We all have tough days, sometimes tough weeks. And sometimes you start to wonder if you're loosing your grip, maybe just a bit. But it's reassuring to know that you can always look to our friend Mr Mugabe and be reassured of your sanity.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7271611.stm

Spending spree continues?

I woke up this morning and thought... I need to get a blackberry. I feel like I'm so behind on all my church/family history commitments and projects. I have some time at home in the evenings to work on things, but often by the time I get home I'm tired and just want to chat to my roommates or go to bed. With a blackberry, I can work on things on the go. Check my email. Keep a calendar that I have access to at all times. Have a full list of contacts with me. I checked it out online and it would be affordable to buy from my wireless network. I just need to make sure it wouldn't mean a shocking increase in my monthly subscription. If that's OK, then I think I might just get it!

By they way, I love the TV, the furniture and everything else I've acquired recently so no regrets.

J and Grannie in NYC

Jonathan and Grannie just had a New York City adventure! They arrived - sans Grandpa unfortunately - on Friday and jetted off to Salt Lake City this morning. The weekend went something like this:

Friday
J and Grannie fly from London to New York. They are met at JFK by the limo service and are whisked into Manhattan, arriving at the hotel just as Genevieve comes barrelling out of the subway. Grannie and J are introduced to all Genevieve's roommates. They make a great impression. J succombs to jetlag and falls asleep on the giant lovesac at 7pm.

Saturday
J wakes up at 2.30 am announcing that in England it's time to get up. Auntie Genevieve has been sleeping for three hours and has no intention of getting up. They get a drink of water, and Genevieve lies down on Jonathan's little camp bed on the floor, so he is forced to get into her far more comfortable bed. This does the trick, Jonathan falls asleep and Auntie Genevieve doesn't die. J wakes again at 6.45 and Genevieve accepts her fate. They play Top Trumps - Wonders of the World and watch Top Gear Italian Supercar Challenge.

J, Grannie and Jonathan go to brunch in Tribeca with Genevieve's roommates, Rich Call and Dr. Steve (the dishy doc from Peru). Genevieve is served a frightening mound of pancakes and Jonathan half-heartedly picks at his eggs Benedict. Only Grannie knows what became of her breakfast, as it disappeared in a flash!

On the way to breakfast, Jonathan takes his first ride on the subway, and after breakfast he makes his first trip in a NYC yellow taxi cab. They head to the World Trade Center to meet engineer and part time tour guide Jason Robertson for a tour of his offices in Tower 7.

Jonathan knows all about skyscrapers, so Jason shows him all the models and drawings and plans for the new towers. Then from the 10th floor vantage point, he points out the construction on the Freedom Tower, going on below.

After the tour, they meet up with Joanne and Drew who have popped over from Jersey to meet the folks. Downtown is woefully short of decent eateries, so the brief, but enjoyable visit involves eating deli sandwiches on laps in the living room. They did manage to squeeze in a quick trip to the roof. This is then followed by a trip up to Old Navy on 34th Street to get J some trousers for church in the morning. It's a fruitful trip. Suitable trousers are purchased and J gets a glimpse of the Empire State Building.

Sunday
The Bovees attend church. J and Grannie are introduced to dozens (perhaps even hundreds) of Genevieve's friends during the meetings and after church. How kind of them to conveniently schedule a linger longer to coincide with their visit. J eats several heart shaped cookies drowning in pink and red hundreds and thousands. In the afternoon, the roommates cook up taco salad for 12 and after dinner several more friends drop by to meet the folks, the Mulcocks, the Sparhawks (fresh from their honeymoon), Mindy Booth and many others.

Monday
It's Dead President's Day and Genevieve is off work. Jet lag, for the most part, has been overcome, and it's time to see the sights. They rush off early to catch the 9.30 ferry to Liberty Island.

J and Genevieve walk around the island and J poses with Lady Liberty.

Then it's on to Ellis Island, but not before J gets to help the ferryboatman with the ropes. J and Genevieve don't have any ancestors who came through EI, but it's a fun place to explore nonetheless. J enjoys all the exhibits on the ground floor with the giant 3-D graphs and computers. They all dine on tasty sandwiches and chicken tenders and then it's back on the ferry to the big island. Huge dark clouds are rolling in over Manhattan and they jump into a taxi just as the raindrops begin to fall.

It's on to the American Museum of Natural History - no.1 on J's must do list. He has been looking forward to this for weeks, "I want to go to the museum where they filmed Night at the Museum". They look at African and Asian mammals, the sea life exhibits and J takes dozens of pictures of dinosaur bones, including the T-Rex from the film. He's not in the entrance, but upstairs on the fourth floor. Either way, they're glad they won't be around after closing time when he comes to life and starts chasing the guards!

At home that night there is a birthday party for Genevieve's roommate Libby. J revels in all the excitement and attention, but by 9 o'clock, it's all been too much.

