52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - FAMILY PHOTO

I'm rather late with this post, but looking at the weekly prompts, this was one I could do fairly easily.

I have a lovely big portrait of my maternal grandmother and her two sisters hanging on the wall at my home. It came from my great aunt's house in the 1980's when my mother helped to clear Auntie Angie's house when she and her husband went into a nursing home.

Including the ornate frame, it is about 60 x 50 cm and was probably taken around 1905. The photo and surround have some foxing, but the frame is in good repair. The frame was probably made by an uncle who worked as a picture framer, and who was reputed to have worked restoring frames at the National Gallery here in Melbourne.

Smaller copies (carte de visite size) were made and sent to relatives overseas. My cousin in Washington State has one that was sent to her great grandmother - their mother's sister.

On the left is my great-aunt Angela Carmel Trowbridge, commonly called Angie, and a favourite in our family. She often came to visit when we were kids and always sent us girls a beautiful birthday card with a hankie tucked inside.

In the middle is Margarita Teresa Trowbridge, known as Rita, who I don't remember ever meeting. I knew there'd been a bit of a falling out between her and my nana, but my mother was quite close to Rita's daughters - so at least we didn't lose all contact. And in fact, I have another photo of the three "girls" with their father, taken in about 1950.

On the right is my nana, Eileen Marie Trowbridge who looks quite serious and has that stubborn looking chin. I remember her coming to visit when we were young children and often staying for a few days to help Mum. All the photos show her with that same serious expression, but I remember her smile and how her eyes lit up behind the glasses she wore later in life.

Strangely enough, I tend to have that same serious expression on my face quite often - although I don't have the chin!

And just for interest sake, here is the 1950 photo - from L to R: Rita, Eileen, George Trowbridge, Angie.

We seem to have lost the habit of taking formal family portraits, which is a shame, as we will only have snapshots to pass on to family genealogists in the future. Still, as long as they are labelled everything should be OK.

Awesome Day!

I follow a couple of art challenges on Facebook, one I've been following for over 3 years and a couple of others for just over 2 years. The one I've been following the longest is Colour Me Positive, run out of Queenland in Australia. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1712426162335330/?fref=nf)

This week's quote is "Have an awesome day! And if that doesn't work, try again tomorrow", and as I have done for a couple of other challenges this year, I am responding by doing a blog entry. My blog was dormant for a long time until this year, when I have done several posts in response to various art challenges, lessons and experiences.

Today's experience definitely comes under awesome. It started out as a visit to Dandenong Market with my sister-in-law (Cheryl) so that she could buy some small Australian souvenirs to take with her in June when she embarks on a European tour. Cheryl is so excited about this trip - her first overseas trip, if you dismiss the cruise to New Caledonia a couple of years ago.

This is a long held dream for Cheryl and she is very brave to go off on her own (leaving hubby at home) to join an organised tour hitting all the hotshots. After that, her younger son is joining her to tour around France where he has numerous friends, having played his guitar at music festivals every European summer for a number of years.

Anyway, that's why she wanted some small souvenirs to give as gifts to friends, family & anyone else who helps them out.

Souvenirs purchased, we stopped at a Turkish Cafe she knows for coffee and a snack. As Cheryl paid, the Cafe lady asked her to help another customer which Cheryl did quite willingly. When this other lady went to sit down with her food, Cheryl invited her to join us.

Nina, is from Taiwan and has been in Australia for three years. We found out lots of things about her because my sister-in-law asked and was interested in the answers. Nina is learning to drive, her son lives near us, her husband passed away, her son sponsored her to come to Australia, and she is learning to like all the different cultures and loves all the shops.

Nina told us that she also met someone the last time she bought coffee at this Cafe. So the awesome part of our day was making a new friend, even though we may never see her again. I hope Nina enjoyed meeting us.

