Thank you for your "One Lovely Blog " Nominations

Last week I was delighted to receive two"One Lovely Blog" Nominations.  It is very nice to receive a little acknowledgement, especially, when I consider myself to be one of those amateur, part-time and a little inconsistent blogger!   It is now my turn to pay it forward! 

The rules for the "Lovely Blog Award" are

•  Thank the person who nominated you and link back to that blog
•  Share seven things abut yourself.
•  Nominate 15 bloggers you admire, or as many as you can think of.
•  Contact your bloggers to let them know you have tagged them for The One Lovely Blog Award.

Firstly, I would like to thank Sharn White whose blog, "Family History 4U",  I have enjoyed for some time. Secondly, thank you to Niki Davis who writes about heritage food and her family tree, in "Rooted in Foods", this theme is very close to my heart, as I enjoy sharing old family recipes and the stories that go with them. Thank you to both of you for your nominations and sharing some of the blogs you follow, your lists introduced me to some new and interesting blogs that I hadn't read before.

Seven things about me

1. Family - the promotion a sense of family and belonging is very important to me.  I think this is in part, responsible for my love of family stories and genealogy.  I also think it is important to promote and nurture the "sense" of family.  My husband and I have just had a wonderful week looking after our grandsons (aged 9 and 5), such a special time, OH! I forgot to add also exhausting!

2. Childhood - I had an interesting and little different childhood, spending my early childhood growing up in the outback of NSW, doing my schooling by Blackfriars Correspondence School and the Broken Hill, School of the Air until I was ten years old.  Our family then moved around country NSW, my father working as an overseer on properties. My sisters and I attended a variety of schools, from small two classroom school, of Quombone with about 70 students, to much larger high school at Griffith where there were around 1600 students.

3. Reading - I have always loved reading, when I was a young girl living in the bush, reading was a way to discover the rest of the world.

Tequila, Mexico

4. Writing - I have only really starting writing in the past few years, blogging opened this door for me.  When I was studying at Uni about six years ago, one of the subjects I studied was on social media and how it could be used in training.  One section was on blogging and I was hooked.  My first attempts at blogging was when I lived in Mexico for six months while I completed my Masters in International Studies.  My blog "Six Months in Mexico" was a way I could share and reflect on my experiences.  It was really just a diary of my time in Guadalajara, Mexico, however, I loved medium and was encouraged to explore it further.

Nepal

5.   Photography - I love to mess around with my camera and have the reputation of being the annoying lady taking all the photos at family events.  My attempts at travel blogs have been one way I have been able to share my pics and experiences.  My philosophy on for photography is just take lots of pictures and among the thousands there will be a couple that look ok.  You can find some of my pics on my "incomplete" blog on one of my adventures, Nepal - Climbing High.

6. Travel - I have always like to travel.  I think this started when I was in my early twenties, when my girlfriend and I set off on a three month backpacking trip around Europe in the late 1970's.  Two very green travelers, we somehow managed to survive on little money, and not get into too much trouble. Then family commitments restricted our travel, to a few small trips.  Finally, when our sons left school, and we were going to move to Sydney to live, my husband and I decided to sell our home, pack everything into storage and headed off on a four month back packing trip to Europe and South America.  It was an amazing adventure, and really sparked our travel bug.

7.  Finally- Family History and family stories. This has been a passion for a long time, there is nothing better, than spending a Sunday afternoon, on the lounge snuggled up with my laptop, and searching the online new papers and records, trying to piece together the stories of my ancestors.

Blogs I Admire

This is a difficult one, as there are so many blogs that I enjoy reading, apologies if these blogs have already been nominated:

