Follow Friday

-



Today's blogging prompt comes from the fabulous 
Thomas MacEntee's GeneaBloggers Daily Blogging Prompts.

 I follow nearly 300 blogs - not all of them Family History ones, mind.  

Some of them are about knitting, quilting, sewing, retro-cooking and books....all my favourite things in life.  

So how can I choose just one or two to recommend to you?

Well a few stood out for me this week.

In no particular order of merit... here they are:


Number 1
The Pharos Blog
I love Pharos Tutors.  I've completed a couple of short genealogy courses with them online and have been very happy with the quality of teaching and delivery.  I was really pleased to see them venture into blogland.  It's not easy writing a blog, particularly from a professional or academic point of view and they have grasped the bull by the horns and contributed a thoughtful, reflective voice to our world.  This week's post reminds us of the wealth of academic resources available online about population studies or demography.  It's well worth looking at it and the great links provided.


Number 2
One Rhode Island Family

Half the battle with writing a blog I reckon is writing something that is actually useful for other people and not just self-indulgent (which I suspect is what my blog tends to be).

A big thank you to Diane particularly for her last tip in the post 10 Genealogy Things I do with My Smart Phone - I never noticed that microphone icon on my keyboard before and I will now be using it much more often for transcribing - particularly when I discover stuff on Trove.  

Thank you.  Thank you. Thank you.

Number 3
We're All Relative

It was this particular post that impressed me and the use of paintings by the author to illustrate the story being told.  Whilst it would be nice to always use your own photos/pictures, the reality is that we won't always have an appropriate photo in our collection. I think seeing colour in a blog helps to add some life to blogs that are often a bit dry and dusty and old looking with facts and figures, charts, certificates, census forms and black and white photographs.  My only criticism/observation/suggestion would be that it would be nice to know who painted the pictures or where they were found.  Cite your sources!  But that aside, I was really impressed by how they added to the story being told and vowed to remember it for my own future use.


What about you?  Have you had some fabulous finds this week?

Comments

Anonymous said…
Thanks for the mention Alex! love your blog. It's my first visit, but I'll be back. all the best, Diane
May 3, 2014 at 9:29 AM
Alex Daw said…
Diane thank you so much for dropping by! I do look forward to seeing you again and thank you for the inspiration for this blog post.
May 4, 2014 at 4:49 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Family Lore

-
Image
Image by hurk from Pixabay Amy Johnson Crow challenges us to write about our Family History again in 2024 using her 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge.  The theme for Week 1 is "Family Lore." Many of us have heard stories from our grandparents about incredible feats our ancestors did or a famous person we're related to. What's a tale that has been passed down in your family? Did it end up being true or did it turn out to just be a good story? You can join the challenge too her e. The most famous/shocking story handed down in our family was that my father's great-grandfather was meant to have shot himself.  Lo and behold it wasn't the entire truth (he lived to tell the tale) but there was certainly a large kernel of truth in the story handed down by my grandmother.  You can read the story of Edward Conner's life here . Of course there's always more to be done isn't there?  I ordered his death certificate years ago but it was lost in transit so...
Read more

52 Ancestors in 52 weeks - Week 3 - Favourite Photo

-
Image
      The theme for Week 3 is "Favorite Photo." Amy Johnson Crow has devised these prompts and you can participate too by signing up here. Tell the story of a favorite photo: Who is in it, when and where it was taken, and why it was taken. (That last part is often left out!)   Barbara Conner hanging up washing in Edinburgh     This is a photo of my mother hanging up the washing when we were living in Edinburgh in the 60s. I think my father took it to record what ordinary life was like at the time and to send back to the folks at home in Australia.  I'm sure my mother was not pleased but I am so grateful because you can see so much in this photo.  They had a kettle, something like a Sunbeam electric frypan.  I think I can spot a toaster and a radio up on the top shelf.  You can see that the glass came in milk bottles in those days and that the twin tub washing machine was in the kitchen.  There are canisters for things like tea and c...
Read more

Barley Sugar

-
Image
  Photo by Alex Daw Barley Sugar It's been a while since I've blogged and boy do I miss it. Have you received an email from Ancestry lately suggesting you check out new traits?  DNA doesn't lie, so they say, but I beg to differ.   This will probably be an intensely boring post for those of you who don't really know me but I feel compelled to record my responses to the alleged traits for the amusement or interest of posterity and my family. 16 new traits have been identified for me.  There are 56 identified traits altogether. Let's tackle the new traits first: Competitiveness - likely to be competitive - influenced by my maternal side apparently.  Yes I agree but not with the side of the family.  If you'd asked me I would have said the paternal side.  My paternal grandmother was I believe intensely competitive - witness the articles I have written about her swimming prowess.  I'm struggling to recall any competitiveness displayed by my mother ...
Read more