Home from the asylum

Work, Some days at work are pretty easy, a good class, students in good moods, ready to learn. 

Some days at work are pretty hard, lesson didnt go as planned, students playing up, emails with things to have done by the next hour piling up. 

But you cope! Its part of the job, good days, bad days everybody has them, dont they?

But some days end up being bad unnecessarily.

Today was one of them days. There was no need, no justification,

Later I took some time out alone to capture my thoughts. Not an easy task in my house, even in the bath! ...but I did and  I decided that some things never change and I must learn to deal with it better.

Sometimes its hard to stay strong and times when I'm feeling weak I always turn to my favourite poem. It seems to put things in perspective for me.

 My big sister bought me a copy I had it framed and it hangs above my bed.

My family think its ridicuous! And just sigh at my love of trees. But for me its perfect and it helps put the world to right again, if only for a short while.

Dear Friend,

Stand Tall and Proud

Sink your roots deeply into the Earth

Reflect the light of a greater source

Think long term

Go out on a limb

Remember your place among all living beings

Embrace with joy the changing seasons

For each yields its own abundance

The Energy and Birth of Spring

The Growth and Contentment of Summer

The Wisdom to let go of leaves in the Fall

The Rest and Quiet Renewal of Winter

Feel the wind and the sun

And delight in their presence

Look up at the moon that shines down upon you

And the mystery of the stars at night.

Seek nourishment from the good things in life

Simple pleasures

Earth, fresh air, light

Be content with your natural beauty

Drink plenty of water

Let your limbs sway and dance in the breezes

Be flexible

Remember your roots

Enjoy the view!

Hope you like it too.

Thank you for reading especially today.

Lisa xx

A strange feeling

When Georgia was born and I became a mother, I realised how important past family is and for me it made me wonder more about how I got here, if it weren't for my ansestors, I wouldn't even be here.

So I started to trace back my family tree on my mothers side to start with.

Having a young baby, working and not having a computer made it very hard and time consuming. Trips to the local library scrolling through census files, finding names and dates to corrispond with the information I managed to get from my great auntie Edith before she died. Taking the pram and walking to cemetaries checking gravestones ( sounds quite weird that really) for a possible match to census dates but it all paid off and I managed to trace ( over the last 19 years) back to 1763.

There wasn't anything that exciting in it, like anyone famous, in fact we have not moved from the area we live in now! Which I suppose make it a bit easier to trace. That and the great ansestry.com

Anyway, I have been picking it up and putting it down over the last 19 years and a few years back I decided I wanted to have something more than a pile of papers and photos to pass on to my children and I started to make it all into a scrap book.

I had done a few pages and this weekend decided to do another on.

The page I chose was one that featured my great grandma and her 6 brothers. Their mother died age 36 leaving my 12 year old great grandma to bring up her brothers while my great great grandad went out to work.

While working on the page Georgia's boyfriend Josh ( not yet been introduced on the blog) was asking me about the photos of the men, well young boys in the army uniforms. I told him that one of them Willie died in Salonika in the First World War. He asked me where he was buried and I realised I didnt know.

I left the scrap book and 3 hours later i found this

Then this

Then this

I now know where he is and the plot he is in.

It was then it struck me that his relatives would never have had the opportunity in those days to go and visit his grave.

It made me feel really sad thinking of how I would have felt if this happened to a member of my family now. At least these days most of the bodies are brought home to rest. But poor Willie hasn't had anyone to lay flowers on his grave, ever.

I have decided to put it on my bucket list to visit his grave before I die, on behalf of all those who loved and missed him.

Here he is on the left. To the right his brother Herbert, who made it back and went on to have a wife and children.

Thank you for reading, feel free to post a comment

Lisa x