Essex calling

La famille Erulin kindly provided the transport, driver and company for Grandma, Grandpa and Tati Evie to visit the area nearest to my ancestral connections. This is a tiny village in Essex near Walton-on-the-Naze called Kirby-le-Soken. My nearest confirmed ancestor, Great-Great-Grandfather John was born there in 1810. However he was in Colchester by 1840, but until then our ancestry were sons and daughters of the soil, ie agricultural labourers. Our invaluable photographer Evie took some useful photos. We looked for buildings recognisably earlier than 1850 and found at least two, one 1700s, and its neighbour 1600s, which despite makeovers particularly showed their age in their roof and chimneys. The pub we patronised, the Red Lion, and which kindly let us use their car park for a picnic lunch as the weather was inclement, was also of that era. As one of the church musicians I was particularly impressed by the stained glass windows triptych in memory of the honorary church organist for 17 years, and whose surname is mine, though as he lived only in the 20th century his connection may be remote. But they are fine windows of two singing clergy and a muse of music, possibly Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music, and two organists of 19th and 18th(?) century respectively. He had a smart grave also near the entrance to the church! The local Forge allowed us to take photos of a map of the village as it was in 1923, and it did not look as if it had changed much from 1823 comparing it to an older map I've seen. After a brief detour to Walton to show granddaughter number 1 (number 2 was asleep) a very cold, grey North Sea we returned home to beautiful sunny weather, as is always the case!

future slightly less bright

Re blog below, dunadan told the good lady (see comment) the dryer is making funny noises! Yeoow back to it! It's because it has this habit of shedding its drive belt or something from time to time, the time seemingly always around a holiday, as it is tomorrow, so delaying the call-out for the engineer to come for the nth time - he knows the route well. It and the washing machine have well justified their annual breakdown cover fees over the years, the only appliances for which we have taken the provision.

new era

Musings 67 recorded a blog on May 16 sorrowing over the passing of certain useful pieces of equipment. It inspired one anonymous donor to wax poetic, but hopefully amused others. The new era sees us with another second-hand piano provided in exchange by the kind Chappells of Bond Street ( though they are now located in Wardour Street, also off Oxford Street and once the home of Ivor Novello and worth going into just to see the architecture, especially the first floor piano showroom) and that for the same price as the original despite being more in the shop; a new fridge-freezer after extensive research and bought not from a big retailer but a little Turkish shop in Chapel Market (for those who know Islington) with very friendly service; and a new printer that actually works courtesy of Argos. I don't usually go to Argos for electrical goods so will be interested to see if the good lady's choice is spot on and we will all lead a pleasant and fruitful life together. So far the future looks very good.

technology is wonderful...isn't it?

Technology is wonderful...isn't it? Its creators persuade us so easily that there is nothing better for our lives, to make them easier, smoother, satisfying...And in great measure they are right, until the stuff breaks down. And why is it that they all do it at the same time? So now we are printerless, freezerless and, almost, pianoless! The printer has hassled us for months and now has just given up the ghost completely (We bought it early last year but lost all proof of purchase. What a bummer!). The fridge freezer has given what one supposes must be dutiful service for 7 years and now the freezer part has packed up after sounding as if it has been uttering a death rattle for several days. I bought the second-hand piano from Chappells in February and now their chief piano technician recommends we change it because of several major problems that have come to light only through playing it, so it's prayer and charm offensive time!