Families

I spent the day with family yesterday, eating talking laughing and generally hanging out.

It's a rare thing to have such a close family, it's something I've always appreciated and I know how lucky I am (believe me).

We were at a caravan site about 30 miles away, but it could have been anywhere. The sun was shining, the wine was flowing (but I only had one glass - I was driving) and we were all very relaxed. Laughter is the great stress reliever... we all have our problems (some more than others) but we all managed to put them at least a few inches further back yesterday.

Together with my parents I took a little walk to see another small twig of my paternal branch, who live nearby. They live in a fantastic house and although getting on in years are always sharp and interesting. I was told of some developments in researching the family tree; my grandfather's mother's ancestors may be related to the Winders, and if this is proven I could have history going back to the 1200's, to a De Winder, and that's a Norman name... How cool is that!!

A lot of my ancestors can be traced to the local area in north and west Cumbria, with the more exotic blood coming from Ireland and Edinburgh. Frequent appearances by blacksmiths, miners, nurses, innkeepers, policemen. It's something I want to know more about - I spent some time on this a few years ago but I'm a bit rusty. Must do more.