Tuesday, March 17, 2015

From family past to family present

After my recent forays into my family’s history, daily life has caught up with me again and I’ve been running fast to keep up these last few days. From leading a Mothering Sunday service last Sunday, to hosting a meeting on Monday and welcoming a friend today, life is suddenly very full and busy again.

Now I’m getting ready to welcome my next-to-youngest sister and her husband and pet dog for a visit which begins tomorrow afternoon and will end nicely in time for me to finish my final preparations for next Sunday’s service. Think of me tomorrow morning, as I dust and hoover and change beds and prepare food. 


Hopefully I won’t get lost forever in the duvet covers before I can enjoy a couple of days of not-stop conversation and laughter, interspersed with pleasant relaxation over lingering meals.  Our youngest sister and her husband and dog live not far away and will join us, so there will be a lot of chatter and teasing and “do you remember when”. I hope our poor husbands can keep up…



Cartoon via The Poke.

44 comments:

  1. 11.35 to you... gone midnight here....
    and my dearly beloved has just said....
    as I read out the wording on the first picture....
    "Oh no... we've got to make the bed!!

    (It was sunny and dry today... the sheets got done!!)
    Oh well... up the stairs to Bedfordshire....
    coming darling!!

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    1. Oh, I hate it when that happens, Tim. Going up to bed all nice and sleepy to find it stripped and bare isn't the ideal end to the day. I'm glad the cartoon reminded your wife. :-)

      It was sunny here too, but such a cold wind still and it's frosty again this morning. Brrr....

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  2. You'll have a lovely time...if the duvet covers don't get you.
    I went to get the sheets off the line today to find that Monty had decided to try to pull them down and was wandering about with one of them wrapped round himself toga fashion.
    Perhaps he has ideas about the Ides of March...

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    1. We'll have a great time, Helen, we always do. I just have to finish getting everything ready. Thank goodness Tesco is doing the shopping for me.
      I love the thought of your senatorial sheep, but I bet you weren't' too happy to have to wash the sheet again...

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  3. Ah, haven't heard that song in years, Perpetua. We used to sing it when we were children. Have the nicest time with your two sisters. I'm meeting one of mine tomorrow - we never run out of things to say, not after a whole lifetime. Re the duvet - he he, that's me, inside the thing trying to get the corners straight. Oh dear.

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    1. Neither had I, Patricia, but it came irresistibly to mind as I finished writing this post. Glad it brought back memories. I have four sisters altogether, but the other two live much further away and I don't see them very often, unfortunately. We closer three manage to meet up more regularly, and as my mother would have said, we talk the hind legs off a donkey. :-)

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  4. Hari OM
    Ohhhhhhh I make like Casper all too often... something to do with me being the size of a leprechaun. [¬>...

    Meanwhile the sun is doing its best here this morning - the haar is still thick, but the window is open. That bodes well!!! Enjoy each other and make more memories together! YAM xx

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it, Yam. I can just see you doing your Caspar impression. :-) I'm having a well-earned sit-down and cuppa after wrestling the king-size, winter-weight guest duvet into its cover. Phew!

      A bit misty here this morning after a hard frost, but the sun is breaking through and it's starting to feel like spring. Perfect for a sisterly get-together.

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  5. Enjoy a wonderful time with your family. Meanwhile here in NS we are going through another snow storm. I find folding fitted sheets are always interesting, finding the right corners and folding it so it doesn't look like it got caught in a wind tunnel. Glad that spring is headed your way.

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    1. Thanks, Bonnie. A lot of catching-up has already taken place and there will be more this afternoon when the other sister arrives. :-) Sorry to hear you're getting yet more snow. Here the skies have cleared so we're having hard overnight frosts, despite the spring flowers. I'm another who hates folding fitted sheets. They always end up so creased. :-(

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  6. The song. The scene. I can't tell you how many times it has escaped my lips, Perpetua. Love it!
    I see that at this point in time (8 am here) you have conquered the duvet cover. Phew! Enjoy your family time as you conquer the whirlwind of activity you are in.

