George Baron went to New Zealand, mined a load of gold, got on a ship and promptly sunk. But before that, he was a baker the Bedfordshire village of Shefford. Today I found he bought a house there. Doesn't sound that exciting right, except that all my forebearers were miserably poor and invariably destitute. The fact that one of them could afford to buy a house in the 1850's is frankly an astonishing discovery. Here's his signature.And one of the documents states that his father was Joseph Baron formerly of the parish of Watton in Herts. We didn't know that's where he died. It's another clue to follow up. Look for more conveyances in Watton. The hunt goes on...

Now my Christmas (really more New Years) holidays are over let's look ahead to the coming year. I'll be attending some trade shows, and by attending I mean I'll be behind the desk talking to people and telling them how wonderful my research is! I'll be moving to London. Because let's be honest, it's about bloody time. I have wonderful friends in Luton and of course my lovely Mum. But I spend so much time getting from A to B, it's using up an unacceptable chunk of my life. (although I do read and do work on the train). Ok, I just want to be back in the city, 'nuff said. I'm going to make use of the cheap flights from outer London airports and see some sights. I want to hit Rome and Morocco again. And that's just for a start. It's probably also time I went to Ireland to meet my relatives. 2010 was the year of mass marriage among my friends. In 2011 I don't have to feel bad about not getting another friend a wedding present (I was broke). Although I wish them all joy and lots of fat, happy babies.

So resolutions are to eat more chocolate and swear less. Not to over-analyse and to be more gutsy. I didn't do so bad with the last one in 2010 but there's a long way to go yet. I'm going to work on developing my career - cuz I never had one before and we all love to play with a new toy. I'm working on lining up some NYC friends to come visit here soon, and there's a rumour that Lucy and the two carpet munchers may be paying a visit to the old country. That would rock the house!

I wish you all a great 2011.

Foxy ladies

Stephen dug this picture out to put up in my room in Dallas

Wasn't Mum cute?!

Christmas adventure, part III

I made it to Dallas for Boxing Day and a delayed Christmas. We managed to open half our presents before dinner, after which I conked out (I asked Mum why no one woke me up - we tried several times she countered) so we wound up Christmas am on the 27th. As the much-hyped "Christmas Nazi", I had always tried to ensure that recent Christmases weren't over in a frenzied flash of paper shredding, but even I would never have stretched it out that long. Alas the next day we had to say goodbye to Stephen, but it meant I was the only one left to spoil the rest of the week. Had a lovely time with Mum and Dad. I ate buffalo burgers and deep fried pickles and tons of delicious Mexican food, although I could have popped into old town McKinney's surely authentic English pub for some yummy grub from home. Dad and Mum have been slowly unpacking all the boxes from our house in Saudi Arabia. So there were pieces of my childhoold strewn about the place. In every room I encountered something else - family photographs, children's books, my great-grandfather's Chinese cabinet - that I hadn't seen in well over a decade. It's strange to be reunited with your past.

Am now in Atlanta for a week. Enjoying cuddles with Jacob and flirty smiles (but hands off!) from Andrew. One thing I miss in England is having someone to play games with. Since leaving Dave in NYC, I don't really have an outlet for my insanely competitive streak which has sadly lain dormant, so I took it out on Jonathan in a brutal round of junior monopoly. Play has been delayed due to lack of light, but tomorrow I'll finish him off. Or maybe I'll take pity and let him win. Yeah, not a chance.