Nina commented that Cheryl really listened to her and tried hard to understand what she was saying. That's pretty awesome too - it's not a skill many of us have - too busy on our phones or just not prepared to give people the time of day. This skill is one Cheryl has always had, but it has been honed over the years with her work in aged care, particularly with dementia patients.

Cheryl is now retired, but the skill is being put to AWESOME use making friends with all sort of people in all sorts of places - and won't she have an awesome time on her travels talking to all and sundry!!

Keepsakes and Remembering

This blog post was inspired by one of this week's Life Book lessons. The lesson is about making a Prayer Altar of some sort - it could be about family, or to set your intentions, or about anything special in your life. Not really my sort of thing, BUT... today I was dusting and realised that I already have a sort of family altar set up in my living room.

On the shelves of a large wall unit are photos and keepsakes going back as far as 1888. Across three shelves, I have photos, hand-painted china, shells, a music box, my great-grandmother's photo album and a set of encyclopedias from my father's childhood. In other areas of the house, I have wooden and papier-mache boxes, several candlesticks, and yet more photos.

Plus I have lots of "stuff" from my travels around Australia and the world - keepsakes and photos scrapbooked into albums. I have rocks collected along the way, a piece of pottery, a bullet casing (from when I got to shoot an AK47!), books, ornaments and lots of tourist paraphernalia collected on my travels.

In these days of minimalism and de-cluttering we often forget that keepsakes are a way back to the past, to honour our ancestors and are a great memory jogger for family get-togethers. I can't tell you how often my great-grandmother Montagnat's photo album has been pored over by cousins and aunties; or how often I have been asked about different keepsakes around my house. 

My home is certainly NOT minimalist and I love having these objects around me - reminding me of my parents, grandparents, and other relatives whose stories I have been told. While you don't have to go overboard, it is nice to have a few things to display like family photos or other memorabilia - that way when something catches your eye you get that nice, warm remembering feeling.

Stuck to my computer desk with a bit of washi tape is a picture of my Mum - leftover from a Documented Life project in 2015. It's not much, but it is  nice photo of her and I often look at it, smile back at her and say hello. I don't see it every day, but when I do it makes me happy.



Some of my memorabilia


Cup & saucer painted in 1888 by my mother's great uncle, Poppy vase painted by my mother, music box with dancing dolly from my great aunt, glass cup from my great uncle, wooden cigarette holder belonging to my Dad

Photos of both my nephews with their father's baby photo behind. Photos of my niece, my parent's wedding, my Nana in her best coat. Shells, pincushion & candlestick in front.

In pride of place on one wall is a large (20" x 24") portrait of my Nana and her two sisters taken around 1900. The rather solemn girl to my right is my Nana Eileen, the middle girl is my great-aunt Margarita (Rita), and the cutie on my left is great-aunt Angela (Angie). As we have a couple of picture framers in the family, I am assuming that the frame was made by a relative.

Footnote

Quite coincidentally, my sister-in-law has to go to the cemetery where my parents are buried and rang today needing a lift (she has busted a couple of bones in her wrist & cannot drive). So tomorrow, while Cheryl discusses recovering her father's ashes, I will make a visit to Mum & Dad, as well as Auntie Angie (music box) & Uncle Jim (glass cup) who are buried nearby. And I will probably say a prayer while I am there!

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - I'D LIKE TO MEET

Who would I really like to meet? Well, lots of ancestors actually to find out if the family stories are true, or just to find out more about them.

I've run into a few brick walls along the way - unable to find parentage to go further back, or unable to find how people arrived in Australia or UK, so I'd love nothing better than to go back and question some of my ancestors.

I'd ask my three time great-grandfather on my mother's side, Thomas Trowbridge (abt 1798-1865), about his parents, or is he the Thomas Trowbridge born at the Foundling Hospital in London. Or talk to Michael Cahill (abt 1815-1886), my three time great-grandfather on my father's side, about the family story that he met his wife on the ship coming out here - or is he a convict as I suspect?