Tuesday
Genevieve is back at work, but she escapes at lunch time to meet J and Grannie for a trip up to the Top of the Rock.

It's a beautiful late Art Deco building and the views are far better than from the Empire State Building. If for no other reason, than you get a wonderful view of the Empire State Building!

J and Grannie spend the afternoon on the NYC tour bus, seeing all the downtown sights they've missed. After work, it's back home to Genevieve's house to eat dinner and watch what else but Top Gear.

There are lots more pictures to see.

I just spent a terrific weekend in Washington, D.C. with Kelly, my roommate who recently took a job down there. Kelly is one of my oldest friends from New York, and, having lived together for 3 years, probably knows me best. It's really nice to visit friends when you know each other so well. There's so much to talk about, nothing has to be explained, they just understand. It was good to see Kelly's new digs. She moved just over a month ago and seems to be settling in well.

We spent a lovely afternoon at Mount Vernon, George Washington's beautiful plantation home overlooking the Potomac River in Northern Virginia. The weather was chilly but clear and sunny and we toured the house and grounds and stopped to sit in the chairs on the veranda. We had fun in the shop. I bought my first Christmas presents for 2008 - I bet I even got a jump on Lucy! Then we went to Ikea so Kelly could look at beds. Although I was the one who walked out of there with a bag full of purchases, including two bedspreads and a bright red colander. And it was actually I who knew the way there, having been to the Ikea at Potomac Mills several years ago when I was at university. We topped off the day with dinner at a Mexican restaurant just steps away from Kelly's house (she is VERY happy about that) and the first two episodes of Spooks series 5. That really is the best show being made and Kelly and I love watching it together.

I haven't been back to Virginia/Washington since graduation so it was kind of exciting to be in the neighborhood again. It doesn't seem like all that long ago.

I was just talking to a friend at work and I realised, well, remembered, that my parents are two of the least selfish people alive. I'm so lucky to have them.

J - NYC

Jonathan rang me this afternoon to make plans for his visit to New York in two weeks. We were discussing the Statue of Liberty and he told me he had read about her in his "children's almaniac" (read that last word out loud, emphasis on the second 'a').

I imagine not everyone understands my obsession with family history and genealogy. It's more than just a hobby, it's almost become a way of life. I love the hunt, searching for clues and solving mysteries, but more than anything I love the personal and emotional side to it, the connection you feel to people and the joy of exploring the little details of peoples lives and of reuniting them with their families.

I read something in one of my English genealogy magazines yesterday that I really liked, and it sums it up beautifully. It's from an article about how genealogists in previous generations were only concerned with the "great and the good." But...

"Nowadays, we love the ordinary people, the everyday folk - and quite right too. Their lives and their experiences might have lacked the glitter and the glory, and they may have lived in humble dwellings rather than grand houses, but every human story has its interest and every life was important.

That great, great grandmother [the writer's family legend that she was an aristocrat had proved false] with the illegitimate twins worked in a cotton mill in Ancoats in Manchester and eventually took up with a man who knocked her about and ill-treated her sons. One of those sons, my great grandfather, slept on straw in a stable, started work at the age of eight, looked after his little half-sister, who eventually died of consumption, and earned enough money to buy himself a donkey and cart.

He carried and carted for the local community in the east end of Manchester, married a woman he loved devotedly and died, worn out, in his early 50s. That's a real human story, and one I am fascinated by. To the genealogists of the 1950s it would have seemed beneath notice - a sordid and sorry little tale with no dignity and no merit. To me, it is part of my genetic make-up and is to be treasured."

I just bought a giant telly!!


It's 37 inches of sheer beauty and it's coming to live in my house on Thursday!

Today was the first day I left the ofice and it was still light outside. That's one of my favourite days of the year.

And I bought a sofa today. I know own a table and chairs, and a sofa. Maybe one day I'll buy a proper bed!

2008 is here

My month of freedom is about to end. I'm off back to New York tomorrow morning and I shall miss being a lady of leisure. I've travelled on three continents, spent several weeks with my lovely family and watched countless hours of Top Gear. What a terrific time it's been!

My new job starts on Monday. I have my parents and Jonathan's visit to New York in February to look forward to. I shall be writing a short book this year and working on ideas and designs for a second. I shall be maid of honour at Joanne's splendid wedding in May. I shall be travelling at the end of May and any other time I can get away (Bermuda and Madrid remain on the shortlist). And on the whole just plan to have a bloody good time this year. How's that sound?!

My little brother's idea of a bit of Christmas Day fun

He thinks it's a huge laugh to scoop me up when I'm least expecting it. Sunday he picked me and flung me over his shoulder like a rag doll.

Marrakech

You can't really sum up an experience like Marrakech. So let's just look at pictures!

My first day I toured the Ben Youssef Medersa, the Marrakech Museum and the Almohavid Tombs.

