Since contracting shingles seven weeks ago, spending the days in a complete daze and having only a couple of hours sleep at night, I haven't felt like doing much of anything, let alone writing this Blog. However, at last the pain is abating and I can now cope without swallowing loads of painkillers on a daily basis.

Helen, and her team at Scottish Monumental Inscriptions, have been working feverishly and produced a huge pile of MI's to join their already impressive list of CDs. What a great team you have, Helen.

Graham, from the Wakefield and District Family History Society, gave me the details of five more parish register booklets the society has released.  Graham has also been adding pictures to existing publications, so their stand at Parish Chest looks much nicer.

Angela and Guy, of Anguline Research Archives, have been slaving away and produced another impressive and varied list of CDs.  Excellent products as always.

Mike Rendell, has reduced the price of his superb book, 'The Journal of a Georgian Gentleman' and this is now a real bargain. This is just one of the reviews:- A solid debut by lawyer-turned-historian, Mike Rendell. The author has taken the copious diaries, lists and other Ephemera of his ancestor and ordered them into an entertaining narrative which gives you a firm understanding of everyday life of a middle-class businessman on the up during the mid-Georgian period. Rendell succeeds wonderfully at teasing out the personality of his subject, Richard Hall, a God-fearing fellow much exercised by the weather, his own health and dozens of other topics, many trivial, some of great moment. One gets a clear sense of the cost of living, long distance coach travel, decorating one's home, quack medicine, servants and schooling, the precariousness of family life, and so on: social history at its best. The book is richly illustrated and has excellent appendices." - By Mike Paterson, of London Historian

My last batch of turkeys for this year were due to hatch last week.  One poult had just popped out of its shell and the others were pipping, when suddenly there was a power outage. I was hoping the remaining poults would hatch, but alas, heat and humidity were rapidly lost from the incubator and only the first poult survived. I am delighted to report that this little chap is thriving and so he wouldn't be lonely, I managed to buy a couple of day old Narragansett poults to keep him company.

Our last event for 2011, is the Glamorgan Family History Society Open Day, which is being held at Rhydycar Leisure Centre, Merthyr Tydfil on the 10th. September.  If you are in the area, it would be great to see you.

My car still has not been fixed and opinions about the problem range from problems with the thermostat, faulty impeller to a failing head gasket.  Personally, and I am no mechanic, I think (hope) it may have been a fuel problem - perhaps a bit of gunge being dragged up and temporarily causing problems.  My trip to the Gwent Family History Society Open Day on the 11th. June draws ever closer, so dare I risk a breakdown en-route or play safe and stay home?  Yes, I know if I break down, I can call out the AA, but who the heck wants to wait around for hours until they turn up.

We have lots of great new products at the Parish Chest from, Anguline Research Archives, Bedfordshire FHS, Chardstock Historical Record Group, Countryside Books, Docklands Ancestors, English Parish Registers, Gwent FHS, Isle of Wight FHS, Leicestershire Parish Registers, Powys FHS, Scottish Monumental Inscriptions, Sussex FHG, Wakefield & District FHS, Weston Super Mare FHS and Yorkshire Ancestors.  Really great products for you to browse through.

My Norfolk Black turkey poults continue to thrive, and it is only a few more weeks until they will be moved outside to their new home in the orchard.  I wonder how they will react at seeing the great outdoors.  It is bound to be a little frightening for them after the security of living in the barn.

The three poults hatched by my Buff Orpington broody hen are growing well.  When these have all their feathers, they will be moved into the outside pen with the other poults.  The second broody is still sitting on her turkey eggs and these are due to hatch on or about the 23rd. June.

I have fifteen more turkey eggs in the incubator which have started pipping today- hopefully we will have a good hatch rate.  I have the heated brooder all set up in the barn and the poults will be moved when all are hatched and dried off.  Once these babies are out of the incubator, I shall disinfect it and set some more eggs.

Well the, Who Do You Think You Are? Live event is over for another year.  The visitor numbers seemed to be well down over the three days compared to last year, so may be the organisers should rethink their strategy.

It would be great if more family history societies could be persuaded to attend, even if this means the organisers reducing table costs.  Massage chairs, beds and coat sellers have nothing to do with genealogy, so why were they at the event?