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    1. It's fun, isn't it Penny? I remember me and my next sister learning it to sing at a village concert in our early teens, though we didn't have such nice dresses to wear. :-)
      Yes, the duvet cover eventually submitted and all the preparations were finished in good time before our visitors arrived. Now it's talk time....

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  7. Changed my bed yesterday -- unfortunately, I read your posting on FB about the easy way to changed duvet covers after the fact. However, The guest room needs the bed made so another duvet awaits! Wish it were my sister who was coming! It's hard when they live so far away!

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    1. It was kind of my friend to post that informative video, Broad. I hope it helps the next time you have to change a duvet cover. Yes, it must be very hard to have your birth family an ocean away. My sisters are scattered all over the UK, but at least we don't have to get on a plane to visit each other.

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  8. I often skip videos on blogs, but I just sat back and watched this one. Bing Crosby was a Washingtonian, and there is a "Crosby House," where his grandparents lived, in my home town of Olympia, Washington.

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    1. Thanks for that informative bit of background about Bing Crosby, Betty. He was one of my father's favourite singers, so we grew up listening to his songs and I still enjoy them. In another part of White Christmas he and Danny Kaye sing this song and it's worth looking up on YouTube.

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  9. Have a lovely weekend with both of your sisters Perpetua - I hate absolutely hate changing duvets, but luckily H always does them for me.

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    1. Thanks, Rosemary. One of them arrived yesterday and the other comes today, just until tomorrow, so we're doing a lot of talking in a short time! I hate changing duvet covers too, but DH is not expert, so it falls to me.

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    2. Pauline and I work as a team...
      on opposite sides of the bed.
      And we have two sets of IKEA quilt covers...
      they come with two sets of pillowcase covers...
      and the duvet cover has two small slits down the seam at the top corners...
      it allows you to get an arm in to grab the duvet corner firmly when it is about halfway up the cover....
      feed the bottom corner into place...
      each hold two corners and whang duvet and cover up and down...
      all done and dusty in two shakes!

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    3. Wow, duvet covers designed with entry holes for hands! How nifty. I'm making a note of this for the next time we need to replace our duvet covers. Until then I'll carry on as usual, with the occasional titanic struggle with the king-size winterweight in the guest bedroom. :-)

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  10. I'm late to wish you luck with the cleaning and a nice visit with your sisters but I hope you're having a wonderful time (and the cleaning was a breeze). I laughed about the duvet ghost; I find it easier to start with the duvet cover inside out and lay the duvet on top, then flip the cover over it. I got stuck in the covers too many times. :)

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    1. Thanks, Jennifer, we are. Luckily the new house is very much easier to keep clean and tidy than the old one, so it wasn't too much work at all to get it ready for visitors. I love the duvet ghost cartoon - so clever. :) I haven't tried the inside-out method, so will experiment next time I change the covers.

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  11. It sounds as if you are enjoying being busy again P. I'm sure you will have a wonderful sister catch up time.... I just hope you will be wearing dresses as glorious as the White Christmas sisters.....all that fabric...wow. Looking forward to hearing about how the catch up went. Jxx

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    1. I am indeed and it's lovely to have my sister and her husband here, with the other coming this afternoon. The chatter level may well rise towards deafening...;) Sadly I have never in my life worn a dress as luxuriously extravagant as those in the film. As you say, so much fabric. Christian Dior has a lot to answer for!

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  12. One of the greatest pleasures of life is the arrival of family. Dave's brother and sister-in-law from the 'eastern states' and another brother from Perth spent a long weekend with us recently ... talk about talk!! All such fun and as I was organised re cooking the time spent just sitting around the table was truly 'family time'.
    I am sure you are having an equally grand time.
    Love the dresses ... shame that modern fashion is not as exciting today!

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    1. Absolutely, Shirley, and we've had a really lovely couple of days. :-) We've talked ourselves hoarse, had lots of laughter during enjoyable extended meals and really caught up with each other's news and doings.
      Agree about the dresses - so glamorous.