In the afternoon I explored the souks and got completely lost. Your first trips through the souks can be rather stressful. One of the first things you notice is the smells (some delicious, some revolting). As a woman on my own, I was constantly pestered by shop owners and random men/teens offering their services as a guide. The noise and the chaos keep your head spinning. It's a battle to get through, but exciting at the same time.

The center of the city is the Jemaa Al Fna, an enormous square filled with food stalls and hawkers, along with fortune readers, henna women, snake charmers and Senegalese sufis playing gnouaa music.
Then at night it was turned into a giant outdoor eatery. The second night I dined on grilled aubergines and red peppers with chili sauce and poisson normal, fried fish to the rest of you. I posed for a picture with my chefs. The second morning I spent in the southern half of the medina, at the Bahia Palace of the Grand Vizier looking at beautiful painted ceilings

and tiled floors and at the ruined Badi Palace
I also visited the 17th century Saadian Tombs, for centuries lost from view behind a great mosque and only discovered during WWI by a low flying French pilot.

It's amazing how quiet these courtyards are, cut off from the frantic sounds of the streets and passages just steps away.

I also stopped in a small museum with artifacts from the trading routes between Marrakech and Timbouctou. I thought this item was something very Saharan like a water carrying bag, but then I noticed the label saying it was a 'Sac a affaires personnelles pour jeune mariee'. Essentially, a young ladies handbag!The rest of the day was spent shopping for Christmas presents in the souk, plates and tajines for Mum, hand made lantern for Dad, a djelaba cloak for Stephen and some Fasi bowls for Paddy. And I bought myself a a traditional cooking tajine. I look forward to cooking some Moroccon food when I get back to New York as the local food was too delicious for words. Even with my cooking abilities meager as they are I'll be able to create something wonderful.

The complete set of photographs are here. There are lots of pictures of tiles and patterns as one of the reasons I went to Morocco was to look at geometric patterns and designs in Arabian and Islamic decoration. I wasn't disappointed.

Roma

Lucy, Jonathan and I went to Rome for three days. I had planned a trip to Rome before Christmas, but travelling isn't half as fun without Jonathan and Lucy along. Thank goodness they were available as it was absolutely freezing and it would have been miserable without Lucy's company and Jonathan's comic relief.

Rome has a reputation for pick-pocketing and bag-snatching, so on arrival Lucy and I told Jonathan we needed him to be our bodyguard and keep a look out for anyone looking shifty or making a move on our belongings. We established a code word, "cheeseburger", for him to say when he spotted something out of the ordinary. We'd only got a hundred yards from the hotel when Jonathan whispers to me, "They all look like cheeseburgers!"

Our first outing was to the Vatican. We stopped on the way for our first scoop of gelato. It isn't the ideal treat on a day when the max temperature is four degrees celsius, but we were desperate to try it and it was delicious. I don't much care for the rock solid frozen ice cream we get at home. And the choice of flavours was so much better. I started with hazelnut and the next day had pistacchio flavour that was chock full of ground up pistacchio nuts and Noce Sorrento, walnut flavour. I'm nutty about gelato. (apologies for that) Jonathan was not so keen on eating ice cream on a cold winters day and became frantic every time we passed a gelateria. Of course we pointed every one out to him, so mature of us.

I was ever so excited as we approached St. Peter's. I told Jonathan that we were about to see one of the world's great treasures but he was thoroughly unimpressed, he was still trying to thaw out his tongue. We walked into the square, somewhat spoiled by a temporary performance area for Christmas concerts, a large ugly tree and a pile of miscellaneous junk. Yes, junk. Holy junk, presumably. We took some pictures:

Mother and child

and Auntie Genevieve squinting in the low-lying winter sun

We toured the inside of the Basilica, sent our Vatican City stamped postcards and saw the Spanish Steps lit up at night before dinner. In the morning, we made the much anticipated trip to the Colosseum. Jonathan had been talking for weeks about visiting the Colosseum, and he was not disappointed. He helped our Italian archeologist tourguide show us round. During the rest of the day, we walked through the Forum, up to the Pantheon and to the Fontana di Trevi. The weather was nearly at zero degrees, but Jonathan was terrific, never complaining even though his fingers were frozen together.

We enjoyed all of these sights, but the highlight of the trip was Jonathan's postcards. He chose his own postcards to send to Uncle Stephen and Grannie and Grandpa. I wrote one or two as well, but once I saw what Jonathan was writing we handed over all the postcard writing duties to Jonathan. They are little gems.

The rest of the pictures are here. We're thinking we might go back... sometime when sun is out and our gelato actually melts rather than cooling down when we take it outside the shop.

I covered 2 continents and 3 countries in less than 24 hours on Sunday/Monday. That's a first. And I'm still exhausted.