I'd like to talk to lots of them about their experiences sailing out here in the 1800s - no doubt, all with a very personal slant.  The convict, Alfred Dale (1827-1879), would have had a very different trip in 1845 compared to the Trowbridge family (John, Susan and seven children) who migrated to Australia in 1872, following in the footsteps of John's father and two sisters.

Did my Mum's maternal grandparents know each other in Monmouth, Wales when they were children? Who really was my paternal grandfather's father - are we Sawyers or did someone else get his Mum pregnant? And, how did Dilkoosha Loveland come by her unusual name?

In a way, I'd like to visit all of them from my parents backwards, just to sit and talk about their lives and what memories they have of the times that they lived in. How wonderful it would be to add some personal stories alongside the historical facts.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - UNUSUAL NAME

The most unusual name in my family tree is that of Dilkoosha Eva Loveland. She was born on 18th June 1900 to Charles Henry Loveland and Ellen Maria Sawyer (my 2nd great aunt).

When I look up Dilkoosha on Google, I get images of Dilkusha Palace in Lucknow, India which was apparently built as a hunting lodge and used as a residence by the British in the 1850s. How my cousin (twice removed) came to be named after this building is a bit of a mystery.

Neither of Dilkoosha's parents had anything to do with India - both of them were born and grew up in South East England. My only conclusion is that there must have been something in the newspapers at the time and the name caught their imagination.

It's like a couple of family members born in Australia who have a middle name of Stanislaus - how did that happen?

Anyway if you want to have a look at Dilkusha Palace, here is a link to a photo in the British Library:
http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/d/019pho000000988u00005000.html

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - CHALLENGE

I think the most challenging thing has been trying to find and then obtain certificates of birth, death and marriage. It is hard enough finding certificates in Australia - each State has its own rules and pricing structure, and it's not exactly cheap.

I haven't been game to try and obtain overseas certificates, it has been such a minefield trying to get information locally. I have a cousin (actually she is my Dad's cousin) who is really interested in the French side of the family and I think she has lots more information than she has told me! But she does tend to hoard her finds and sometimes it is hard to get copies from her.

Mostly, I am happy to make my findings freely available on Ancestry to fellow family researchers because I have been the beneficiary of their generosity in the past. If I think something should be kept private, I will not post it. My cousin is not on Ancestry but has everything filed away at home, and because of a dodgy internet connection cannot always send things electronically.

So, the challenge for me as a pure amateur, is to find proper source documents to back up the information in my tree. The tyranny of distance, the language differences and the cost involved all put roadblocks in my way.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - FIRST

So the first prompt is the word FIRST. We can interpret this any way we like, but I thought I would go back to the beginning.

My sister started things off with trying to find our paternal grandfather - Charles Sawyer. We were told that he had left the family some time in the 1930s. Dad didn't know all that much, except he saw him sometimes in town (i.e. the city centre of Melbourne) - apparently our grandfather worked in a cafe or milk bar. Our grandmother would not talk about him and was purported to hate the English because of him!

Not sure if the very FIRST thing we did was to get a copy of Dad's birth certificate or a copy of the marriage certificate between his parents. Needless to say all this was after our father had passed away and we could no longer ask him for more information. We only had the very little that he had told us in the past.

My sister reminded me that Dad had been called out of class at school to say goodbye to his father when he (Charles) went off to war. And Dad's sister tells about seeing a man in army uniform loitering near where they lived, and being calling her indoors by her grandmother. And one other story, is that Grandma (his ex) saw him in a newsreel that showed soldiers boarding a ship to go off the war.

My next step was to get his war record from the National Archives, for which I had to pay a hefty sum - but it is now digitised and freely available to anyone else who wants to research Charles Sawyer. Around about this time, my sister opened up an account on Ancestry.com, set up a fairly basic family tree, and we have gone on from there.

We have since been in contact with other members of the Sawyer family, including one who met Charles when he visited England in the 1950s. But we have more work to do and I suspect that we may never quite pin Charles down.

