Saturday Post on Sunday

(A note added after: blogger was being a pain when I tried to post this on Saturday. After quite a few hours I gave up and went to bed. I may just skip Sunday Scribblings today, and make this my Sunday post instead. Unless I do another post later).

I remember when I was a child, visiting my aunt who would talk about all sorts of people whom I had never heard of - her cousins, half-cousins, and other more or less distant relatives. I couldn't figure out why anyone would find these distant relatives interesting. And then I discovered genealogy - now I find it fascinating to find out how many people I am connected to, even if I have to go back two or three hundred years to find the connection!

I just spent a very pleasant couple of hours meeting my third cousin once removed, Alison, and her new husband Jude. They are visiting New Zealand on their honeymoon, having married in Scotland. Fortunately Ali and Jude seem to think that finding out where all the branches of the family came from and went to is as fascinating as I find it! We are hoping to meet again in Scotland next year. Ali's greatgreatgrandfather and my greatgrandfather were brothers. Thomas stayed in Scotland whereas John went bankrupt, and ran away to New Zealand, avoiding the bailiffs, where he went bankrupt again. Funnily enough he seems to have been successful in at least one endeavour which was breeding descendants - there seem to be far more of us now in New Zealand than there are back in Scotland.

Not a very flattering photograph of me, I'm afraid. I clearly have a wee way to go on my weight loss programme. (I'm sure you can figure out which one is me and which one is the young bride).




After meeting Ali and Jude at the Christchurch Arts Centre, I went into the Great Hall there to see our local quilt group's exhibition. It included a retrospective of prizewinning quilts from the last ten years. I had a chance to revisit my quilt which has been at my brother's for the last ten years (only brought out for honoured guests, I'm told, so it is still in very good condition). I took quite a few photos, but as a sign stated that photographs are for "personal enjoyment only unless permission is sought and given", I'm only showing mine here. There were a large variety from the very traditional to contemporary, bed quilts to wall hangings - some incorporating computer images on fabric and other very modern techniques.



This wee dog and its owner were giving a performance on the street outside.



I didn't go to the exhibition opening on Thursday night - in fact it slipped my mind completely - but during the evening there was a knock on my door, it was one of the quilt group members dropping off a bunch of flowers. All those who had a quilt in the ten year retrospective were given a bouquet. And they were my favourite colour, yellow, too!