Emily, enjoying today's spring sunshine. Joyce, Felicity and Penelope pottering around the garden today. If you're wondering how the leather tuffet found its way onto the patio, ask the Jack Russell who has sat on it since mid-morning.  Never let it be said that Emily doesn't use initiative. Mum and Evelyn were here on Sunday, bringing some more of Mum's family history research with them, including some old photos.  I haven't had time to look at it properly yet.  Most of the loose notes concern the Caslin and Corrigan branches of the family.  There are also some letters from the Meaghers in New York State, America - the writer being Mum's second cousin who also has an interest in genealogy. This arrival synchronises neatly with my Aunt Mary's further researches into the McGowan family, which she mailed to me this week.  Much of this information is of too recent a date to share online, but Mary has done a lot of detailed research.  ...

"Scholars at the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond have set out to leaf through eight million documents dating back to the 17th century, seeking the names of slaves." Source:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/arts/design/database-of-viginia-slave-names-goes-online.html It seems incredible, in this time when genealogy is so popular, that research into the identities of slaves hasn't been done already.  Liverpool was one point of the infamous slavery triangle, the other two being Africa and New York.  Ships from Africa would arrive at Liverpool to sell their human cargo and restock for the long haul to New York.  Ships from New York would arrive in Liverpool, sell cotton and similar crops raised on American plantations by slaves, then  to prepare to sail for Africa where they'd barter for more slaves to re-stock the workforce. Not all the slaves were black.  Many Scots and Irish people were sold as slaves by English magistrate...

Anyone with an interest in the Adshead, Ashbrook, Bray and McGowan family tree is welcome to visit http://hubpages.com/hub/Four-Branches  where I’ve created a webpage with photos about this. Today we have monsoon rain, which is a pleasant change from living in an oven turned on full. This heat wave has not been fun, and fortunately Ygraine was already booked to be groomed this week. Her coat is so thick and dense that she really suffers during hot spells. She’s much happier today. Actually she’s wrapped round my feet as I type this. She’s pretending to be asleep but she’s waiting for walkies. One move from this chair, and she’ll be spinning in excited circles. When I helped the groomer, Lisa, to he car with her equipment, the door slammed shut. I’d forgotten to put the catch on and so I was locked out. The front room widows were open, and a neighbour--a slender teenager who’s twice my height (ok, that might be a slight exaggeration…) climbed through easily and opened the door ...