1. Queensland Genealogy - Judy Webster. This Blog is full of information and wonderful tips for researching your family roots in Queensland.
2. Genea-Musings - Randy Seaver - Love checking out his weekly list of blogs for the week as I always discover new tips or a new blogger.
3. Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog - Jana Last - another wonderful blog!  Her Follow Friday Fab Finds is another example of paying if forward, and I always make a point of looking at the posts she suggests each week.
4. A Rebel Hand - Frances Owen - Australian blog which among other genealogy things, tells the story of Nicholas Delaney, an Irish convict who was transported to Australia.
5. Anne's Family History - Anne Young.  Anne writes of her family history in Australia, with some great research and colourful family stories backed up with interesting snippets from TROVE.
6. Dictionary of Sydney -  Wonderful resource on the history of Sydney.
7. The Armchair Genealogist - Lynn Palermo - I have found this blog very motivational and with lots of helpful hints for writing up family history.
8. Family Tree Frog - Alex Daw. Another Australian blogger - such a warm, colourful and interesting blog.
9. Rings of My Family Tree - I have only recently started following this blog, and found it to be a good read.
10. Seeking Susan - Meet Marie - Find Family -  Kirrily Burton, This blog was originally written by Catherine Crout-Habel, and when Catherine passed away recently, her daughter has taken on the task of keeping this most enjoyable blog going.
11. Stumbling Through the Past - Yvonne Perkins - great read and really well researched.
12. Our Own History - Pam.  Shares stories and wonderful pics of family, old books and some great family recipes.
13. The History Girls - blog written by a number of authors, have followed this and enjoyed their posts for a couple of years.
14. Tracking Down Family - Jennifer Jones - interesting and well researched blog.
15.  The last blog I would like to mention is Worldwide Genealogy - A 
genealogical Collaboration.  This blog was started early this year and features genealogical bloggers from all over the world, each writing a post each month.  I have been lucky enough to be among these writers and I have to say, it has been a wonderful collaborative experience.  Each writer has shared tips and family stories that continue to widen my research skills and knowledge.

There are many more blogs that I enjoy, so to all you bloggers thank you for sharing your thoughts, advice and stories.

"Family Recipe Friday" - Nan's Lemon Butter

Since I have been blogging I continue to be surprised by the blogs that attract the most readers.  Two years ago, not long after "Nan" passed away, I posted her recipe for stale bread cake (Family Recipe Friday - Nan's Stale Bread Cake) to celebrate her birthday.

This recipe was an old family favorite that she always had on hand when someone dropped in for a cup of tea. Of all the posts I have written the number of hits "Nan's Stale Bread Cake" far out numbers any other blog I have written!

So today, to celebrate her birthday and memory, I will share another of her favorites.  Lemon Butter!

When ever she visited us, she never failed to bring along a jar of lemon butter for my husband. I can remember when visiting her in her lovely cottage in the North Queensland home of Atherton, we would have to go on a special excursion to a small farm about 20 kms outside of town to buy six dozen eggs (because they were much cheaper) for the lemon butter.  

Nan's Lemon Butter

1 cup of butter

1 cup of  castor sugar

6 eggs

6 lemons (from her lemon tree)

grated zest of three lemons

Beat eggs in bowl, add sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest.  In a large saucepan, melt the butter, slowly add the egg, sugar and lemon mix into the saucepan and cook over a low heat, stirring constantly until thickened.   Spoon the mixture into sterile jars.  When cooled, seal and store in the fridge.

Nan loved to make large quantities for family, so if you feel that this will be more lemon butter than you need you can easily halve the recipe to make a smaller quantity.

Lemon butter is wonderful in sponge cakes and tarts, but my favorite is on hot buttered toast.

Amanuensis Monday - Woman's Death from Drowning

My great grand father, John Herbert's  remarried after the tragic death of his wife Louisa Seaford in 1902.  His married second wife Caroline Hornhardt in 1903  and their family continued to live in Burra until John's death in 1926. After his death, Caroline she spent time living with her step daughters Essel Quinn (nee Herbert) who lived in Broken Hill and Annie Whitehorn (nee Herbert) who lived in Prospect, South Australia.

Carrie (as she was known)  whose story can be found on my other blog "The other half of my tree - stories of my female ancestors" died tragically eight years after her husband, John.

The Advertiser, Saturday 15 December 1934.

Prospect Woman's Death from Drowning

At an inquest yesterday into the death of Mrs Caroline Herbert, 59, widow, of Percy Street, Prospect, whose body was found in the River Torrens near The Frome road bridge on December 7 the City Coroner (Mr A S. Blackburn) found that there was no evidence to show how she came to be in the river.

Jack Herbert, a son of Draytown Street, Bowden said that his mother had not complained of ill health, and had given no signs of having been depressed.

Mrs Annie Whitehorn, of Percy Street, Prospect, stated that the deceased was her stepmother, and had been living with her at her home since she had come from Broken Hill about nine moths ago.  She was to have returned to Broken Hill on December 7.  She had gone off her food during he last few months, but was not depressed.  She was very short sighted.

Mr M.R. Kelton a corporation employee, of Curtis street, North Adelaide, who found he body, said hat the bank around the spot was very steep and a danger for anyone walking there at night.

You can read more of Caroline's story on "Matrilineal Monday - Tragic Drowning - Caroline Herbert nee Hornhardt".
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1934 'Prospect Woman's Death From Drowning.', The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), 15 December, p. 9, viewed 8 September, 2014, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74122939