Family history is a hobby and a very enjoyable one, but alas, it is now big business, so the small societies and suppliers get marginalised in favour of the huge companies. Of course, everyone needs to make a profit, otherwise they wouldn't survive, but surely there is room for everyone.

I hope that the new owners of, Who Do You Think You Are? Live will stand back and rethink the situation. Encourage the family history societies and small suppliers to attend, settle for a little less profit, and make WDYTYA the way it should be, the real genealogy event of the year.

Beside lots of new products, we have taken on three new suppliers at Parish Chest; Leicester Parish Registers, English Parish Registers and Video Heritage.  Please take a peek as they may be selling exactly what you are looking for.

Not too long to wait now, so we are trying to get everything ready for the major family history event of the year, 'Who Do You Think You Are?-Live' which is being held at Olympia 15th to 27th. February.  This is a huge show with something for everyone.  I have some complimentary tickets, so if you would like one or two, just send me a S.A.E.  First come, first served!

I am amazed at the lack of service which is around nowadays, especially since businesses are supposedly having a hard time in the recession.

I arranged for my daughter's laptop to be overhauled by a firm in Redruth.  I was to deliver the laptop to them on Wednesday morning, but when I found the premises, the office was locked. A fellow in a neighbouring office (nothing to do with the computer firm) said that I should leave the laptop with them and they would hand it over to the chap when he finally arrived.  Right!  Like I am going to just hand over a valuable laptop computer, without any discussion of what was needed, how long it would take, or the cost of the work!  Give me a break!

Last year, another firm, desperate for work, did some web development work for me.  Not only did these people try and overcharge me at the end of the job, they would not correct the errors on the site.  Mind you, knowing the so-called boss of this firm spends several days a week at Business Breakfasts telling everyone how marvellous he is, he probably doesn't have time for, or is incapable of doing any real work. A real poseur!

I was really surprised to receive an email from Elizabeth Davies, of 'Your Family Tree' magazine, telling me they are planning an email campaign, and asking me if we would sell our clients email addresses.  Let me state for the record that Parish Chest and British Genealogy NEVER sell, or part with any of our clients details.

The New Year is upon us and I bet several of those 2011 resolutions have already been broken.  I always start out a new year with the very best of intentions, but alas, these often fall by the wayside.  As was once commented, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions!

Despite all the postal difficulties due to ice and snow, Christmas was an extremely busy time at the Parish Chest and kept most, if not all of our suppliers working hard sending out their products and services.

The DNA Diagnostics Centre have reduced their DNA testing charges, so if you have ever considered getting this done, now would be a really good time.  I do love a bargain, don't you?

Maxwell Ancestry have released some more census and parish transcriptions for Scotland, so if this is your research area, please do take a peek.

Just prior to Christmas, Frank and I enjoyed a super, two week cruise on MS Balmoral visiting Casablanca, the Canary Islands and Madeira.  It was sheer bliss boarding our cruise ship, knowing we would soon be leaving the cold weather behind us.

We met some lovely people on the cruise, amongst them, Dave and Cynthia from Devon, Colin and Julia from Dorset and Eric and Doreen from Lancashire. Such a shame the trip seemed to end so quickly, wasn't it, folks?

A few days ago, Frank had his final eye operation and (touch wood!) it seems it was a resounding success.  Frank now has no need for glasses, but occasionally when he forgets, he still reaches for them.  I guess in time he will get used to being without them.

Frank and I are now getting everything ready for our first and largest family history event of the year, Who Do You Think You Are? Live, which is being held at Olympia, from 25th to 27th. February.  Hope to see you there.

Rain, hail, sleet and snow - it seems that winter has arrived early this year.  I wonder if that means a white Christmas for some of us.

My poultry do not like the snow at all.  The turkeys ventured outside for a brief look around, but the chickens preferred to stay in their houses.  Not even dishes of warm porridge could tempt them to brave the cold, and I cannot say I blame them.  The wind blowing across the fields and through the orchard was really icy.