First Week of Life Book 2019

I am absolutely blown away by what is on offer in the first week of Life Book 2019. I haven’t set paintbrush to paper yet, but I’ve watched the warm-up painting videos, watched Sarah Trumpp’s art (but not the yoga yet), looked at both of Andy Mason’s offerings, and listened to Tamara LaPorte’s wonderful meditation.

The meditation just blew me away. I did not listen in optimal conditions – I had two noisy neighbours who kept intruding into the soundscape. But I persevered and even though I didn’t really see a symbol on my robe, once I opened the door, I got a big shock. There was my mother welcoming me and I walked into her arms and was enfolded in such warm light and love. It was amazing and totally out of the blue – so nice to sit in her arms for a while - she's been gone for so long.

I already had my word of the year “TROUNCE”. I picked it because it kept coming up in crosswords and puzzles in December. But the visit with Mum, gave me “OPEN HEART” and a symbol I can use. My animal is a “scaredy cat” – this came from an exercise I did as part of Alexa Cohen’s Awakening Through Art.

Then today, I looked at Andy’s videos – they too were a revelation. I loved the concept of the Parental messages and Child feelings that keep us hooked to behaviours or reactions. I will certainly be looking more closely at developing my Adult consciousness to counteract what I think are some 60-year-old hooks. Amazingly, I had recently come to the realisation that some of my problems might be related to a childhood illness and the associated ongoing problems while growing up and even now rearing their ugly head.

But… best of all were the links between my words when I looked at the feelings that they gave me. TROUNCE is about challenge, discovery, freedom, order, space, inspiration. It’s about beating obstacles, pouncing on life and letting the scaredy cat go – with my aim being clear-headedness. OPEN HEART is about acceptance, belonging, community, warmth, inspiration, discovery. It’s about letting things and people in – the aim is to be interested.

So, there are two clear double ups in my needs – inspiration and discovery – both of which I’m sure, will be more than adequately met by Life Book 2019. I am so looking forward to the journey.

Thanks Tamara, Andy and Sarah - I can't wait too see more.

And if you would like to join in, the link below will take you somewhere so you can have a look:

https://www.willowing.org/product/life-book-2019/

Creative Jump Start 2019 - Day 1

So here I am using my blog again to take part in one of Natalie Kalbach's workshops - it seems that I have not blogged since I finished the Artful Stroll in 2017!

This is my effort for Day1 - I did a three parter - the outside of my house, a couple of rooms inside, then the back garden. I did not plan it too well, so my pages aren't quite the right size, but I'm pleased that I got the concept right.

Now to get on with the next project.

Artful Stroll - Geometric

This was the work waiting for me yesterday morning when I arrived at work - about 18 crates of books, each containing anywhere from 20 to 50 books. I think it looks pretty geometric!!

This photo is in response to the Artful Adventures Stroll through the Hood project. You can find out more here: http://nathaliesstudio.com/learn/online-workshops/artful-adventures-stroll-challenge/

Artful Stroll - View

This is a somewhat skewed version of "view" - but I could not resist. Every time I go around to my brother's house, my nephew's dog Yella wants to play tug. She is very strong and just about pulls by arm out of its socket! And of course, she wants to play forever.

As my brother only lives five minutes away by car, I consider that this is in my hood even though I drove rather than strolled! Unlike my photo for the 25th May Reflection which was in China - what was I thinking?

This photo is in response to the Artful Adventures Stroll through the Hood project. You can find out more here: http://nathaliesstudio.com/learn/online-workshops/artful-adventures-stroll-challenge/

Artful Stroll - Growth

I had to pick up a book at the local library yesterday and took  photo of the children's area - sadly bereft of children at the time.

I retrained as a Library Technician a few years ago, but even before then I was a great believer in the power of reading. The younger you get children started, the more likely they are to read throughout their life. To me reading is growth - words, stories, places, information, imagination.

