It's been a funny old week one way and another...Wendy's put her horses in the forestry land again which is daft 'cos if the forestry bloke sees them he'll take them away to the pound...there was a pound here in our street once, at the back of Paddy's cottage...cost sixpence to retrieve your animal. I know that because Felicity had the little book the Bailiff kept, noting down the strays and who owned them...that was pre-famine of course...nobody would have let their animals stray during the famine...they'd have been eaten.
I don't think the Gallagher's have bought her house you know...think it might have been just a rumour...you know who I mean...Liam and Noel...those two who are 'pop' singers and a bit wild. Not as bad as they once were mind you...used to be proper devils for the drink.
Himself met up with some old acquaintances' while he was in the supermarket yesterday...they do a bit of animal rescue and last week they were asked by the Guards to take in a Rottweiler found straying...he weighs thirteen stone...imagine him sitting on the settee beside you! The Guards had put him in one of the cells until they found a place for him to go...bet his presence sobered up the town drunks in the adjoining cells pretty quickly...the dog is very nice apparently, but I wouldn't want him.
The stupid pigeons have hatched one baby...or at least there was an egg-shell on the ground beneath the apple tree that was dry inside so whether it's going to be an only child or not remains to be seen...depends whether they bother to feed it.
I didn't go shopping 'cos my breathing was appalling and my leg hurts from that feckin' bite so I sort of sloped about at home, poking my nose into the internet and cleaning the dish drainer, which was quite gross...
Haven't found anyone terribly interesting in the family trees recently...apart from a chap who was murdered by Indians along with his six servants...he'd only been in America for a month...hardly worth the while him going.
My sympathies always lie on the Indians side, so such stories have little effect on me...you can actually get a certificate in a frame if you can prove one of your people fought in the French/Indian wars...bit yucky I thought. Though the soldiers didn't earn much...a shilling a day plus expenses...I found a payroll for one of the people I was looking for.
Did you know that the American government had a bounty for Indian scalps? That was towards the end of the 1800's...and they said the Indians were primitive.
No swallows have appeared yet...it was the 12th of April last year when our barn swallows appeared...swooping in and out mending and rebuilding their nests from the previous year...
So, I haven't seen anyone apart from Himself of course...think I might go the whole hog and become one of those batty old women who hoard newspapers and keep dozens of mangy cats...
You could do a lot worse, always seemed like a pretty peaceful life to me... I think I'm definitely at the batty bit. One of your stories was just what was needed vashti, a bit of oil on troubled waters...
Thought you already were. The mad lady that the kids dare each other to knock on the door then run away. Scrump the apples etc. No I know you are really a sweet person before you decide to turn me into a frog. I am quite happy as a mouse x
As usual, vashti, a hugely interesting post about life in your neck of the woods.
I don't know if you've been watching too much of 'Mrs Brown's Boys' lately, because I've noticed that your language has become similar to hers lately. So that's giving me an extra chuckle. That comment is not a criticism, merely an observation.
On the subject of interesting ancestors, I've come across one I overlooked when I added his brother to my tree some months ago. This character is my 14th great grand uncle, brother to Gilbert Haydock, my 14th great grandfather.
This is some of his story:--
HAYDOCK, WILLIAM (1487-1537), a monk of the Cistercian abbey of Whalley in Lancashire, was a younger son of William Haydock of Cottam Hall, near Preston, Lancashire, by Joan, daughter of William Heton of Heton. He was concerned, together with his abbot, John Pasleu, and a fellow-monk, John Eastgate, in the insurrection in the north of England of 1536, commonly known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. They were tried for this offence at the assizes at Lancaster in the following spring, and were, after conviction, sent back to Whalley for execution. The abbot and Eastgate were hanged on 10 March 1537. Haydock underwent the same penalty two days later, in a field called, according to a nearly contemporary manuscript concerning Whalley, ‘Little Imps’ or ‘The Impe yard,’ that is, a plot of ground for rearing young trees, or a nursery garden. Stow says the execution took place on 13 March 'at Whalley in the field called Pedeamguies,' a place doubtfully identified by Dr. Whitaker with either Padiham Green or Padiham Eases, both of which are some five miles from Whalley (not at Whalley, as Stow says). Haydock's body was not quartered and set up in divers places, as those of the abbot and Eastgate were; but, after hanging some time, it was clandestinely removed by his nephew, also William Haydock, and secreted at Cottam Hall, the seat of the family, where it was discovered when the house was pulled down in the early part of this century.
This passage was copied from the 'Dictionary of National Biography', (printed in 1885-1900), Volume 25.
As always, breathe easy, (and take it easy 'til your breathing is better).
Hello Vashti, I hope your chest isn't feeling so bad now, it's a misery when you can't breathe.I'm waiting for the swallows too, they get here on the 18th April every year, they land on the phone line and fill the garden with the sound of their chatter.
I want to do some chores but feel so tired I ache and I'm off to bed. Sweet dreams ,huff xxxzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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The Provenance Of Old Objects... 
Hi it's been a while 
Stories of a hospital volunteer - 50p and a soldier's coat. 
