Bits and Pieces

1) Just to clarify on the previous post, some people seemed to think that all the guests at my imaginary dinner party were my relatives. They are only my relatives when I stated the precise relationship, the rest are unrelated to me. As for having fascinating relatives, well, the majority of my ancestors and their descendants lived quiet lives in rural surroundings or small towns. They were farmers, agricultural labourers, miners, bakers, tailors and other such trades. It's just that I've accumulated a very large database of thousands of people, so someone interesting was sure to pop up sooner or later! No doubt everyone has interesting relatives tucked away somewhere if they look far enough.
(Mind you, I'd love to know more about my Forrester ancestors who are supposedly descended from Robert the Bruce. A Duncan Forrester was Comptroller of the Household at the Court of King James (the second, I think, of Scotland) in 1492. I'll probably never know for sure, because the records are a bit vague that far back. An heir might be a son but he might also be a distant cousin given the Scots' wild nature at the time and habit of killing each other :)

2) My daughter introduced me to Library Elf and I have signed up. Why not check to see if your library is supported? No more overdue library books, as they will send e-mail reminders of your overdue or about to be due books, and notifications of books you have on hold. What a great idea!

3) Here's another good thing: Wild Appetite. Their range of sauces and condiments looks so pretty in the jars and bottles that it is almost a shame to open and consume them. They do wonderful dessert sauces, but I'm forgoing those at the moment. Instead I have their Melanesian Mango pour over and their Capsicum and Apricot Salsa which are great with meats etc. They have stockists in New Zealand, Australia, the United States and strangely, Denmark. The website is a bit tricky at least on my browser - the products that show in the window initially are by no means the whole range, it will scroll down when you figure out how. There are also recipes.