arm.  I can't lift it up with out being reminded.......ouch.

It's a very dark and gloomy day and suits my mood perfectly. The 24 hour forecast is for 30-40 mm of rain from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon......peachy.

On a positive note.........it isn't snowing:)

Take care.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Plush Pussy Cat Giveaway......

This is for those of you that are doll house lovers and/or miniature collectors.......

Look at those sweet little miniatures....:) Go visit plushpussycat and join in the giveaway fun:)

Wrapping Paper Topiaries......

This is for all of us who have tons of wrapping paper that is not quite the right size for that giftie........or for people like me who use gift bags and now have tons of wrapping paper not being used:)

52 Mantels
A simple little project that doesn't take too much time. This idea is from.....52 Mantels...go here and see how it's done:)

Take care.

p.s. You could use fabric instead of paper:)

Monday, November 21, 2011

November Monthly Make-It

I remembered to post my November entry to the Monthly Make-It Challenge hosted by The Felt Fairy. She is continuing the challenge into 2012 if any one is interested......here.

I find that it's a good idea because it forces me to finish what I've started.

This month I made a small rag doll that I have named Emily. The pattern is my own design. She is about 10 1/2 inches long/tall. Her hair is eyelash yarn that I knitted into a wig. Her dress is made from a small piece of fabric left over from an apron that my mum made about 30 years ago.

The colour looks a bit washed out but her dress and shoes are a bright spring green. The light wasn't very good this morning. It was minus 4C outside and very gloomy. It's supposed be sunny today with rain forecast for most of the week. At least it isn't snow.

Take care:)

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Patchwork Christmas Tree....

I found a perfect project on Sew What's New for all those teeny tiny bits of scrap fabric that I have hanging around and I thought I'd share it......

TeresaDownUnder
It's from a blog called My Patchwork and the blogger...TeresaDownUnder......has a photo tutorial that you can find...here.

I'm not a quilter but I think I could manage these:)

Take care:)

Monday, November 14, 2011

Soggibottom 2011 Giveaway!!!!!!

One of my favourite blogs is Soggibottom:)

Michele Vaile is a bearmaker who lives in a wonderful 17th century cottage in Devon, England. Her cottage is at the soggy end of the village...hence the name of her blog.

Michele is having a birthday and to celebrate is having a birthday giveaway of one of her teeny tiny bears.......

http://soggibottom.blogspot.com/

Isn't it cute:) Look at that sweet little scarf and hat.

Go and visit Michele and say hello and enter her giveaway today.

Take care:)

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Elf Clogs......

Yes I said Elf Clogs....

Photo from Allsorts
I was wandering around looking for something and I found the directions to make these adorable shoes on Allsorts.

So, I thought I'd post the link because you never know when you will need to know how to make Elf Clogs....right?

Take care:)

What you always wanted for Christmas.....

A free Holiday Mitten Ornament pattern ............!!!!!!!!

I know:)..... not what you expected eh? Hee. Hee.

I haven't posted a freebie in awhile. I was looking for some easy peasy ornaments to make for my Christmas tree and I found this one in my email today from Sew What's New .......


Photo from Oliver + S

Photo from Sew What's New
The idea is from a blog called Oliver + S and the pattern can be found here in PDF form.

If your like me and like to see how it's done in pictures there is a Flickr group just for that.......Here. Click on the pics and there are instructions written underneath.

Aren't they sweet.........go crazy decorating them and have fun:)

Take care.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

This and that...and the other......

So, I get an email from one of my lovely bloggy friends asking me where I am and what I'm doing:) Not much people. I really detest this point in the seasons between fall and winter.  It's wet and cold and fairly dull. It makes me restless and uneasy and unable to settle on anything creative.

So I do genealogical research. It keeps me busy and out of trouble and I may actually find something interesting. 

I have one main family tree belonging to my husband's family that I'm working on. I just counted: 7,596 people and 16,200 records!!! They tended to have large families in the day. The mind boggles at the number of children some women had.

I'm also working on my own family tree with my second cousin who lives in Glasgow. We have hit a few brick walls. Our family comes from Donegal, Ireland. Anyone doing research in Ireland will tell you how frustrating it can be but it is getting better. More records are going on line but the sad thing is that sometimes you have to pay an arm and a leg to look at them. Fortunately my second cousin goes to Ireland frequently and just spent some time in Letterkenny at the records office looking for our illusive Great Grandmother Fanny Devlin.

When you put it down on paper, we do know a lot about her but we'd like to know more.

It says on her marriage certificate that she was from Rock. We have no idea where that is...? Her father was a Michael Devlin, farmer. She married our GGF Owen Bradley in 1867 at St Mary's at Cock Hill, Buncrana, Inishowen, Donegal and went to live on his tenant farm in Meenamullaghan, Donegal. The Bradleys had been tenants on that piece of land from before 1831 that we know of from our research.

ADDED: The Rock has since been found:)  It is near Foffanagh, Fahan Lower, Co Donegal. Fanny's father Michael Devlin is there in the 1901 census aged 82.

Look on Google maps for Meenamullaghan and you'll see it is pretty remote. In Fanny's day it was a small townland with about four or five families and not much else.

This is what the old Bradley farm house looked like in 2007. It has been abandoned for many many years and is falling to ruin. It used to have a thatched roof in it's day. The land is still being tended and used for sheep.





Fanny  was 16 when she married Owen in 1867. She was 31 years old when she died in 1882. She had 10 children that we know of, the last being twins in May 1882. She died about a month after their birth. 

One of those twins was my grandfather.

When Fanny died her daughter Anne who was 13 took over the care of the small ones. Anne died at the age of 20 in 1889 of Typhus Fever from an infected well.

Age of the children at Fanny's death:

William - 14 yrs
Anne - 13 yrs
Patrick - 11 yrs
Catherine - 10 yrs
Charles - 8 yrs
Michael - 6 yrs
Jane - 4 yrs
Mary - 2 yrs
James - 25 days
John (Henry) - 25 days

Owen did not remarry after Fanny's death. He died in 1902 at the age of 66.

So that is all we know about her...not much. It was a hard life.

All of the children, except William, left Ireland and settled in Glasgow and became very successful. William took over the farm after Owen died, married and had several children...and at last count over 60 grand children. William was the last Bradley to farm in Meenamullaghan that we know of and strangely enough someone has put a Bradley monument in the graveyard in Buncrana.

IN MEMORY OF THE BRADLEY MEENAMULLAGHAN......RIP

Strange eh??? We don't know who and we don't know why.

A lot of people think my hobby is a bit strange. But, I love the research bit. Some of my family start to look glassy eyed when I launch into my latest discourse about some old moth eaten record I've found. But I don't care. I think it's interesting to find out what your roots are because that's what made you......you.

So that's what I've been doing.

Take care:)