We have finally been granted planning permission for our new barn.  Unfortunately, the building work cannot be started until the New Year, so I am doubtful that the barn will be completed before my orphan lambs start arriving, usually towards the end of January.  I wonder if Frank would mind having a few lambs housed temporarily in our conservatory!

We have three new suppliers at the Parish Chest; Marcus Holt, who specialises in Military History research; the author, Jeffrey Pack and Audrie Reed, of Beautiful Memories, who makes the most wonderful films about your family history.

Don't forget that Parish Chest has a huge amount of products, any of which would be just perfect for Christmas presents, so why not get comfortable and have a rummage to see what you can find.

I was interested to hear that Brand Events has sold their share in WDYTYA? Live to BBC Magazines, who will now be taking over management of the event.  Does this mean we will have someone who actually knows something about family history looking after things?  That really would be a novelty!

Time for a cuppa.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

This is more of a rant than prattle this week and here are a few things that really tick me off.

Last week, I listened to a programme about child obesity; how serious the problem is and that we must do something about it.  Well, for a start, how about children being encouraged to go outside and play, climb trees, swim, ride bicycles, etc., instead of sitting on their butts in front of a computer or television screen. It is not rocket science, folks, just plain logic.

Someone, please explain the sense in this;  our country is almost broke; people are told they need to cut down; welfare benefits are being curtailed, etc., but on a daily basis, we pour millions into the European Union, and for what?  The politicians and businessmen get very rich, and ordinary folk like you and me have to obey the silly (stupid) rules and regulations. Complete and utter madness - unless you are a fat cat businessman or politician!

We, you and me, joined the European Union on a lie, and we have been paying dearly ever since. Surely it is time to say, enough is enough.  Please don't tell me that we cannot leave the EU.  We can, we should and very quickly.

This is a tiny island, with our schools, National Health Service, housing and other services under severe pressure.  It is time to severely curtail immigration, and ensure that anyone who does come to this country has the wherewithal to support themselves until they find employment.  Unless people have contributed to the system, they should not be entitled to any benefits.  If anyone does not have the finances to support themselves, send them back where they came from.  They are not our problem.

I would like some proper justice for victims of crimes.  I am sick of seeing a murder charge downgraded to manslaughter just so the Government can massage the figures.  Also, a life sentence should mean exactly that; the person should spend the rest of their life behind bars - no getting parole after a few years.  The murderer cannot give life back to the victim, so we should not give their life back to them.

The rules for the prison are; the criminals are 'inside' as punishment not for punishment.  However, these days, prisons are more like holiday camps - they can even buy lottery tickets! Oh yes, Ken Clark, if you want to pay prisoners for work done, don't forget to deduct the full cost of their board and lodging.

Okay, rant over!

I am thrilled that Darris Williams has joined the Parish Chest to sell the Chester Diocese Marriage CDs on behalf of Bertram Merrell.  So useful if you have ancestors from that part of the country.

Three new Sussex and one Surrey parish register CDs have been released by the Parish Register Transcription Society.  These are always excellent CDs and very reasonably priced.

The Gwent Family History Society has released three more parish register CDs; Risca, Penmaen Baptist Chapel and Newbridge, Beulah Baptist Chapel.

If you would like to see a full list of all new products, new suppliers and special offers for September available at the Parish Chest, just take a peek here.

I am really miffed that due to the problems Frank is having with his eyes, we cannot attend the, 'Back To Our Past' event in Dublin as we were really looking forward to attending this.

We had planned to go across on the ferry from Holyhead a day early to get everything set up, and then spend a few days looking around Ireland after the event. Now, all of our plans have come to nothing.  If John Low, of S & L Promotions Ltd repeats the event next year, I do hope he remembers to invite us.

I thought, to cheer Frank up, it may be a good idea to have a holiday - you know, somewhere warm and far away from computers, telephones and fax machines, etc.  The two problems I have with that idea are, I am not good at sitting around, not doing anything, and I hate 'planes - well, not the 'planes so much as the flying.  Any ideas. folks?

Tomorrow, if the weather is kind, I plan to spend the day removing the runner bean and pea plants, netting and canes  and then set to and dig over that patch of the vegetable garden.  Once the ground is dug and weed free, I shall dig in some manure, then cover it with some old carpet and leave it until next year.  If the weather is not kind, then I shall have to do some housework - yuk!