(Sorry, the photo is ever so slightly out of focus)

This photo is in response to the Artful Adventures Stroll through the Hood project. You can find out more here: http://nathaliesstudio.com/learn/online-workshops/artful-adventures-stroll-challenge/

Artful Stroll - Shadow

I love the dappled shadows I get in my garden in the late afternoon. This is a self-seeded lavender bush (nearly as tall as me) growing out from my pavers and the shadows are playing against the garage wall.

The lavender is always full of bees and other insects and I love it!

This photo is in response to the Artful Adventures Stroll through the Hood project. You can find out more here: http://nathaliesstudio.com/learn/online-workshops/artful-adventures-stroll-challenge/

Artful Stroll - Boundary

This photo is not very recent but it does show the north boundary of the property where I live and the construction of factories going on. We also have a major road running past our north-east boundary.

But while this photo looks stark, there are walking paths and trees have been planted to soften the outlook.

This photo is in response to the Artful Adventures Stroll through the Hood project. You can find out more here: http://nathaliesstudio.com/learn/online-workshops/artful-adventures-stroll-challenge/

Artfully strolling

It is the beginning of winter here in the southern hemisphere and I have to say I don't often feel like strolling on my days off. But it has been a sunny weekend and I was able to fit in a few more photo prompts.

Day 18 - Contrast

We've had some frosty mornings, so I tried to capture the sunny sky with the frost still on the roof - unfortunately, it is not a very good photo.

Day 21 - Loud

To the south of our unit complex is a school and a number of ovals where various games are played throughout the year - football, cricket, hockey, athletics. By far the noisiest are the Australian Rules football games played every weekend in winter. As well as the cheers of the crowd and the siren sounding for each quarter, we also have to put up with the shouts of coaches during the week when the team are training.

This photo was taken from my neighbour's kitchen when I was visiting today.

Day 22 - Old

I am lucky enough to have a few treasures from my mother's family which go back to the 1800s, but my favourite thing is the large photo of my Nana and her two sisters taken about 1900. this photo has pride of place in my dining area with a couple of other family photos.

Day 25 - Light

The sun was shining very brightly this morning as there were no clouds so my north facing rooms warmed up quickly today. This is the corner of my craft room with the light coming through the blinds.

I still need to find something to photograph for Boundary & Subtle, and if I go outside now (4 p.m.) I should get some afternoon shadow for tomorrow's prompt. So cheers for now and thanks for looking.

These photos are in response to the Artful Adventures Stroll through the Hood project. You can find out more here: http://nathaliesstudio.com/learn/online-workshops/artful-adventures-stroll-challenge/ 

Artful Stroll - Tiny & Progress

Here I am again, trying to catch up with the prompts provided by Natalie in her "Stroll through the Hood" art challenge adventure. I think they are getting harder and we have to put more thought into what our responses will be. Interesting and still fun!

Day 19 - Tiny

Here I have used an old photo from the nearby Botanic Gardens. These beautiful birds used to visit my yard when I first moved in to the area over 20 years ago. Sadly they have been moved out by road building, factory building and of course, predators - because they are tiny - smaller than a common sparrow.

They are the Superb Fairy Wren whose males turn this lovely bright blue for part of the year, and I was exceptionally lucky to get this shot as they are very fast movers.

Day 20 - Progress

I am taking part in a year long on-line course learning how to paint faces and skin tones.  (https://karabullockart.com/product/lets-face-2017/)
One of my colleagues at work is taking a keen interest in my progress, so occasionally I post something on Facebook for her to see. I posted this last night.

I still have work to do with shading and skin colour, but I am happy with it so far. I hope I can get more done this afternoon after work. Then I can start on the next lesson because, guess what? - I am about three weeks behind on these classes.

Thanks for looking and cheers.