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  13. You've got me thinking about duvet changing this week, Can't wait til Friday to try out the roll up method .. Sad isn't it!

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    1. Yep, it comes to something when changing the duvet cover becomes a highlight of the week. :-) Hope the method works for you.

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  14. I think you've started something with your duvet difficulties and that hilarious ghost! Very glad for you that, after the preparatory flurry of housework, you have had a good catch-up with your sisters.

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    1. I rather think I have, DB. Who knew changing the duvet could be such a topic for conversation?
      We had a really lovely time together and the weather was kind too, which always helps things go with a swing. We even managed to watch the eclipse with pinhole camera and colander. :-)

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  15. I'm behind in my blog reading again, Perpetua. I hope you had a wonderful visit with your sisters, and that your poor husbands were able to cope with all the laughter and reminisces! As for changing duvet covers, I am hopeless at it.

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    1. Being behind with blog-reading is the story of my life at present, Kristie, so you're not alone. We did indeed have a wonderful visit and our poor husbands clustered together at the other end of the living-room for mutual support. :-) As for changing the duvet covers, I now treat it as goiod exercise for my wrist...

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  16. That sounds like a fun visit with your sisters coming up. Enjoy.

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    1. The visit has been and gone now, Terrra, and we had a really wonderful time, thanks.

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  17. I hope you've had a wonderful week with your sisters and their families--and dog, Perpetua. I know there must be so many stories you want to tell each other from both past and present. What a joy! And then your other duties related to your church responsibilities. Busy, busy times! But wonderful times, too! ox

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    1. Sadly it was only a two night visit, Debra, and went far too quickly, but we had such a good time. Now they know their little rescue dog is a good traveller, I'm sure we'll see them again before too long. We did indeed do a lot of reminiscing, so It's a good thing my vocal chords have had a couple of days to recover before this morning's service. :-)

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  18. Glad to read in the comments that a good time was had by all. Nothing beats a catch up with one's beloved family :)

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    1. We had a brilliant time, thanks. Lots of talking and laughing and swapping of news and opinion. We're an opinionated lot and it shows when we get together. :)

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  19. It was so nice that family could visit you. I also read your past post about researching your ancestors. It is fascinating I am sure. Since I live in the US, finding my ancestors, both in France and Turkey is quite difficult. I know I have a great-great-great or more grandmother who was titled and nobility – but was she guillotined at the Revolution? I cannot find the family name anywhere. As for my father, since he was Armenian, I can barely find information on his youth, let alone the rest of his family in Turkey, but I wish I could since I know there are some cousins there still but I don’t know their names. It is wonderful that your family was always in England and you are too so that your research is fruitful.

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    1. It was lovely, Vagabonde, and the new house has proved to be great for entertaining guests.

      I have been almost overwhelmed by how interesting and addictive family history research has proved to be. I'm very lucky that most of my ancestors came from the same few towns and didn't seem to move around much, which makes tracing them so much easier.It must be much more difficult to research across oceans even with the internet. Having ancestors who lived in turbulent times, when records went missing or weren't kept just makes things even more complicated. Also the rate of digitisation is very different in some countries and hands-on research in archives becomes necessary. I hoopw you manage to trace a few of the people you are looking for.

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  20. What fun you will have with your sister!

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    1. It was actually last week, Sally, and we had a wonderful time, thanks. It went far too quickly.

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  21. Dear Perpetua, it's been nine days since you posted this news of your sisters' visit. I hope that when the three of you got together there truly was much laughter and the sharing of memoirs that only your family knows. And what about the husbands? Did they stay at the table or in the room where the three of you visited or did they disappear into the outdoors? Peace.

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    1. There was an enormous amount of laughter and sharing, Dee, with all of us round the table at mealtimes or with the three sisters at one end of the living room and our husbands at the other. On the first evening my sister and I looked at our family history research, as I wrote about in my last post. Altogether it was a wonderful visit.

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