The Dreaded Lurgy has struck again.......

.........which is why the last post was over a week ago. It is rare indeed for The Dreaded Lurgy to strike twice in one year, I thought when I was struck down earlier this year that was it for at least a twelvemonth, but no. To cap it off Kevin has also come down with a cold, so we have been a pair of crook old crocks together. We struggled on manfully and womanfully trying our best to take care of ourselves and each other, but last night we succumbed to a pizza.

So in the absence of any pics of this week's happenings (because there haven't been any, unless you count much sniffling and coughing) here is some delicious rosiness taken last October - which is spring here - while visiting an open garden out in the country, about half an hour or so out of town.

And some beautiful yellow roses, I love yellow flowers of any sort particularly roses.
I am even enjoying my second coffee in a week, the first was this morning. When everything one puts in one's mouth tastes of metal there is not much incentive to eat or drink anything nice, is there? Even chocolate doesn't have its usual yummy taste. The other day we bought some camomile tea with vanilla and honey, it smells nice but is way too sweet for my taste; it was best to wait for my taste for coffee to return. While not addicted to coffee (usually I only have three cups a day) I do enjoy its taste.

One thing which came my way this week was a family birth certificate. My maternal grandmother died many years ago and on her grave marker are the names of her husband and her four children.......which came as a great surprise to me when I first saw it. I knew of course of my mother (well, really, I mean.....) and her younger brother, and an older sister born of my grandmother's first marriage, but the fourth name was a surprise. My mother had very little knowledge of her oldest sister and I had always assumed that she was also a daughter of Nana's first husband - from whom, by the way, she was divorced when she married my grandfather or so it says on their marriage certificate, which must have raised some eyebrows in the early 1920s - but no. She was born when Nana was only 18, there are no details of her father on her birth certificate, in fact the word Illegitimate is written baldly under her name. Poor little baby Lily May, what a burden to carry! I now know that my aunt Lily May was born in 1906 and I found a record on an official site that says she married in 1939, so I may follow that up. Perhaps she had children? They would be my cousins.

Unfortunately there are no photos of Lily May that I know of, certainly none in my possession.

Interestingly my mother's first name was Mavis, and she was often called May - perhaps that was a gesture to her oldest sister? We shall probably never know now, because I am now part of the oldest generation in the family; there is no one I can ask.

"Presents from Godfathers.

The sponsors must make their godchild a present of some sort - a silver mug, a knife, spoon and fork, a handsomely-bound bible, or perhaps a costly piece of lace or embroidery suitable for infants' wear. The godfather may give a cup, with name engraved, and the godmother the christening robe and cap."

Somehow I don't think Lily May was given anything silver or handsome or lacy at her birth or christening, but I would love to be wrong.

Enjoy your days!