These photos are in response to the Artful Adventures Stroll through the Hood project. You can find out more here: http://nathaliesstudio.com/learn/online-workshops/artful-adventures-stroll-challenge/ 

Artful Stroll - Text

Today I have photographed a crate of books - one of about 10 sitting behind my desk waiting to be processed. The company that I work for gets books "shelf-ready" for libraries. We label and cover the books, and for many libraries, we then add the books to their databases (catalogues) before delivering them.

My job is data entry to the library catalogue and I do some editing or downloading of catalogue entries. I retrained as a library technician in 2012 & 2013 after working more than 30 years in accounts and admin for various companies.

This photo is in response to the Artful Adventures Stroll through the Hood project. You can find out more here: http://nathaliesstudio.com/learn/online-workshops/artful-adventures-stroll-challenge/

Thanks for visiting and cheers for now.

Artful Stroll - More catching up

So here I am again, behind on the challenge and playing catch up. I got my night shot when I popped out to the local supermarket after dark, and then stopped to get my mail. The crack was easy and I cheated a bit with the reflection shot.

Day 13 - Night

This is looking up the drive of where I live from the front entrance where the letter boxes are - you can see the front of my car in the shot. It is quite a long driveway and my unit is way off in the distance.

Day 15 - Cracks

We have a very large crack in one of the windows at work. It appeared shortly after we moved into the building last year. We don't really know how it happened but we keep checking to make sure it hasn't grown any larger.

Day 16 - Reflection

This is an old photo - taken in a beautiful garden and lake complex near Shanghai. In my old job, I had do a couple of trips overseas to attend company meetings and seminars. I was only in Shanghai for 4 days - two day seminar plus one day visiting the office and one day sightseeing.

The delegates from the seminar had a lovely day walking the gardens and sailing the big lake. The blossom was just starting to come out - it was really pretty.

This photo is in response to the Artful Adventures Stroll through the Hood project. You can find out more here: http://nathaliesstudio.com/learn/online-workshops/artful-adventures-stroll-challenge/ 

Thanks for looking and cheers for now.

Artful Stroll - Catching up

I've been busy with work lately and missed quite a few of the daily challenges. I thought that I would catch up here and then try to get myself into gear and keep up.

Day 11 - Sign

That was easy. My sister-in-law bought this sign for my garden at my last place and it followed along to the new place. The string at the back broke, so now it hangs off the trellis on a couple of hooks.

Day 12 - Trash

This is my recycling bin inside the house - it's where I accumulate recyclables until it gets full and I need to chuck them in the larger bin outside that the local council empties every fortnight.

Day 14 - Pattern

I like doing word puzzles, particularly Code Words, where you have to find the letters and make words. It is often a matter of knowing common structures or patterns of words that helps work our which letters go where. I can sit for ages doing these puzzles or crosswords (normal and cryptic).

You will have noticed that I missed day 13 - Night. I will try to get that tonight - but I don't go out much after dark!

These photos are in response to the Artful Adventures Stroll through the Hood project. You can find out more here: http://nathaliesstudio.com/learn/online-workshops/artful-adventures-stroll-challenge/

Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoy this look around my neighbourhood.

Artful Stroll - Wildlife

We get lots of birdlife in the area - mainly because there are wetlands to our north-east and to our south-east. When the units were first built, there was a bit of a pond behind the property where you could see lots of water birds. As well, up in the sky hunting small prey (field mice, etc) were black-shouldered kites. We even had fairy wrens visiting along the back fences hopping in and out of low shrubs and grasses - usually only the bright blue male was visible.

Slowly the area around us has been built up - the pond filled in, factories built and a new highway gone in. We still have open ground to the south with a school and football ovals/cricket grounds, and because of the wetlands, we sometimes see flocks of birds flying by. The birds we see most of now are the rainbow lorikeets and noisy miners - both very loud and raucous. Outside my dining area, I have a grevillea and it is popular with both birds, however only the lorikeets are pretty to look at!

 This photo was taken from the doorway of my dining area and for some reason this pair did not fly off when I opened the door. I love it when they visit and could watch them forever!!