Yoicks, October already! Where does the time go?  I know people say that time passes quicker as you get older, but this is ridiculous.  Yes, I have already made the cake and puddings, but now it will not be too long before I shall have to start thinking about the actual Christmas menus!

A few days ago, I bought some ten week old Cream Legbar pullets, and these have their own pen in the orchard.  Alas, the pesky little creatures do not realise that they are supposed to stay on their side of the fence, so they keep flying out and joining the bigger chickens in the main run.

Right!  Enough prattle for this week.

Liz Shakespeare of Letterbox Books has written her third book, 'The Turning of the Tide' and this is now available from Parish Chest.

The Scottish Association of Family History Societies has two more super publications available for you; Parishes, Registers and Registrars and Researching Scottish Graveyards.  If you have Scottish ancestry, I am sure these books will prove to be extremely useful.

The Worcestershire Parish Records Society has released a new CD of Welland Parish Registers.  It includes baptisms, marriages, burials and banns so is absolutely perfect for researching those elusive Worcestershire ancestors.

I am sorry to say that so far, there has been no improvement all at with Frank's eyes.  His next hospital appointment (to photograph the back of his eye) is for the 21st. October, so it seems as if Frank will not be getting his vision back any time soon.

I was very cross last week when I discovered that Dayley Lawrence had breached our copyright and used the entire front page of British Genealogy to add as text to his Facebook group.  Is this chap too stupid or lazy to write his own articles that he has to steal mine?  How many more articles has he swiped, I wonder?

When I emailed Dayley Lawrence about stealing our text, his response was, "Hi, can you let me know what I have taken? All the stuff I have got from google pics so I am not sure what it is."  Says it all, doesn't it?  Thankfully, after a complaint to Facebook, the stolen text was removed.

Last Tuesday, Frank and I enjoyed a lovely morning out visiting Hatherleigh Market.  It was wonderful - just as all markets used to be.  This was our first ever visit to Hatherleigh, but I know it wiill not be our last.

Julie Munn of Penhellick Barn delivered two Gloucester Old Spot weaners to me yesterday and they are now comfortably settled in their new home.  I just hope that these two are not such escape artists as the Tamworths I had.  I am getting far too old to chase pigs around a field!

The sun is shining and I have tulip bulbs to plant, so enough prattle for today.

From Little Acorns has released a new CD of Fovant Marriages 1541-1837 and Banns 1760-1812.  Very useful if you have ancestors from that part of Wiltshire.

I took Frank to the hospital for his left eye pre-operation check last Friday and alas, it was not good news.  Apparently, the right eye which was operated on back in July, has developed a leak behind the retina, so the operation on the left eye has been postponed until this problem can be sorted out.  Naturally, Frank is devastated.

The problem Frank is having with his eyes (vision at 22%) means that we cannot attend any more family history events this year.  No trip to Llantrisant for the Glamorgan FHS Open Day or to Dublin for the Back To The Past genealogy event. I guess I had better start cancelling hotels and ferry crossings, etc.  I do so hate letting people down like this, but alas, I have no choice in the matter.

Over the weekend, before the weekly chore of cleaning out all the chicken and turkey houses, I was kept fairly busy making my bread, peeling and pickling shallots (not too many tears!) and then picking and preserving some more blackberries.  No such thing as a lazy weekend around here!

Last Wednesday, I nipped up to Wonnacott Farm and collected two more female turkey poults from Rose Yells.  The poults have settled in very well and seem to be enjoying their new surroundings - the stags were certainly pleased to see the new girls!

My chickens are now coming back into full lay after their moult. My Blue Marans have started laying too, which is just as well as I have plenty of customers lining up for the eggs.

Silly, isn't it?  One minute I have more eggs than I know what to do with and the next, I do not have enough eggs to satisfy demand.  Even my daughter, Clare, drives down from Plymouth quite regularly to collect a tray of eggs as she says that mine are the best she has ever tasted.

I have planned a very relaxing afternoon for myself, so once I have put the dried fruit in the brandy to soak (Christmas cake and puddings) that will be enough work for the day.