Gorgeous hair

My Michael-designed hair has been drawing complements ever since I touched down in the UK on Monday. Two particularly enthusiastic thumbs up from Jonathan and Eleanor (and I know Mike will appreciate the Eleanor seal of approval!) Views of this fantastic do are available below...do enjoy.

Christmas concert

I went to my nephew Jonathan's school Christmas concert yesterday (I hope to add a picture when I get access to Lucy's camera tomorrow). Despite much talk in recent years of banning references to religion at Christmas time here in the UK (including the banning of the word 'Christmas' itself), the concert included traditional Christmas carols like Silent Night and O Come All Ye Faithful. The focus of the programme was Christmas in countries around the world, and while much of the dialogue was centered on Father Christmas and gift giving traditions, there was also references to the Christ child and the three kings. It was quite refreshing to see they had not "cleaned up" the presentation and expunged the very center of Christmas. Take away Christ and all you're left with is overcooked turkey and credit card debt, and that's not a Christmas I want any part of. Jonathan had a couple lines in the Christmas in Mexico skit. It was a really good little programme, very enjoyable. Lucy and I sat in the first row of adults, and my little niece Eleanor sat on the floor in front with the other Infant School classes. She kept turning around and waving to us and smiling. Absolutely adorable.

Wisconsin days two through five

I'm at the airport on my way home. My fingers are raw, my toes still thawing and I honestly don't remember when I last washed my hair (I was afraid it would freeze and give me the mother of all headaches, not to mention the flu). I had a good time but am not sorry to be heading home. Here's a quick recap of what I did over the last four days.

Wednesday was mostly driving, least said about that the better, and I did a little exploring in Clark County . Thursday was Eau Claire County day. Started in the Village of Fairchild. I think it's a fairly depressed area, because all the buildings were for sale, same thing down in Jackson County as well.

I visited the cemetery. It was buried in snow so I took the snow scraper/brush from the car to excavate. I found great-great grandfather Cornelius Bovee whose whereabouts and place/date of death had previously been a mystery

and his wife, great-great grandmother Hannah Pettis Bovee

I only found the graves thanks to the huge marker for Truman Bovee which I spotted at the entrance. Without a map of the cemeteries its impossible to find anything. Half the graves are buried in snow and my toes froze before I could find any other family members in Fairchild. I drove through Augusta and then on to Eau Claire to visit the University library, where I found a number of court documents related to the Bovees. I then rushed off and left all the photocopies at the library.

Wednesday and Thursday night I stayed in a lovely hotel, the Oak Park Inn. I was so happy to be there every night.

Friday I went to Jackson County, real Bovee country. I found the Bovee Creek, the north branch of the Trempeleau River. I was amazed that it wasn't completely frozen.

Then I found the land (Township 23 Range 5 Section 28) where the Bovees (Cornelius, Uncles Zebulon and Silas, father Jonas and grandfather Nicholas) held sway. They owned and farmed the entire section.

I drove through Bovee stamping grounds Hixton and Alma Center where I excavated more gravestones.

I then drove south to Jackson County seat Black River Falls to visit the Historical Society and history room at the library. I found a few things at the library and chatted with the volunteer librarian who knew a family member, Elgie Bovee Kutcher, niece of my great grandfather George.

This morning I popped into the Wisconsin Historical Society here in Madison to look up a few things before flying home to New York. Madison is a nice town, but I don't know if I could go to school here... I nearly froze to death this morning just walking from the car to the Society.

And here's one last look at Wisconsin... a Bovee in their natural setting...

And now you can look through all my pictures from Wisconsin

Wisconsin day one

Day one in Wisconsin was all about snow. It started snowing at 2pm and it was still snowing when I went to bed. I've never driven in snow but now I know how. I only skidded once (it's those wretched trucks!) and even managed to drive in Madison rush hour traffic during the snow storm. I only managed to visit Hancock Cemetery before the snow started, so went back to Madison early and had the whole evening to twiddle my thumbs. I did wander up by the Capitol in the evening.

It's my last day at EMI today. I'm scabbling around to try and get things wrapped up and there's still four piles of papers to go through. The time is flying. Oh, well if I get to it, I get to it... I had lunch at the Shake Shack one last time. Caitlin, Mike, and Martin came along. I'll miss the Shake Shack! Listening to Interpol nice and loud... I'll really miss having my own office.

At the Shake Shack...

Justin and Matt and I in my office...

My whereabouts for December

Monday 3 December - last day at EMI
Tuesday 4-Saturday 8 December - in Wisconsin
Saturday 8 -Sunday 9 December - back in NYC
Sunday 9 December - flying to London
Monday 10 December - Thursday 13 December - in England
Friday 14-Sunday 16 December - in Rome
Monday 17 December - Wednesday 19 December - in Marrakech
Thursday 20 December - Saturday 5 January - in Englang
Saturday 5 January - flying to NYC